Golden Azrael

Nightmare, Excellent Post. The 'CoH Cake' superbly summed up. Showing depth of understanding. As for Sentinel Elec/Elec/Elec (in my case.) L45 and it's really coming along. Added a dam proc' to SC and Ball of... It really makes the dam less scratchy and takes if 'over the top' to really begin to punish mobs. End Mod in Short Circuit boosts the already excellent end drain. 2 End Modded Power Sink plus a Stun Proc' drains the mobs of the ability to fight back within seconds. Gone Elec Fences to stop runners. And adds to the End Drain and -recovery malaise. I took Havoc Punch as it very meaty. 5 slot that with Hecca and you're talking a nice melee punch to break up the blasting. 2x AT sets fitted at the moment. 4 LoTG Globals fitted. Emphasising Melee Defence. Res' about 52% at moment for S*L. Unbreakable Guard helps boost the Melee Defence. Have 4 slotted Weave. Healing power from 2ndary is 5 slotted Panacea. The Energize is? 6 slotted Preventative. The absorb providing a nice handbreak from a possible collapse if surrounded and taking 'too much' punishment. It's coming along nicely. I may well take Hover at 47. I'm still debating having LField from teh Epic. I don't have any 'tick over time.' May be nice to have as I stand amongst the Elec Chain mobs with teh dam tick giving osmosis dam'. Azrael.

Great guide for Force Field. Will it be updated to feature the design pass from HC in the latest patch? Good explanations how to use the Force Field powers, how to slot. Particularly the use of Force Bubble and tik tokking it with Replusion Field. My Force Field Defender is now 'retired' following the wrecking ball delivered to the Tier 9 power. Force Bubble has gone from a dynamic power requiring mastery to a cast and leave it buffet of debuff. Having tried it on Beta and Live. Dampening Field just doesn't 'feel' right at all to me. It's completely static. Force Bubble is 'kludged' with Repulsion Field. A hot mess. I'd like Force Field to play more like Seismic does. Dynamic. Rock and roll ping pong. A hard buff set that has protection and offensive qualities. This is the 1st time for me, that a HC design pass has taken a step backwards. Despite initial excitement about a design pass for Force Field, I'm left feeling dissatisfied. Changing the Tier 9 seems wholly unnecessary. Dampening could have been put elsewhere in the set. Azrael.

The set didn't really need to contribute anything when people weren't in danger. It's a buff set... It simply did what it said on the tin. It allows 'weaker ATs' some solid protection via layers of defence. And hard edge protection through judicious and skillful application of harder edges buffs (which ofc, may irritate others.) There doesn't need to be 'another' mish mash of debuff numbers (nice though they appear to be but somewhat clumsily applied when a fine tuning approach would have been 'better.' So 'fixed' is a 'point of view' that will be debated. Most things on a big team are a chore. IN that scenario it's about the speed of the mob wipe. Which can sweep past some of Force Field's nuances. But that's my own bias and preferences leaking into this thread. I've seen Force Bubble used to great effect on medium and 'big' teams alike. By people who knew how and when to apply it. And it's great for pulling or pushing on smaller (or larger) teams. Not every team has a 'tank' on it, so having 'tanking' like powers to create a temporary rangey tank is useful. The power of intervention is what Force Bubble has. FF has hard buffs to elevate and intervene. The inside and out nuances of the set may not be liked or appreciated by everybody. Nor does it have to be turned into an inoffensive soft debuff Tier 9 (I feel increasingly of the view that the debuffs should just be wrapped into Dispersion Bubble. It seems to be the ideal place for them. And just put some slow mob and slow debuff protection on the Force Bubble. Neuter the expensive end requirement of Replusion. Job done. Toggle Detention Field is you must. I can live with all this. If they're put in the correct places. Rather than dismantling things.) A mushy debuff static bubble that will get 'ran past' an 8 man roller team is a solution that didn't fixing on Force Field. I didn't catch the Detention Field as a Toggle. I'm quite happy with it as it is. But I can see the reason for toggling that. Niche powers are allowed. That apply solutions to different problems. Rather than debuff and wipe things out in Rikti Tower crushing speeds. There are different ways to play the game and the Force Field set uniqueness represents a different point of view. I'm not against debuffs coming into the set, but I understand Tath's deep reservations into whether these are required on a hard buff set or dismantling a sound Tier 9 power to do so. It's already an excellent buff set. Just put the debuffs into Dispersion. It's a power which seems far more qualified to handle sweeping debuffs. And, yes, put any speed penalty for mobs or slow debuff protection into Force Bubble. And if you're going to call something a 'BOMB' at least let such a force 'bomb' behave like it with a good scattering of mobs around the room. (That may not please a tank or scrapper who have to chase the resulting debris...) Azrael.

It indirectly turns to direct damage. That's fairly simple logic to understand. A blaster who has a big dollop of defence to not get put in a HP box...return to sender style can instead directly damage with 'relative' impunity. You may look forward to these 'buffs.' I might. If they were more simply and straightforwardly applied. There have always been reasons to play the Force Field set. The great defence numbers (especially if you play in Duo) you can walk the game with. It can elevate defenders and blasters alike with those defence buffs. As to the 'uncessarily' large Force Bubble. I used to think that. But mastering the Force Bubble can take time. It can directly influence combat solo or in teams. Not for the clumsy. That's where the practice and experience comes in. Even FOrce Bolt pinging mobs around has it's place. As does the Detention Field (make it a toggle? Sure...I can see that...)to remove bosses swaggering around... PFF. A show pony? Oh crepe power? Or a taunt and diverge power? Azrael.

Broadly balanced comments. The end cost change to Repulsion, is, of course, welcomed. The amalgam of Replusion and F Bubble is not. I'd agree with making the radius of Force Bomb more 'rangey' like Meteor. Not as catastrophic as Meteor but far more impactful with radius than currently is. A bomb. BOMB. Still feels like a beach ball of ballet mild boom power. I guess my main gripe is Force Bubble. It and Repulsion do slightly different jobs. Giving Force Bubble some debuffs and loosing the end penalty on Replusion are simple matters to address rather than the current and convoluted mish mash. Azrael.

This stretches credulity. FF has no way to increase damage for a team. 'Not true.' You put twin bubbles on a fellow team member (hello Mr. Blaster) and you 'directly' - indirectly increase the blaster and team's damage output. Turning the team from a death train to Atlas HP care of the Hollows to a runaway train of victory. Dispersion adds a layer of protection. Detention directly stops a boss allow the trash to be hoovered up much quick-o without the boss laying out a squishie on a team. I'd be in favour of a toggle feature for Detention Field as suggested by one of my global friends. Good idea by them. The -res is inconsequential as the FF is not a -res' set? It has powers which directly impact combat and a team's ability to survive. The debuffs can be split into two types. And thrown into Dispersion (which could do with some debuff tweaks, I'd accept that...stick any -res into this or the Force Bubble) and put the other debuffs re: slow for mobs/ slow protection, -acc into Force Bubble. The tweaks needed (if we agree that that we need -res and debuffs in the set and not all of us do...) don't have to have such catastrophic play style changes. Just roll them into what is already there. Much ado about nothing. Azrael.

Having DUO'd FF twice with Tath on Live and on HC, we're well versed in the kinetic play style of Force Field. To lose such a pivotal and dynamic power in Force Bubble is a huge reversal to its dynamic, hard edge control style of defending. Worlds away from Electrical Affinity. FF has all the tools at hand to keep team members alive from the super Def/Insul buffs (which I could self buff those...if the Devs are serious about helping defenders climb up from the 'bag of grapes' category...) which provide a huge dollop of defence numbers to the authoritative Force Bubble to directly intervene, 'tank' style (a ranged tank...so to speak) in matters of buffed protection. Direct. To the point. We don't need it replaced by a mushy, static, backward facing field that 'just sits there.' Just roll the dampening field debuffs into Force Bubble. We get the debuffs (-speed on mob, slow debuff protection from the blammed Arachnos..., some -acc due to the forces applied within the bubble...) from 'Damp' and keep the Dynamic Appeal of Force Bubble. (So those who have yet to master its virtues, can try practicing with it some more.) Azrael.

It can be direct or indirect. The beauty of the diverse Cryptic Defender AT power diversity. Azrael.

It's 'a' change.' But that change isn't immutable truth (ergo: we're in beta and the HC devs presumable want our opinion on the potential changes) and does diverge from the original Cryptic vision of the FF power set. It's Faraday 2.0 and all the poorer for it. Each Support set goes about its empowerment in different ways. That's the beauty of City of Heroes debuff/Buff classes. The sheer variety. There is no requirement to make them homogenous. Kludging two powers into one (Repulsion and Force Bubble) when the per mob penalty could be (and has been) easily removed and the 'Dampening' field power could just be rolled into the iconic Force Bubble 'hard edged' buff power. You'd have debuff and hard buff in one power that way. (If the devs feel that is allowed.) These changes are at the behest of the devs. Simple tweaks to Repulsion and Force Bubble are simple fixes. One end based. The other, rolling in some debuffs. What goes with Force Bubble? Slow debuffs. A sliding Knock over scale for mobs the closer they get to the epic centre. Two simple debuffs. Three if you included Slow Debuff protection, -acc as well given the struggle to aim within such a 'repulsive' environment. Play style wise. The 'drop it' debuff change rather than the far more in keeping dynamic toggle that rolls with your combat is a backward step. Completely unnecessary. (Eg. The Def/Insul' shields travel with the buffed...as does Dispersion and so should Force Bubble. The original design is dynamic and diverse variations on hard edged combat. Azrael.

Or named 'Damp Squib.' Cheap shot, Azrael. For the record I was excited about the idea that F.Field would get a design pass. This suite of changes isn't what I was expecting. The end cost tweak to Repulsion to something sane? I get. That's fine. 'Love Bomb' (cause it aint a Force Bomb...) getting a faster activation is 'fine.' I just think this power is a mis-noma. There's a chance here to really give 'the real villain of Force Field' a real makeover other than a timing tweak. Deflection and Insulation aren't going to 'Offend' anyone. They a subtle def' dollop to allow teams to 'roll.' I'd consolidate them into one power. And (controversially?) allow the Defender to self buff with them. This would allow you to choose the 'new power' dampening field as another insulating layer (with debuffs) against high end mobs. I'd also rather have this field as a toggle you can run that 'walks with you' just as Dispersion Bubble and Force Bubble do. Dispersion 'Bubble' is somewhat iconic. Most of the set is. But I always thought Dispersion was a rather weak buff/field. I'd rather most of the debuffs go to it to make it the power is always should have been. Soloing as a defender, I thought its protection was somewhat flimsy. Azrael.

I'm surprised how many of my builds don't have a travel power other than Athletic Run on HC. On live I couldn't live without a travel power. Discount heroes. With plastic carrier bags for capes. *ignominy. Azrael.

Interesting idea. Azrael.

I have to disagree about your disagree. Alot of the changes are shoe horned debuffs. Ironic that most of the fixes are fixing things that just didn't need fixing. Except 'Force Bomb.' (Which simply is nothing of the kind.) Maybe many expect bubble bot and Dispersion. But they're very subtle powers and don't put anybody's noses out of joint. Force Bubble and Detention Field will if used clumsily. They can be situational and tricky to master solo or in teams. eg. Detention Field. I've seen people apply a macro to its use to warn players that button mashing on this 'mob' is pretty futile right now because they're in a detention field where they can't harm anyone. The force bolt has an unnecessary name change. It's longer recharge time. It used to be fun, cheap and fast. Now. It's not. The Force Bubble has been kludged with Replusion. Very 'clumsy.' Pfft. Backward step. The 'static' play Dampening Field. 'Sounds nice' but has all the authority of being 'left behind' as teams rush onto the next 8 hero mob stomp. The Dampening Field will be 'left back there' looking somewhat subtle. That said. I'm not entirely against the idea of a dampening field as another type of Force Field. I'd quite happily merge deflection/insulation shield into one nice shield buff. ANd bring in Dampening Field as an extra power choice/string to Force Field's bow. I don't hate the idea of it. I just don't like the idea of it replacing the authorative hard edged playing combat/device of Force Bubble. Azrael.

...but didn't master Force Bubble? I've used it extensively on live and on HC to control mobs, tank, keep them at bay, pin them to certain locations, used it on teams upon occasion in targeted use. ...and yes. Occasionally use it to ruffle Controller's feathers after they 'lamposted' the taunt/aggro. 🙂 Azrael.

Detention Field is 'not the only' power that will 'get lost' in a rolling-all-conquering team of 8. It's for a different kind of game play. Not all CoH play is 'meal time at the Simpsons.' It's a subtle power, with a subtle appearance and used in incisive circumstances. That's fine. I quite enjoy the use of it to isolate bosses when I need to take out the trash 1st. When my Duo-partner and I were DUO-ing a FF/En Defender, we'd give the Detention Field an Orange/Red colour ie. Warning. Dangerous Boss isolated appearance leaving the cyan soap liquid powers alone for the rest of the set. It's a pretty low-key non-showy set graphics wise. Azrael.