Doomguide2005

No, to be clear I am not keeping teammates at 50% or less health. What I'm saying is it doesn't matter if I (made up numbers) heal them from 200 health to 500 or 700 with HA or HO or from 200 to 1200 with AP with a single use of the power in question. Either way they are still up right and in the fight. It doesn't matter as long as they get back to essentially full health without dying. Again definitely not quite what I'm getting at though that last line does point at what I was getting at when I said I've never seen someone die where I know they would have lived if I had used AP instead. Either they survive after that initial burst of healing or they/I get overwhelmed and they don't. And from there more healing and or the effects of RegenAura and or Adrenaline Boost get them back to full health. But really I don't think there's any way to know especially in the heat of the moment. By old school I meant that back on Live up to when computer issues kept me from playing around i22 and starting here on HC my builds were very strongly focused on recharge. Reyna on Live had maybe a few percentage points of defense therefore if she found herself unable to heal for 20 seconds the idea she could ride it out would be a much greater stretch than my builds of today. Now she has defenses even if the focus is still largely on recharge. And given she would very definitely be in the middle of it due to her offender play style crossed with her blast set being unable to heal for 20 seconds would be suicidal. Well ... no. Reyna (/Rad blast) or Neuroststic (/Elec blast) are often right in the middle of the sh*t storm adjacent to the melee types as that's where SC and Irradiate get used while eyeballing the team window for buffs and healing. The idea that OG+Irradiate+Atomic Blast is likely to yield zero aggro is only happening with some decent aggro management by the Tanker or Brute. And no an offender Empath with those blast sets in particular is not sitting there just healing and drawing no aggro in the middle of all that while the team is at full health. So yes I'm going to use whatever tools I've got be it inspires, stun grenades, OG or the kitchen sink (Eye of Magus) to survive and when necessary blot out the storm and focus on keeping teammates buffed and healed despite what's occurring around me. Reyna can take on a couple bosses and expect them to get defeated >> OG+Cosmic Burst+AirSup+Irradiate+AirSup+CB+AirSup etc.. until downed. Stunned and knocked till defeated. And these days she'll often mix in p2w Stun Grenades, Soul Drain and the occasional Envenomed Dagger and her Atomic Blast which combines with a proc in AirSup to hold the occasional boss Now that sentiment i can get behind 100%. AP is at least worth checking out by this offender and see how IOs and p2w have altered things

@Frozen Burn I definitely appreciate the further input on AP. I can also see the great potential utility in a second ranged heal. But the key for me is ranged. I'm still fairly unconvinced that either HO fired in succession or HO/HA spammed will be be less effective than using AP. I've very rarely thought the difference would mean my target has fallen with HO while would have survived if I used AP instead. I don't truly need them, the target, at full health they are basically as effective at 50 health as 1000 or 3000 I just need them upright. Of course that's target singular not targets. Sometimes HO buys enough breathing time for them to hit an inspire or Dull Pain or even the relief/confidence to throw out a taunt as they know I've got them covered. As far as time spent getting to range of HA two thoughts >> chances are if it's the main aggro center chances are extremely good I'm already there, no movement needed. Second while using Evasive Maneuvers with additional +fly spd (swift, set bonuses) I'll cover pretty much any indoor and most outdoor maps very quickly at HO or AP distances and stop on a dime (no worries that I'll glide or stop out of range). Think the other factor here that plays into things is the whole i can't get healed, the heal debuff around AP. First this is potentially very old school thinking. My late game Empaths, in particular, have far more defense than the SO builds of old. I am far more likely to avoid getting hit and damaged especially fatally in the 20 seconds the debuff lasts than back when SOs and HOs were the top of the line. If I have that much aggro that I end up eating floor anyway chances are pretty good the combat has already gone towards team wipe rather strongly and the main aggro center is already dead before I can do anything else. And now I'm wondering if Incandescence and it's heal resistance debuff (unresistable) will break through AP's debuff enough so I can in fact get healed and RegenAura will effect me. Or if I'm totally misreading or misinterpreting the CoD and in game info. I've been very reluctant to delve into it much in game because of the Teleport aspect as generally porting folks around while they're alive goes into iffy territory without binds etc. which I have not set up.

And there are some foes that will see through a Scrapper using Stealth that won't see a Stalker in Hide (Hidden). Snipers come to mind among other things. Hard Mode foes can have buffs to Perception which Hide but not Stealth will keep you unseen. Basically Hide has a much higher base Stealth than the Concealment power called Stealth

Yeah afaik to date it's the only 'exception' if you're looking at the values and not the wording of the name.

The -defense on a late game SR (owing to DDR) isn't likely to help much but might open some proc options and as mentioned useful while leveling or running exemplar to buff the effective defense a bit more towards caps. One thing many would consider a mistake is not slotting Siphon Life for damage something I have seen on several occasions on builds posted for getting help.

And just wait till she figures out just how offensive almost any support build can get from range or melee in CoX

I've often commented to my fellow D&D players that if you want to find the "gaps" in the rules turn a bunch of min-maxing, rules-lawyering, power gamers loose on the game. They'll find stuff just as crazy and far more "legit" that the most proficient of Munchkins.

nah properly built there's 8 of them (see above).

This. And the idea you can build a single most correct build for a given AT/Pairing and for any given team is absurd in the first place. Especially if not a static team. Even if one assumes you have the responsibility to build a given way to make another player 'happy' that almost certainly means that somewhere in the next few teams, if not the very next, your build won't be correct. My Claws/SR has totally different idea of what the perfect build(s) would be to join them than my Emp/Rad does. And I'd be willing to guess the ideal build to join my Emp/Rad is NOT what the majority of players out there would consider their ideal to maximize my fun. And the whole vice versa thing i.e. the likelyhood my characters build is the ideal for all 7 teammates is also highly unlikely. The only responsibility I have to my fellow players is not to be a douche. And clearly anything other than 8 Empaths is building wrong anyway. I mean what's not to love about a damage capped Nuke everywhere 5 seconds or so on a defense, to hit, recovery, regen, and possible resistance capped team not the most right ... 😘

Random thoughts Knockback/Knockdown. Mez These two things are almost always a weakness for anything at low levels. Anyone can get both if desired from the p2w vendor even mid task force. Plasmatic Taser and Stun Grenade especially the later in multiples can seriously mess them up. Add some team inspires to ensure they hit. I've been known to drop the p2w pets as well (both the PPD and a prestige pet useful to the group). Again you can acquire those while in TF. One of my Empaths could even add both a Shivan and a Vanguard Heavy to the p2w pets. Drop some team inspire buffs for those pets to further enhance their damage and to hit capabilities. Just stay alive ... complete suckage to drop all those pets and die before they even join the fight (yes been there done that in one particularly chaotic and pear shaped effort). A corner pull really helps ensure the pets get to engage before most of the team and you faceplant.

While sober. All bets off if not.

For reference here's the build I've been tinkering with. Reyna Morningdew EmpathyRadBlast Hvy Arm (v1.00 i27.6) - Defender (Empathy - Radiation Blast).mbd

Well I'm still very new to NA especially compared to Empathy but I've paired it with Symphony (to which I'm also fairly new) whose powers so far are also ranged. So mostly I hang back and the cone naturally covers more as the distance from the cones origin grows larger making targeting less necessary i'd guess. Perhaps as I get more into the various auras and the PBAoEs becomes part of the arsenal it'll develop into an issue, But one of my first Empaths was paired with Dark Blast and then Sonic both of which are strongly ranged outside the nuke (No Irradiate type power unlike my Emp/Rad ). I got fairly adept at moving out for Tentacles or Howl and in for other PBAoE's. That and a weakness I have as an Empath especially these days is I don't target by a bind/keyboard I click on the name in the team window and fire off the various buffs and healing via the number keys on the keyboard. That and my main above all is a Claws/SR scrapper so I'm very used to finding and using the 'F' to seek a target(s), well not so much seek but to follow after hitting 'R' for target nearest. Perhaps NA will push this old dog back into using keybinds again and or buying a mouse with a lot more extra keys to target teammates. I have a NA defender just found a shiney that pulled me away I'm guessing as they been sitting in the low teens for a while now. Paired it with Archery Blast so that may be part of the issue. I'm personally fairly meh on Archery. Love the look and idea of it but ... .

Any preferences on travel powers. Powers you do or don't want etc..

Been running a new Symphony/Nature Affinity and enjoy it a great deal. Partly I think it's the lack of having to target anything specific. No matter binds, young reflexes etc., it is an added step where the CM goes to the Tanker rather than mez protection absent support by mistake or Fortitude is redundantly sent to a character instead of another. So much about NA seems more like using the Auras just position and use. And fast moving, chaotic combat makes that much less ... intense than having to target single targets. As for Incandescene (at t3) some minimal testing without PB or PBU (no alt build yet) bumps the Emp/Rad from 300 to 500ish on HA. Makes me think on replacing several of the Panacea's with Doctored Wounds to gain the set bonus (at 5 rather than 6) on your heals and see that difference in output. I also noted the +hit points from the Panacea proc is boosted while under Incandescence. Guessing a similar boost would happen with the Power Transfer proc. Downside is trying to scrape together both power choices and slots for 5 in more Heal accepting powers. Well it's why there's Mids'.

@GenshinGuy1985 Kismet needs to be moved from Vengeance. Most likely it's rarely effecting you as it's considered a proc 120. It's only benefitting you when the power is active and for a 120 seconds after the power is no longer active or the power is toggled off. So unless you are using Vengeance every 120 seconds or less there are probably lengthy periods where you gain no benefit. In general if your To Hit portion is low raising your To Hit will be of greater benefit than boosting Accuracy further (multiplying a relatively lower value yields a relatively smaller value). Try to get Kismet in a lower level choice. Weave is your lowest placed defensive power. For instance if Vengeance was a toggle you'd still only benefit when playing at or above 43rd when it could be toggled on and active. Multiplying 39+15+6=60 >> 60 x 1.6 = 96% or at that to hit Kismet jumps you from ~86% to 96% and is therefore the single best thing you can do to help your overall hit chance. You are sitting right about the tipping point between hitting 95% and noticeably worse if foes start to to hit debuff you or acquire defense buffs for themselves. Clumped up Cimerorans will become a major issue, for example, as they start buffing each others defense

A few random thoughts. As mentioned or suggested by others you have no real direct control of who they attack and where they move but you can influence things. But it seems likely that threat and aggro (and the rest) work similarly but the pets have their own list. Summon them in close proximity to whom you wish them to aggro and whom you wish to aggro them on. Haunt has, for example, an 80ft range. If you are stealthed use Teleport to move near you target. They'll either run to you drawing aggro as they do so. Similarly I've found Fold Space useful for keeping the short attention span Fire Imps close ... as the Shiney things will be close. Just a few thoughts for now have to head to bed.

Initially it's mostly by experience and feeling. Starting out the gate in the single digit levels Ensure I am hitting reliably on attacks. Likely 2 Acc or equivalent accuracy buff. Still missing then Kismet gets added asap or other To Hit buffs ... plan on early Tactics acquisition. Next up is keeping end usage in check. See #1 missing is bad for both your blue and green bars (out of end can't do damage, damage/defeat is the ultimate debuff and all that). Everything gets at least 1 endred. Still have issues I'll start looking to add Miracle and plan on a diet of recovery buffs (either p2w or empowerment or both buffs) as well as 'do I add a 2nd endred into costly powers'. Lastly start contemplating adding +recovery and other low hanging IO bonuses (+end or end discount) to help end usage Going to tend to take attacks preferentially at this point in things. Defense and Resistance to follow. I want at least the start of 'attack chain' by late teens/20+. What mitigation is built into attacks (kb/kd/ku, stuns, defdebuff etc.). I've been known to use frakkenslotting at lower levels to boost multiple aspects. For example 2 endred/to hit buff IOs in Tactics or a series of dam/rchg IOs in my Nuke or other AoE blast. Or a series of def/endred IOs in my SR or other armor toggles. If they are commonly needed aspects then I'm likely to use unslotters when shifting to a final build. And store for use in another build. In the vast majority of cases nothing pre-planned in Mids until later probably post 40 (and often it's the 'final' lvl 50 build regardless of my current level). Very rarely am I following a pre-planned build from early on or from the start. I think only once among my HC characters have I had a pre-planned build from very early on and that was for a static 'super team' build where I anticipated massive end usage issues owing to power choices (a Fire/Sonic running Hot Feet, Disruption Field, Sonic Dispersion by 20th (2.08 end/sec prior to endred) then tack on Maneuvers and Tactics as well as attacks by mid 20's (pant pant written all over it) Net effect is high confidence of a highly effective build by late game.

I may be wrong but I believe @rolekiwas trying to say this. But yes afaik if it fires and then 3 seconds later fires again you end up at 8 seconds of +100% not 10. Or 13 second and not 20 ... as I don't recall if the duration is 5 or 10 seconds per buff.

Had both the Corruptor version and its mirror on Live. Can't recall if the Defender version hit 50 but i know the Corruptor version did. It's indeed a very potent combo. Maybe a bit slower to defeat things than say Fire/Dark and perhaps not quite as strong for teams as Ice/Cold but only marginally so and exchanges both for being extremely tough.

Okay I put together a build for my main empath an Emp/Rad using PBU and Incandescence. And those number per Mids are not making a lot of sense I think stemming from Incan providing a massive unresistable heal resistance debuff. Going to just have to try it out on the server

Here's what I did with my last character. Entered the game at level 1. Took on a levels worth of Hellions around the lake. Watched for a DFB to occur. Joined it for 2 runs, good for a bunch of low level SOs busy going red. Got a jump pack and tagged all the AP explore badges. Turned those 5 merits and a piece of orange salvage into inf. Bought and upgraded so the majority of the slots on my powers hold an +3 SO. Joined a team running mission content. After about 2 hours now I've hit level 9 fully SO'd with 200k or so in hand and a chunk of converters still waiting prices to rise a bit. Looking to join Posi 1 and 2 now the next time I log in.

And what good is that if you don't use it?

Talk to 100 players and you'll probably get 110 different answers. Take your favorites, get a strong build on them and run them through the 800 series in AE. Mostly you'll probably get chased right out the front door. The ones that can complete the highest and farthest in the series are your toughest and most resilient in all likelyhood (being both your best builds and the ones you play best individually). The series starts at 800.0 and runs upward from there to 800.F at the most difficult end which only the best teams will have a chance at completing. If you can get well past 800.4 at +4/x8 you'll be exceeding I dare say the vast majprity of players and their best builds.

Overall looks very solid. What follows is mostly either alternative ideas or food for thought especially after the Fort comments. Yes I'd agree Fortitude needs more loving. Minimal slots I'd go with is 3->> 2 Membrane HOs and a LotG 7.5%. Or if trying to get back lost +def from changing up in AB, for instance, go with a full 6 set of Red Fortune. Or there's a gazillion other options for Fortitude. In fact there's a whole thread buried pretty well in the Defender forums on this very subject. I'd also love to see it moved up to an earlier slot. It's one of the premiere buffs from Empathy I'd be trying to slip it in as close to as early as can (20th iirc) unless you plan an almost no exemplar work. And as @MonteCarlasaid I'd spend the slots on Fort before I'd spend them on Superior Invisibility. Or drop the Preemp from AB between SI and PA you shouldn't be getting that much attention and can probably stand the loss of range def as you'll still be well over the soft cap. Also in the nitpik category is I'd slot Resurrect with an Endred rather than recharge. As a controller you've no Vigilance working to reduce you end costs if/when things get pear shaped and Resurrect is a 26 end cost power. And Murphy seems to say things will go pear shaped right as you hit that short cooldown period with RA. Ditto for Clear Mind especially on such a solid high recharge CM should be almost immediately available again. I'd slot a Range IO in there to catch that one guy who's always across the room getting in trouble. Consider swapping around one of your Unbreakable Guard in Fire Shield to include the special UG instead. You can also tinker with things in both Fort (6 Red Fortune) and Tough (6 slot Glad Armor for a total +5% ranged defense to offset the loss in AB, even gain a small amount pushing a bit closer to Incarnate defense cap (and add in a slot for the Steadfast +3% in Fire Shield). Both Recovery Aura and AB can go with minimal slotting of 2 recharge as base RA is more than enough for most characters and the most important thing about AB is all the "special" bonuses and the recharge boost none of which can be enhanced. And if you do want some added regen out of AB go 3 slots (2 heal/rchg and a rchg IO all boosted if desired or needed to +5). Is this intended for solo work? If not why no HO?