MoonSheep

great perspective, this articulates the issue with empathy really succinctly - hadn’t thought about its pitfalls in this way before

you mean putting healing aura on auto, applying unslotted fort on 1 team member only and instead hovering at the back of the team firing off mostly ineffective blasts at completely random and un-strategic enemies in the mob isn’t the best way to play an empath?

empathy is slightly outdated however it has a few really good niche capabilities it unfortunately suffers commonly from two issues: 1. people don’t slot it properly or pickup powerboost 2. people play it in a very dull way a well built empath delivered in a ‘PvP’ style can be great on speedruns - following the lead damage dealing squishy and keeping them alive during the chaos though like others have said, there’s a lot of modern sets which now offer more than empathy does and better fit with modern builds

now that's a good looking support alt 😎 i'm invested in this build now regardless of whether OP plays it. i don't mind having less powers early on if i'm focusing on support, could consider switching buckshot for sniper rifle you're probably right regarding removing rez. as a kin i often feel a bit bad (only very slightly) during a death on the team; > someone dies > i announce the death, ask people to gather round me > tp the body infront of me > activate powerboost, cast veng > announce that we all now have glorious powerboosted veng > run off leaving the body on the ground looking forward to seeing what @COH Radgen thinks of this revised proposal

this is more my kind of build. there's a lot of core empathy powers to take, it makes fitting everything in tricky some bits i'd change, salting to taste mostly: - i'd prefer the numinas set over panacea. i know panacea gives nice +recharge, but i'm a bit of a moth to numina's +heal set bonuses. 5 sets gives a nice +30% heal bonus. 5 slotting would give +18.75% S/L res too. if we then picked spiritual core paragon as our incarnate alpha we'd have an extra +33% heal bonus for a total of +63%. now we're cooking with gas - i would choose soul mastery over energy as the powerboost recharges a lot quicker (240s vs 120s) - I'd put the blessing of the zephr KB protection in combat jumping instead and in temp invul, 4 slot for aegis + the steadfast def IO - If we chop off a slot from somewhere else like tactics or maneuvers we could put it on M30 grenade and 6 slot it with defender's bastion to get the +10 rech - i'd find a way to have spirit ward in the build under lvl 20 and 2 slot it for health, applying it on the lead alpha taker is nice for posi TFs and makes a difference. i would sacrifice clear mind and put hasten later in the build - it has no travel power currently, i'd sacrifice assault for super jump

that's helpful to know ty. i have a different perspective on how i would build and slot the alt if you're seeking to focus on support. the comments below are just a serving suggestion from someone who mains a defender in a support role as an observation i would say the build you've posted above achieves neither your ambitions of being a support AT or decent damage. the over-focus on personal defense is robbing you of your full potential as a support AT or a meaningful damage dealer and ends up leaving you sub-par on both fronts. the only benefit you're gaining from the hyper-focus on defense is being able to face tank a few mobs, which could instead be replicated by popping 2 medium insps properly slotting your buffs would give a far greater benefit for your objectives to be a support role, some key observations: [1] Slotting a corrupter with 5 sets of Numina's in the key empathy powers gives better support numbers than on your current defender build and you benefit from having double damage on your attacks through scourge and a higher damage cap. The current build has weaker buff numbers than a corrupter and significantly lower damage [2] Absorb pain is a key power for empathy. If things are getting hectic in content, being able to bring a tank on red hp to near full hp is hugely valuable [3] Not picking Powerboost puts you at a significant disadvantage, especially if you want to support during hami raids. A strong tank has over 3000hp, healing for 518hp, or 20% of their total health is barely noticeable [4] Vengeance is hugely valuable on a defender as its base values are strong. Slotted veng with Powerboost gives around +68% defense for the whole team and a bucket load of +To Hit. You will actively look forward to people dying [5] Not having recall friend reduces your ability to provide support. Bringing back fallen team members or moving them outside of combat to rez is valuable [6] Not slotting fortitude reduces its value to team members. It can give good defense numbers on a defender when slotted. The +To Hit aspect is often overlooked and important at lower levels, e.g. Posi 2 TFs where there's a lot of -accuracy powers. there's a hami-o which i feel must have been made by the devs specifically for fort. membrane exposure gives +def, +rech and +to hit. triple slotting it into fort is a perfect pairing [7] Without much effort you can easily get +60-65% S/L res and some +defense going, if you do get hit you can heal yourself quite quickly with healing aura. If you find you're getting a lot of aggro then it's likely a playstyle issue. I run my defender (a kin) with just Dark Embrace on speed runs, 4 star content, posi TFs and everything in between and it does fine here's a comparison table i made of some key powers and where improvements can be enjoyed on the key buffs: Power Current Build Corrupter slotted Defender slotted Defender Powerboost Healing Aura 264hp 267hp (+3hp) 304hp (+40hp) 436hp (+172hp) Heal Other 518hp 525hp (+6hp) 596hp (+78hp) 854hp (+336hp) Absorb Pain 0 1339hp (+1339hp) 1522hp (+1522hp) 2180hp (+2180hp) Spirit Ward 35hp per tick 43hp (+8hp) 59hp (+25hp) N/A Fortitude 17% Def, 18% To Hit 17% Def, 22% To Hit 23% Def, 28% To Hit 38% Def, 46% To Hit i do observe that the eternal 'Flavour of the Month' on homecoming is building for defense without reflecting on whether it's helping the AT or the player to achieve their key objectives. defenders are great archetypes as their support numbers are the most generous, building upon that really makes them shine at what they can do again, that's personal preference though - i really enjoy enhancing the base characteristics of the archetypes i play so that the build creates most potent 'version' of the primary set. i appreciate many people prefer combat classes and don't necessarily want to commit too heavily into the support role. which is what corrupters are for in my view

looking at the build, i would consider rolling it as a sentinel - it would give you the defensive and damage focus you're looking for, the defender AT will hold you back on this side of things. or as a halfway house, consider rolling it as a corrupter for a greater damage potential

apply SB twice per TF* you’ve had your allocation for the next 10 minutes, now watch these cool T1 and T2 elec blasts, bzzzzt!

what were the things that put you off elec/shield? i ran one to 50 and have found the combo of lightning strike + shield charge to be an unbeatable AoE damage combo

i agree with everything here and @COH Radgen’s post. it’s valuable to understand how an AT or powerset works before throwing yourself into high end content we see at times people asking to be handed a build for their new alt without a any thoughts on how to actually play the character. people are interested in learning how to drive a car and are worried about whether the power output of the ferrari 488 is enough or if they should get the 488 pista i would also like to specifically agree with Tidges point on needlessly (at times) building for defense. the seemingly everlasting FoTM is that every alt should be built defensively and played as a scrapper which is a shame as there’s a number of squishy ATs which are even better when played to the strengths of the AT

not surprising, hard to be disappointed with a fire blaster!

poor kinetic melee

kin / super strength defender, or any melee defender would be something i’d love to see on HC

sounds fun but i think it would quickly lead to people not finding the game rewarding like on Age of Empires II when you start mashing out the cheat codes for vast quantities of extra gold, stone and wood - not to mention the cobra car. after 10 minutes nothing is a challenge and the interest wears off

i have seen this first hand - a few years ago i made a (mostly jokey with upside down text) post about how the default state of the mouse was 'inverted', which bugged me on a very tiny level because if you asked for an item, say a cup, you wouldn't hand it to someone in its inverted state i noticed a few months ago the default state is 'normal'

you heard him fellas, straighten up or you’ll get whacked like the last wiseguy!* *please don’t smite me kind and benevolent GMs oh.. what’s this? i appear to have dropped a sizeable bag of influence outside the GM HQ, it’s too heavy for me to pick up so i am forced to leave it here…

my takeaway from this data is that the ultimate defensive alt is a regen stalker 😛

hmm, not having seeds of confusion would be quite a significant omission from a plant dom, its the primary reason to choose the set. having the AoE hold is also very useful to manage aggro out of interest, have you considered rolling a sentinel? a key attribute of a dominator are the mez powers, which seem to be getting in the way of what you’re looking for from what i can see - a sentinel would give you much greater defense and lots of blast powers

i’ll ask @Mezmera for this thoughts - our resident energy fanboy

hey - i used to main a mind/fire on live and have had it as my main on HC for the last 4.5 years too. it's 1 of the 2 alts i play. it's completed all ouro arcs, TFs, trials, lots of fun on speed runs, 4 star content and all sorts some thoughts if helpful: - you're correct that it's almost entirely ranged which is helpful. incincerate is worth picking up for the lower levels and has reasonable damage - i don't build for defense as it's not needed and reduces its potential. i find i'm not getting much aggro if staying at range and if i am, i can lock things down. i primarily team. i'm also a big fan of insps and regularly stock up - you may find at the start it can feel a bit inert, but it'll build over time. once you're level 30 and have blazing bolt and blaze it really takes off - you'll enjoy confusing enemies which give out debuffs, in order to instead debuff the mobs, and discovering enemies which usually buff their team mates and now buff you. my record is getting 13 stacks of accelerate metabolism from rikti guardians - compared to a controller, playing a dom is like being on a controller and a blaster at the same time. in some teams or battles you'll be primarily a damage dealer if peoples health is staying high and things are manageable - no point firing off controls if it's not needed. in other situations, things will be quite hairy and you'll be looking to lock down the most disruptive enemies before wiping them out. fire has incredible ST damage, i focus mostly on bosses as the rest of the team will quickly remove the minions and luts - any mastery is fine, i wouldn't lose sleep over it. pick whichever you find the most fun - mezmerize slotted for damage is a useful ST psi attack, it's good for things like the minotaurs on ITFs which pop invul - an AoE sleep is more useful than you think. sometimes you want a mob to not get aggroed whilst the team focus on the current battle, or if you've pulled something accidentally you can reduce the aggro - blazing bolt and blaze are two incredible attacks - high damage, short animation times. i'd probably include a second damage proc in blazing bolt if i was going to refresh my build - for incarnate alpha i went with intuition radial paragon. it's a great blend of +dmg, hold duration and range. the latter is especially useful given almost all our powers are ranged - as personal preference, i find having combat jumping is a must. i like being able to move around quickly during battle and it's a handy LoTG +rech mule - the new telekinesis is good for bunching mobs but is a learning curve. i've found using it for around 1 second at a time works best, it groups them up but doesn't push them around everywhere - consider taking vengeance. you can put a LoTG +rech in veng and manuvers. it's fun sometimes to take part in a chaotic battle until someone dies, pop veng, pop an AoE control and then it's smooth sailing - fiery orb is terrible but looks pretty - that's its only use overall it's an incredible combo. one of the top 2 most powerful doms other than plant/energy. i have not been able to play another damage dealer as everything else feels like a downgrade compared to the dom. when i play a blaster i really see the value of being able to lock down enemies, when i play a scrapper it feels like life in slow motion i'll see if i have a mids build, but have put a screenie below for now. it achieves perma dom without always needing to click hasten, which is nice if you want to idle for a bit with domination on autofire

you never know, perhaps they’re still on the character creator trying to create the perfect wizard

a poison/fire defender and a fire/kin corrupter would get my vote for most powerful duo. a bit sketchy and fragile at times, but huge potential

here’s some semi- incoherent rambles about kin if helpful. in summary: put a few acc and recharge into your kin powers and use them frequently, do what you want with your secondary and just enjoy blasting when you have the opportunity i play my defender heavily as support and find i don’t have a huge amount of time for secondary blasts. kin is also such an effective set that the build isn’t overly important - paying attention to the team and leaning into the kin goodness leads to a more effective outcome

i wouldn’t worry too much mate. i think almost all of us in this thread have either had stuff removed, argued with each other or been told to stay on topic over the years hope to see you back soon