Doomguide2005

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?

I'm guessing the same things that would effect HA when concerning other defender heals like Transfusion would apply. If so one big advantage to HA vs other is a complete lack of aiming or requiring a foe to be present, positioning issues would be about as minimized as you'd get. I really need to dig around these forums for info about how recharge, cast time, arcanatime and the rest all interact. While I'm probably more a numbers guy than a lot of folks are I'm nowhere near the same league as the top folks are. So just how fast on 300% recharge could one spam HO/HA rinse repeat ad infinitum is not a question playing to my number crunching strengths. And I remember the days my Kin/Psy/Power using PBU Transfusion and watching a fairly jaw dropping number come up. And that was probably on SOs only as they were one of my earliest characters on Live. It's also why I'm a little annoyed with myself for not taking better notes on where the info about Incandescence came up and it put replacing 3000+ hp in the 3 use of HA or less category. Still as long as it hit not hard to see something like Transfusion putting up similar numbers in a similar time span.

Thanks for the very prompt reply. The answer is much as expected leading me to many of the same conclusions as MonteCarla. First I've minimal experience in Hard Mode and none of it so far is as an Empath but I have put a couple of builds together in Mids which have included AP because much like I'm experimenting with adding Elude back into my SR build seems like the utility of both Elude and AP might find a place in a Hard Mode specific build. The massive size of a single heal is appealing indeed even tough I'm not yet convinced AP would significantly out preform spamming HO/HA. And of course there's nothing to say AP can't become part of the spammed healing especially if distance is an issue. But there's also things I've read and heard about Incandescence particularly coupled with PB or PBU that might make AP iffy again (as in when spammed HA alone becomes thousands of restored health. But I definitely need some experience with that whole process to draw any solid conclusions personally such as how restrictive that becomes to building "the one true way". I don't as a rule think there ever is a one true way. I mean that's why Green Machine and later making builds for the RWZ challenge and soloing Cimeroran repeatables was my thing. I also suspect the blast secondary plays a strong role here. My main Empaths are Rad Blast, Electric Blast and Fire Blast. The first two in particular mean i spend a great deal of time face to face with whatever is trying to defeat my allies and myself. Becoming immune to healing not just from my own HA but anyone else's be it Transfusion or Radiant Aura etc. just seems like a particularly unsmart thing to do. I might have a much different outlook if my favored secondary sets were Ice, Dark and AR blast sets (and I have run all 3 to 50 on Live). Two of those blast sets don't even require being at melee range to unleash a GM's Nuke nevermind a less restrictive offender and badass Empath type build.

@MoonSheepand others who think we're a bit harsh on Absorb Pain what do you like about the power? What do you see as pros to the power that make the cons worth having it in your tool kit? Is it merely the size of the heal or do you find it more useful at certain level ranges. Do you find it less hazardous to use than implied?

Don't know whether to laugh or cry on thar one

I've not experiencing the scatter issue on mine at least not to the point where it stood out over my other Empaths so mine is currently working towards being slotted for both damage and endmod with the aim of experimenting with Musculature and anything else to up the end drain and recovery debuff. +3 and +4 (or higher) are increasingly hard to drain effectively as a sole endmod debuffer. In turn this not only leaves them with end to use but the reduction by Purple Patch damage on top of if it starts to effect your bonus through the "Shocked" mechanic. That not scatter is the number on problem I'm running into. On the flip side I'm finding it far less rare to end up on a team with another Electric user and multiple Electric end debuffers can be a sight to behold. Not sure what state my Mids build is in but @MonteCarla's advice is exactly where mine in general would lie. Edit: looks like i went Agility rather than Musculature. Likely ill try both in the long run

What @MonteCarlasaid. You gain almost no benefit for either you or your teammate over target ally > hit follow > use HO > zip over to ally and hit HA. If that isn't enough your there to add your blasts targeting through them and HO is ready to go again (or drop Fort or CM). The number of times an ally survives with AP and wouldn't with HO/HA are almost non existent. Usually it's they survive with either or die with either process. And with the second you stand an excellent chance of following them to face plant. I'm also in @Nemu's court when it comes to CM. I think it's under used and under rated even in endgame. That said it is easier to find yourself on a team where it is considerably less useful while dealing with incarnates between Clarion, Barrier and general high defense and resists of teammates vs your typical PuG running Synapse,Yin or Citadel where mez can really be a dps dampner before characters and builds mature. But even with Incarnates I find reason enough to take this one slot wonder. There are teams who are fighting enough mez users to stop a late game armored user at times (like 3 +4 Master Illusionists and friends all hitting Flash and or Blind in overlap).

Also wasn't too long ago that electric blast got its buffs upping damage in addition to what Carni has mentioned

Believe, going off memory, it starts with 801.0 and runs up to 801.F. The ones beyond roughly 801.4 (again iirc) are intended for teams and are all but guaranteed to hand you your ass (increasingly rapidly at that).

Have you tried the 801 series in AE. If not do so. It'll likely be eye opening the first time you exit the mission door going oouuuccchhy!!. I'd love a relatively straightforward optional means of upping the difficulty via notoriety but a lot of simple solutions like simply upping defense and health of foes is well a boring solution in the long-term. It's why i don't really solo AVs and GMs. A bigger dumb sac of hit points meh. Better solutions like adding powers, new foe types within a group require a lot more time and effort to develop

Don't make Light of her situation!

My god where did you see that npc? They have hands!!! Fort Trident? Nobody goes there.

I'd not move around when I've decided on a location. Sitting in one spot is your best bet. Personally though I've no idea if it matters I'd turn off any stealth just in case (though Drones normally ignore it anyway. And stay away from any police drones. I've done some busy raids on both Indomitable and Everlasting last couple nights including getting the accolade last night in PI's portal corp in the parking lot. Both of those were advertised in chat as well. Edit: not as sure about a gather point in KR but I'd hazard a guess as near Blue Steel. The large street heading away from Blue Steel or maybe parking lot/ open area on the opposite side from WW. Though again keep your distance from police drones and watch chat.

Looks like a Brute or Scrapper from the order it was written. Still quite tough with any of the three. Consider using Fold Space to pull them in for both of your AoEs (you and your brother).

Wonder how many Fire/Sonic Controllers there are now. Only 12 back then. Only Ice and Darkness appeared further down the ***/Sonic pairing lists as a choice. Mine is currently 39th lvl on Excelsior.

Empathy Defenders do fine in endgame. The majority of characters are not t4'd to hell and back and PuGs aren't renowned for being tailor designed to function as a cohesive unit. Stuff happens from getting swarmed by foes on an ITF where one lucky hit by a +4 foe triggers cascade defense failure to the auto hit Nictus AV decides the Tanker needs spanking and we haven't even got to the new Hard Mode TF's. Now an Empath certainly isn't the only character capable of restoring that health but ... . So yes you'll spend a lot of time buffing and blasting rather than healing but the whole package is needed at times. But that Cold or FF is going to love your Power Boosted Fortitude as while they can cover the team with shields well they also can't cover themselves leaving them always a bit behind in the defense race. And when not if several teammates get simultaneously hammered by an AoE again only a few builds have the tools to repair all at once especially without needing a foe to target off of to do so. I personally would not choose a Controller to pair with Empathy (been there done that). And here's why. With my Controllers I'm focused heavily on the Foes and battlefield and less so my teammates. With my Defender when (not if) things start going south well my focus is heavily on my teammates. Who's getting hammered (and why). Who needs what heal or buff NAO! I've gone for minutes barely seeing the greater battlefield and foes trying to keep everyone upright. A Controller in the same situation my attention is exactly the opposite I'm far too busy trying to bring control to the situation. Laying patches and trying to mez the the ambush or adds or whatever is causing the issue. That extra second or so on my heal or buff/debuff on my old reflexes might be a second too late. The only Controller I might pair up with Empathy these days would be Illusion. PA and Phantasm's duplicate can't be buffed and are very fire and forget relatively. So when things go sideways I can swap to focus on the team window while they largely do their thing with minimal issues created. Bottom line a well played character trumps pretty much anything else regardless of AT (and regardless of level). Reyna Morningdew of Green Machine and the RO Network (and a whole bunch more)

One thing to note and I have no idea if it's still true but follow while Hovering tended to leave you just out of striking distance so my Claws/SR would end up 'R' (target nearest), 'F' (Follow) then have to tap my W to move forward just enough to activate her melee attack. Annoying but worked well for things like 5-layer cave rooms.

Time enough for torpor later

Hell I have a scrapper that can do that (well stand indefinitely amongst) for sure against Cimerorans at +4/×8 and probably several other foe groups as well. And no unless you were lvl 32 (or perhaps lower) you were not rounding up maps worth of foes that were 20 lvls over you as the game capped at Invincible notoriety which would yield +2 and +3 mobs. Mathematically the statement is obvious hyperbole as there have never been level 60 or 70+ foes for an endgame Tanker to take on. Only level 54s that appeared consistently that I know of were Rikti (and brought about what became known as the RWZ challenge). What ED and the global defense nerfs took away has long since been equalled and surpassed by IO sets, Incarnates and many quality of life changes occurring after i6 or so.

MoonSheep beat me to it. Be interesting to see how the market handles the spike in lvl 50s as the front edge of a whole lot of new accounts comes into existence. But as Moonshine has said what influence you do have will be earned as quick as before but last a whole lot longer buying IOs off said market.