Doomguide2005

Yeah Fortitude alone would make me leery of select buffs. Putting an Empath with IO's into the upper 30's ish defense to all (Fort ~22 + 2*3% IOs + Maneuvers + Weave) when both RAs already do effect them is asking for trouble. We already have Empaths doing solo runs of the ITF at +4/*8

To add to what others have said: 1. I wouldn't worry about it. On a Tank I'd probably note it so others would know what to expect. On a Brute, for me personally, I almost expect the opposite ... it's more noteworthy to find out the Brute has Taunt and intends to tank than not. Seems like most grab it as much to help their 'scrapper' side deal with runners or the annoying foe that wants to fly away and stay at range than to truly tank. As others said if there is no Tank on the team, you'll tend to get the aggro anyway. 2. Hasten for me is not a mandatory thing but build dependent. I'd personally probably lean towards yes for Dark Armor but I also probably wouldn't worry about having it until the build was maturing maybe even respec into it later after becoming comfortable with how the build worked for me and my playstyle. 3&4. Everyone seems to do it a little different. I tend to look at my net recovery in Mids with all my toggles 'on' that I normally expect to run. Toggles are a baseline use, that usage is always there unless someplace very safe and quiet (AH, University, in my SG base etc.). So my concern is going to be do I net enough endurance to cover my clicks/attacks that I'll use in combat. If you're really into number crunching you can calculate that number, but most folks get headaches trying to do that. For me I will aim for 2.5 end/sec net recovery (mouse over recovery in Mids to pop this up) as a starting point. The vast majority of the time that's enough to go non-stop. Over 3.0 and you'll probably only see your end bar 'twitch'. From 2.0 to 2.5 I expect to need to watch my use, maybe use an occasional blue or just not immediately charge to next spawn but in general not hugely problematic. From 1.5 to 2.0 I expect to have issues, manageable but potentially problematic and need to alter play style/pace (use Rest, need blues, etc.). Under 1.5 is an issue, risk of running out mid-fight is practically a sure thing. Need to alter build or expectations. 5. IOs for sure and totally agree with @Ironblade assessment though I'd probably change need 8 from "on a tank" to "when tanking/solo" unless you've a high tolerance for getting knocked about (and if you got the aggro they'll chase you just as happily as if you meant to move 'over there'). And I'd definitely skip Acrobatics...unless things got changed from when last I looked it's another toggle (more end use to deal with) and not a particularly cheap toggle to boot. As an aside high (capped) defense will also make getting knocked happen less just by itself. Can't knock/mez what you can't hit and all that. 6. Reads others advice as I've no clue and currently can't use Mids to experiment.

As in Empathy paired with ???? Edit: And you may want to post a request in the forum dealing with your Archetype... Defender, Corruptor, Controller, Master Mind etc.. And welcome to the game! What server is your character based on? Any mission will earn you xp and help you level. Try to find a team to join. It will give you ally's to support and receive your heals and buffs. And don't neglect your offensive/attack powers you'll need them especially when running solo.

And I'm guessing the enhancements were a keeper this go around 😋

This a thousand times over. When the word "superteam" comes up I'm thinking stacked buffs and debuffs i.e. support sets. I think Pinball Wizards or Green Machine. I think of the FRads or the barely IO'd early issue 9? team of 7 defenders and 1 controller of the RO network which chewed up a Master STF tackling and destroying all 4 Patrons at once with barely a pause of the team for "but this is Master attempt" moment. Both these teams existed well before Incarnates and essentially before the player base really knew much about sets in general. I for one don't want to see the relatively unique strength of CoX's buffs (and debuffs) weakened so they can be self buffs. Now maybe something along the like Vigilance where the self buff is scaled to team size perhaps, but then again 3 Empaths is pretty much at or beyond the above numbers on SO's nevermind IO sets so ...

Farsighted vs Fortitude Farsight is a 25ft rad buff. Both its +defense and +to hit are weaker, the to hit by a fair margin --> 12.5 vs 18.5. It also buffs perception. Recharge is twice its duration. It is quite possible to perma. Fortitude is single target. It's defense and to hit buffs are stronger. It's recharge is half its duration. It buffs damage (+31%), but not perception. It is possible to keep an entire team buffed, but will take quite a dedicated buffer to buff 7 teammates. 4 or 5 is easy to maintain. Both can be effected by Power Boost/Power Build Up and that's probably where Farsight gets it's biggest advantage. A lone, self buffed Empath with IO sets ... is going to be a monster. Regen near or at the AT hard cap (+2000% iirc), at or near the defense softcap vs ALL positions and types, between Tactics and Fort won't need accuracy enhancements vs well almost any foe. Damage isn't going to be quite Kinetics like but Souldrain+Assault+Fortitude (+Vigilance?) isn't pitiful either. And that's without PB or PBU in the picture (or things like proc'd Gaussian's triggering). Likewise global recharge is +170 just from Hasten and AB. That's sans slotting or set bonuses. And I know I'd be pushing 300 on some of my builds before tacking on another 100 from AB. And last Mez? What mez! Ever. As in laugh at it harder than a Practiced Brawler stacked SR character. I can easily protect my self at least as well as an AV with the PToD going. Maybe Ghost Widow will get lucky and manage to hold me and will see what crazy amounts of +regen can do vs Soul Storm. About the only thing left to say is the defender debuff sets will now be screaming for a buff to their sets. In short it ain't happening unless some serious nerf to self side of the buffs happens.

And for some more unusual or concept builds chasing the smaller bonuses available on lower level sets might be reason enough. I recall using Rectified Recticles (a 10 to 20 lvl set), for example, trying to squeeze in a little more S/L defense while keeping Aim and Build Up in a blaster build. The Rule of 5 is a thing.

Yes, Tank, Brute or Scrapper AT's come to mind with Rad or Bio armor paired with Titan Weapons. War Mace might work to with some of its 'mace' choices. And I think /Shield has a trash can lid as a shield option and some one way more costume proficient than myself may have ideas about altering the rest. For some playing with costumes is as much a game as the rest.

No, no and no 😜 What can I say I am more a 3.5E or PF type (or even older).

Yeah there's no doubt IO's, specifically set bonuses, truly make a hash of balancing around any concept of "around SO's". And certainly they all should be included (or not) in any discussion.

*nod* it wasn't intended as a counter arguement just wanted to see if the reasons were what I expected. The one I had overlooked was dropping the exemplar status and forgetting to toggle on. Lord knows I recall having to retoggle Leadership after getting mezzed .... after nearly every mob at times. It's one of the many things that made Green Machine so memorable was the amount of +recovery was so high that frequently you could nuke and find your toggles still running afterwards even though you knew it had zeroed out your end albeit very very briefly.

Yup, 650 second recharge. Edit: Keep in mind, as I'm sure the Devs did at the time, IH can take recharge enhancements and high levels of recharge can get that recharge, while not perma, to a point of relatively solid uptime vs downtime. Mix that with IO sets and now your potentially juggling IH, Shadow Meld and MoG for some very solid survivability. And yes toggle IH was pretty friggin potent. My pre-nerf (pre i5) then level 41 BS/Regen went toe to toe with a pair of level 48 Fake Nemesis bosses in PI and fought them to a draw. They couldn't kill her, she couldn't defeat them. That's 2 +7 bosses. Not sure about what to change to make Regen more regen. It's an inherently reactive response and a lot of the suggestions are proactive. The idea of some sort of scaling +regen, scaling to damage taken and not vs numbers of surrounding foes seems intriguing and better fits the reactive nature of the set. Something similar to the way /SR scales its +resistance to damage.

Not that I'm against it, don't see why it would be a problem to change, but I have to ask. How often are you having to toggle them on? Mine get toggled on and are that way until I log the character off for some reason even if it's hours later. Certainly nothing like it used to be when running Leadership toggles and got mezzed or nuked causing them to all 'drop'.

That difference in playstyle is exactly why I said in the Lack of Empathy for Empaths thread that if I was to build another Controller/Empath I'd lean heavily towards an Ill/Emp. And thanks by the way to adding another character to the already long list of 'I have to try this' pairings.

Which is why we need to Nerf! Regen as it's a clear standout set 😜

Well my mind can safely recall ... erm ... both and no idea if it's just my mind playing tricks on me or not. I don't recall any NPCs around it however. And that's totally separate from the base portal @Hewis talking about which got moved from atop the building.

And somewhere a Demigod of Gaming puts in his favorite video of gamers doing silly stuff on repeat, chuckling as he knocks one back.

If I recall correctly they did change it to front the damage. And looking at the Wiki a fear component was removed, an initial damage hit was added and the DoT tic rate reduced in issue 18.

Took my Claws/SR a long time (or rather running a BS/Regen) to really understand the threat a Sapper represented. Can't drain what you can't hit, especially when flat on your backside after getting hit by Focus or Shockwave. One common mention about pairing DM and SR is the one thing SR lacks is any kind of +regen, +health or heal which DM provides in a strong attack which just happens to heal --> Siphon Life.

@Lex Talionis that 33% vs 39% owing to the presence of Kismet +6% being assumed in the build or a different reason? (Like being roughly what's left of the defense debuff after Purple Patch scaling etc.)

Oh if that were only true. I think that on players it bothers as much as the OP it might in fact be worse. I can only imagine the consternation of missing that crucial attack when I only have a mere 1% miss chance ... nevermind missing 2 in a row or 3 both of which are going to happen eventually with 100's of players making 1000's of rolls. The first (missing twice) is only a slightly less common occurrence as the 3 in a row sequence noted above.

And 55ft, fyi, is enough to render you undetectable by the vast majority of foes. 35 ft will let you get close but afaik it's not enough by itself to allow you to remain undetected to anything in game (your basic minion will see you 10ft away). The link @Uunprovide will go into much greater detail of what might trip you up.

Blasters, like any and all characters, consist of not just a Primary. They also have Secondaries as well as Pool and Epic powers.

@Outrider_01 ? I believe some miscommunication or misunderstanding has occurred. I'm agreeing with you and giving a specific example, namely of Fire Manipulation. It would be necessary to all but ignore my secondary to play my Electric/Fire at any distance other than 'in your face' melee distance. All but one of his 7 attacks are from the secondary. Likewise with my Fire/Energy. All the secondary are either melee attacks or self buff powers.

Indeed a Power Boosted Transfusion is ... wow, make an Empath jealous 😜