Doomguide2005

It should be fairly doable, though I wouldn't expect any speed records. I've personally handled 2 Cimeroran bosses at once on Invincible on an Emp/Rad pre IO's (Air Sup and Cosmic Burst ftw) and level 53 mobs of Rikti without inspires, outside buffs etc. ala RWZ challenge style in the RWZ with an Emp/Sonic circa i19. Neither had or used pets (temporary or otherwise). The Emp/Sonic was a draw vs level 54's ... neither could kill the other. Mez from the Rikti prevented sustained dps, they'd recover enough while she was mezzed to offset the damage done while not mezzed.

It was @Linea on an Emp/Fire/Soul set at +4/×8. And yes the build can handle a wide variety of +4/×8 foes and is crazy tough. The screen shots of the completed ITF were posted in the Defender forums as is the build iirc. Alas it was not a /Elec or someone might shortly be out 5 billion 😁

It's been long time but to my knowledge it's a global bonus not effected by DR/ED anymore than Assault would be. So not so much +4% to Brawl but +4% to all your attacks

What is the base K* mag of Osa? And would a character being 2 or 3 levels greater increase that KD mag enough to create KB instead?

And it was a blast, 8 Stormies from Repeat Offenders SG Perfect Storms back on Live. I'm not even sure IO's were around yet. The ambush atop the hill devolved into some insane chaos between Hurricanes, Tornados and Lightning Storms. Love to do that again.

LOL, yeah I've noticed that tendency as well. Haven't really needed to on one of my Emps on HC yet plenty of folks volunteering but once on live I joined a team of what must have been a bunch of new players none of whom seemed anxious to jump into or draw the alpha from the lvl 52 or so mobs. I happened to have been using my 2nd build just prior to joining them ... the one I was using trying to build to take on a mob of level 54 Rikti 'scrapper' style in the RWZ. She had at that time managed level 53's. Well I forgot to swap back to her 'usual' build so I found myself leading the charge for the whole quite large outdoor map full of android energy/energy? blasting foes.

Absolutely! And with those defenses it would be a solid solo build as well as team. Which makes it an excellent build for someone who expects to solo a significant amount due to available gaming hours or whatever while remaining a quite capable team build the majority of the time. That said I'm starting to think there's a definite trend towards soft capping all AT's (duh) including support builds. I think this can be to the detriment to the greater goal of team support. Empathy with Regen Aura, in particular, really wants to reduce the cool down to a minimum. I wouldn't say no defense but I'd want to emphasize recharge strongly while having about either 25 defense or about 33. Those values put the build within easy range of becoming soft capped with a single inspire or teammate buff. I've also run on Live many Emps with essentially no defense and done fine. Emps even offenders don't tend to draw aggro enough that they can't handle it generally on team settings.

I'd love to see Short Circuit earlier in the build. Potential spend freely slotting -> Armgdn-Dmg, Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg, Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg, Efficacy-Endmod/Acc/Rchg, Efficacy-Endmod/Rchg, Efficacy-Endmod/Acc. No access to internet (except via phone) to see what subbing 3 set of SprAvl looks like but the slotting maximizes both damage and Endmod drain/Recovery. I'd go overall with recharge and more recharge get those Auras CD as short as possible. And PBU does really nasty things to SC's drain and recovery debuffs. This is a team build at its heart. Mitigation is going to come primarily from your RegenAura, teammates and inspires. A solo build is a whole different animal.

I completely agree with the above post. And doubly so about Clear Mind. When at the door with a new team I'll buff as many as possible and more according to 'expectations' and what I can quickly observe about teammates (power sets, level, set bonuses if any etc.). After that it gets much dependent on who gets colorful, what foes we're up against, who seems to draw aggro, etc..

Probably would've been vastly better in a duo (ideally another Emp/Elec) or small team with at least one other end drain character. Rapidly stack Short Circuit and it's all over and 2 IO'd Emp/Elec can lay down SC multiple times (4+) in under 10 seconds. Nothing will have endurance or +recovery in very short order.

On Live I ran an Ice/Sonic Controller up to the low 20's. Couldn't kill anything without running out endurance (at +0/×1). Can't recall how much in the way IO's I put into it but ... Controller Ice/Sonic Mid 20's, only Ice Controller, 50+ levels in Sonic Resonance on Live Major endurance issues and low damage output solo. I'll probably try it again see if getting to 40+, IO's sets, Jack and procs work 'wonders' Edit 2: Should have added worked okay in teams, it's the solo experience that was painful and slow. I think that caveat shows up in other posts as well, particularly in the controller pairings with Empathy. Take a low damage controller (or one with unbuffable pets) and pair it with Empathy and running it solo is definitely a masochistic choice.

O.o Think I'll call myself an FM next time I'm asked in chat. Wut? Force Multiplier 😁

It happens, even when I find myself running at +4/×8, but like ImpousVileTerror I typically just shrug and deal with it best I can. And since I'm often running support characters I try to not get too scrapper-locked and keep my buffs flowing

O.o. I just added several new things to my personal list of "I *JUST* learned" stuff.

Yep, I've done it on Live with Cold/Ice/Power Defender --> Power Build Up+Aim+Tactics and watched my To Hit in combat attributes turn blue (indicating a hard cap). Defense also has a Hard Cap which varies by AT. Ironblade is sort of correct in that those caps are typically meaningless as, due to the "clamps" in the attack equation, you never drop below 5% or above 95% final to hit values. But certain critters can put some significance back into it. Paragon Protectors hitting their MoG, DE eminators, Captain Mako when he hits Elude etc..

Coyote pretty much hit it on the head I was looking for greater clarity and since it is a thread about the OP's Empathy buffs I made the assumption you were on an Empathy character. Thank you for going into more detail. With what you provided I'd say that Aid Another isn't Empathy so while it may be evidence Aid Another causes aggro that doesn't necessarily mean Empathy's heals do. And regardless of everything else those foes attacking a +42 lvl character 'a few moments' later is decidedly odd AI behavior. In any case I don't think the OP should have any concerns about drawing aggro with his heals.

@Frostweaver -> You're saying you were a lvl 50 Empath, not exemplared, helping a lvl 10 in the Hollows ... when he dropped all his Troll foes then turned on you while you had Stealth from the Concealment pool active and all you had done is use Heal Other +/- Heal Aura on the lvl 10?

Could be, I've never tested it. And never really been in a situation where it wasn't utterly muddied by everything else going on around (and by) me. I also tend to run around with SS active along with a stealth proc and SS does have a -1 to threat in addition to its stealth component which might be enough to dump the aggro caused by buffs/heals faster than it generates. Unfortunately no idea when I'd be able to test/experiment with things. Computer died and left me with just a phone for internet access.

Ahhh, shudder +4 Eyeballs. Definitely slowed me down and sometimes wishing the build including a well slotted Elude to off set the over the top To Hit they have. Another option would be the Accolade Archmage (+60 def and 60% resistances). That combined with Gaes of the Kind Ones is how I rode out the Elude crash in the days before IO's and IO sets existed. Pop Geas right before the end crash, +/- a single blue inspiration then use Archmage post crash. Could finish the fight and by the time I got retoggled the debuff from the crash was over.

I so badly need to get in game and test this out. I've played an absolutely crazy number of hours on Empaths, granted only once 1 to 50 paired with a controller set. I can never recall pulling any aggro with either my buffs or heals where it was obvious to me. So if it (and it would have to be just HA it's the only non single target heal) does it's got to be miniscule compared to everything else. But given my playstyle I'm usually either blasting like crazy between buffs (teamed) or running solo (also attacking like crazy, duh). And unless it went seriously pear-shaped I'm still drawing aggro with my own activity on a team right up until it all headed south with attacks. Basically AFAIK nothing Empathy does creates or draws aggro. The two Auras (Recovery and Regeneration) and Healing Aura are the only powers that even effect more than one Ally never mind foes.

This. Though it's not intended to work that way. Vengeance stacking not Veats toggles that is 😁. Bit like how GM (a team of all Empathy defenders) would prevent (often not always) toggle dropping of their Leadership toggles when Nukes weren't crashless. Stack so much recovery their end never bottomed out. Edit: Technically I think it would but we'd get a tic or more of end back before the toggle would check/pay its end cost so the toggle cost would get paid and no drop.

Maneuvers, Assault and Tactics all stack. And teams that start doing this get all sorts of powerful even if it's just made up of AT's that get the lowest buff benefits from them, such as 8 Scrappers. The only one I'm not sure about is Victory Rush. No personal experience and can't go in game or to Mids' currently, but I'm sure someone will pop in and say Y/N.

Support the idea but I am a bit confused by the last bit about Rikti actually beaming down during their invasions. My computer, and therefore access to playing died a month or so back, ... but last time I was in a zone when an invasion occurred on homecoming Rikti did spawn in if you were messing with their bombs? I presume if I had stood around outdoors (I was in Founders') they would have showed up as they do on the hill in Talos? Or are you meaning something else?

What do you consider sufficient defense? 33% puts you one small 'Luck' (+12.5%) from the soft cap 20% puts you one medium 'Good Luck' (+25%) from the soft cap. That's without considering Radiation Infection debuff or Seeds You said for solo or duo vs AV's. Which is going to be the more common?

What everyone has been saying about Pain being a buff and more ally centric set is true. This is a weakness when solo. On the other hand it can be viewed as a strength when teamed. Because you don't have to pay as much time and attention to your pets it gives you more time to spend buffing and aiding your team. The fire (pets) and forget nature of Illusion makes it easier for busier sets (single target ally buffers) like Empathy or Pain to focus on their thing.