Best solo Defender sets

[ranster44]

 I play solo way too much. I would like something that is relatively easy to level...

[plainguy]

Traps anything as that will get you near defense cap early with FFG slotted.. 

 

I would say Fire Traps 

4 Aoe/cone from fire and trip mine from traps.. 

Plus poison traps with lockdown proc keeps everything stuck.

Add in Oppressive gloom and you have a bunch of stuff locked down in aoe range

 

 

Time well for the heals and it is good for a being able to move around.. 

But Traps will give you more dps where Time will give you more heals for sure.. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2020 by plainguy

[Doomguide2005]

Traps or Storm would probably be my top picks solo.  Traps is undoubtably the safest of the two coming with both the defense and mez protection early on.  Storm packs quite a punch offensively while traps also does it requires a more up close and personal approach to deliver (but FFG makes that doable).  Storm can also burn the blue strongly where traps can be played quite ... patiently if desired or needed (but not required).

 

I'd also look at Poison, Time, and Nature Affinity ... largely because my experience with them is near zero.

[Siderous]

Time + any secondary + power boost = capped defenses on everything.  Proc'd distortion field and the hold for nice extra damage.  You cap your +tohit as well which maximizes your snipe damage.

 

My Time fire destroys things and can fire farm slightly slower than my brute. Doing one spawn at a time maps, max aggro maps is a bit tougher.

 

Teams love the buffs and utilities as well.

[Greentea]

Poison/Fire. Fun combo!

[Linea]

A) Almost any defender.  It's just figuring out the build and playstyle.

B) Listed in order of ease of play and/or lowest cost

• FF - Classic Offender, particularly if combined with Hover-Tanking, and a blast set with a heal.  FF/Water for instance.
• Traps - Another Classic Offender, see FF above.
• Eafn - Cheap easy build if you can keep your pet alive and play at low notoriety settings.
• Sonic - This one is much harder than FF. 
• Time - This one is a little trickier early on without status protection, but amps will fix that.  It's a beast end-game, absolute beast.
• Nature - This is another more difficult one, but endgame, and/or with amps and a good IO build can be very nice.
•  

[Force Redux]

Traps would be my top choice for solo Defender primary. It offers everything you need at relatively low levels, too. Some controls, debuffs, defense, mez protection, damage, draws aggro. Since you are solo, the downsides of set up and slow FFG speed are immaterial.

[Xandyr]

I solo'd an ITF with my dark/dp defender for what it's worth.

[Frosticus]

My most enjoyable solo defender is poison/fire.

My most capable solo defender is traps/fire. 

[Ankhammon]

I think a TA/Sonic is pretty special too for Solo.

 

Three powers allow you to set up whatever you want. Flash Arrow and you are near invis to getting in semi close range is easy. Sleep from Sonic (damage tick then sleep). Poison Gas Arrow after that and you have a mag 6 sleep effect going plus some minor defense and decent -Dam going.

 

Then it's just a matter of OSA/cone -res. lots more -res and buh bye most anything up to +2 before IOs.

 

Only real shortcoming is ambushes but a single stealth proc and that's taken care of.

 

Well, that and freakin Nosferatu. I keep getting close but cannot seem to get that guy (level 40)

[TaxibotJoe]

How about traps + something with a built in heal, e.g. water?

[Frosticus]

8 minutes ago, TaxibotJoe said:

How about traps + something with a built in heal, e.g. water?

It's good,  but almost unnecessary. Traps is quite robust and also diverts a lot of attention via caltrps, seekers and even mortar. The defender procs are more than ample at keeping you topped up even before the superior version. 

[Linea]

Unless you play like a Linean Lunatic.  But I'd agree for 99% of content and playstyle.  And Traps will even let you take out AVs (with relative ease) while you're at it.  Traps is very very nice.

[Without_Pause]

On 8/6/2020 at 11:59 AM, Linea said:

• FF - Classic Offender, particularly if combined with Hover-Tanking, and a blast set with a heal.  FF/Water for instance.

The issue is FF offers no -res so speed will be an issue. 

 

Traps or Time with beam has potential.

[Marshal_General]

How is electric blast? A lot of people say that it is weak, but compared to what? 

I have played a lot of games where you find out the sets people say are weak do 5% less damage at top end or something trivial like that.

 

I am kind of leaning towards EA/EB mainly for faraday cage.

[Omega-202]

14 minutes ago, Marshal_General said:

How is electric blast? A lot of people say that it is weak, but compared to what? 

I have played a lot of games where you find out the sets people say are weak do 5% less damage at top end or something trivial like that.

 

I am kind of leaning towards EA/EB mainly for faraday cage.

Electric blast is considered bad because it's secondary effect (endurance drain and -recovery) is usually useless unless you build specifically for using it.

 

Lets do a quick example: Fireball and Ball Lightning both have a 16 second recharge and ~1 second activation so they are a good direct comparison.  Fireball does 1.1928 base damage and Ball Lightning does 1.02 (85.5% of Fireball's damage).  What do you get in BL in exchange for only doing 85% of the damage?  -7% endurance and a 30% chance for -end recovery for 4 seconds.  For the most part, that -end effect is completely useless.  Minions and Lts will die before they are drained, and AVs have absurdly large endurance pools and debuff resistances.  For the most part, the only time the drain comes in handy is on certain boss enemies, but even then, you need to stack multiple levels of -end.

 

Another issue is that Electrical Blast lacks a tier 3 blast.  That is less of an issue now that fast snipe is so straight forward, but it does mean that you need both the tier 1 and tier 2 to make an attack chain, whereas a set like Fire can go with tier 1, tier 3 and snipe and have a higher DPS chain. Voltaic Sentinel is nice, but it kind of does its own thing and does't always attack the right targets.  

 

I will say that if you really want to go with Electric Blast, Electrical Affinity is the only primary that would really make it work.  

Edited August 12, 2020 by Omega-202

[Psylenz0511]

On 8/12/2020 at 9:55 AM, Omega-202 said:

Electric blast is considered bad because it's secondary effect (endurance drain and -recovery) is usually useless unless you build specifically for using it.

 

Lets do a quick example: Fireball and Ball Lightning both have a 16 second recharge and ~1 second activation so they are a good direct comparison.  Fireball does 1.1928 base damage and Ball Lightning does 1.02 (85.5% of Fireball's damage).  What do you get in BL in exchange for only doing 85% of the damage?  -7% endurance and a 30% chance for -end recovery for 4 seconds.  For the most part, that -end effect is completely useless.  Minions and Lts will die before they are drained, and AVs have absurdly large endurance pools and debuff resistances.  For the most part, the only time the drain comes in handy is on certain boss enemies, but even then, you need to stack multiple levels of -end.

 

Another issue is that Electrical Blast lacks a tier 3 blast.  That is less of an issue now that fast snipe is so straight forward, but it does mean that you need both the tier 1 and tier 2 to make an attack chain, whereas a set like Fire can go with tier 1, tier 3 and snipe and have a higher DPS chain. Voltaic Sentinel is nice, but it kind of does its own thing and does't always attack the right targets.  

 

I will say that if you really want to go with Electric Blast, Electrical Affinity is the only primary that would really make it work.  

Kin/Electric probably drains better than Electric Affinity but Kinetics does not have Faraday Cage.

[BrandX]

Time/ and Dark/ I've done quite well solo.

 

Rad/ I personally didn't like running solo.

 

 

[Gulbasaur]

Time can be built to tank and is a strong set all round. Its focus on debuff and control make it very solo-friendly.

 

Traps is great, although you have to be mindful of positioning a bit. Corners are your friend.

 

Storm solos very well, although it is something of a late-bloomer in terms of being able to deal with bosses. It obliterates minions, especially if paired with an AoE heavy secondary like water blast.

 

Dark does pretty well solo with a strong heal and a lot of debuff. I think the rez can also rez you, but you have to time it exactly. You also get a pet, which is a novelty.

 

Radiation gets the job done very well because it has a bit of everything. That's the traditional "I can solo anything" defender build.

 

Kinetics is probably too late blooming and has little by way of damage mitigation beyond healing and a relatively small damage debuff.

 

In terms of secondaries, I'd recommend dark or water.  Both have a heal that you can attach an endurance proc onto. Dark debuffs ToHit and water just has a lot of knowdown, which is very useful.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Gulbasaur

[Ankhammon]

On 8/12/2020 at 8:55 AM, Omega-202 said:

Electric blast is considered bad because it's secondary effect (endurance drain and -recovery) is usually useless unless you build specifically for using it.

 

Lets do a quick example: Fireball and Ball Lightning both have a 16 second recharge and ~1 second activation so they are a good direct comparison.  Fireball does 1.1928 base damage and Ball Lightning does 1.02 (85.5% of Fireball's damage).  What do you get in BL in exchange for only doing 85% of the damage?  -7% endurance and a 30% chance for -end recovery for 4 seconds.  For the most part, that -end effect is completely useless.  Minions and Lts will die before they are drained, and AVs have absurdly large endurance pools and debuff resistances.  For the most part, the only time the drain comes in handy is on certain boss enemies, but even then, you need to stack multiple levels of -end.

 

Another issue is that Electrical Blast lacks a tier 3 blast.  That is less of an issue now that fast snipe is so straight forward, but it does mean that you need both the tier 1 and tier 2 to make an attack chain, whereas a set like Fire can go with tier 1, tier 3 and snipe and have a higher DPS chain. Voltaic Sentinel is nice, but it kind of does its own thing and does't always attack the right targets.  

 

I will say that if you really want to go with Electric Blast, Electrical Affinity is the only primary that would really make it work.  

Time/Elec is a fun ride. You can get some drain going and early on it helps but the hidden gem of /Elec, IMO, is the Voltaic Sentinel. Ppl love to downplay it because of the aggro and the small per individual shot damage. I like to look at the total amount of damage it can do which is like 1k damage during it's little life and the activation time of a couple or 3 seconds (sorry, no mids in front of me). it's definitely better than at first glance. and it's recharge is its duration so no rech needed. 

 

Bonus is that Time doesn't care if you draw extra aggro (Neither would EAffn after some defenses) and with some proc loving Time shores up the aoe trouble with /Elec mentioned by Omega.

[chadius]

On live I had a Kin/Arch. Siphon Speed + Hover lets you fly around the battlefield with quick animation blasts, so you're basically playing a schmup.

 

Storm/Fire is my Def on Homecoming and she just rides the chaos. Freezing Rain and Rain of Fire causes minions to scatter instead of attack you. Tornado melts mobs and Lightning Storm zaps bosses. And you don't have to wait until level 35 for the fun to begin.

 

Time is also easy. But time is always easy.

[Lockpick]

I have only one defender at 50 (Time/DP) and he solos quite well.  The build is from the proc monster thread and I can't remember if it is a Sir Myshkin, Bopper, or someone's build, but it works very well in solo and team play.

 

• Soft-cap defense to all via Power Boost and Farsight
• Capped S/L resist
• Recovery and healing via Temporal Mending and Chrono Shift
• A self buff (Soul Drain) to damage and To Hit
• Proc damage is great when the procs fire and have several AoE damage powers
• HoB is bugged right now, but is apparently fixed in Beta

Anyway, a very awesome combo that I am still playing today.  I have done +4/8 in DA with this build.

 

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
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Click this DataLink to open the build!

Cowboy: Level 50 Natural Defender
Primary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Secondary Power Set: Dual Pistols
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temporal Mending -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(3), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Prv-Heal/Rchg(5), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(5), Prv-Absorb%(7)
Level 1: Pistols -- SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(7), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9)
Level 2: Time's Juncture -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(9), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(11), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(11)
Level 4: Empty Clips -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), ExpStr-Dam%(15), Ann-ResDeb%(17), PstBls-Dam%(17), ImpSwf-Dam%(19), TchofLadG-%Dam(19)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 8: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 10: Swap Ammo
Level 12: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), GldArm-ResDam(21), GldArm-End/Res(21), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(23)
Level 16: Bullet Rain -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), ExpStr-Dam%(25), Ann-ResDeb%(25), PstBls-Dam%(27), ImpSwf-Dam%(27), JvlVll-Dam%(29)
Level 18: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(29), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Rct-Def/EndRdx(31)
Level 20: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 22: Suppressive Fire -- GldJvl-Dam%(A), UnbCns-Dam%(23), GldNet-Dam%(33), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(33), NrnSht-Dam%(33), Dcm-Build%(50)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31)
Level 26: Slowed Response -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(34), AchHee-ResDeb%(34)
Level 28: Executioner's Shot -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(34), TchofLadG-%Dam(36), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Apc-Dmg(36), Apc-Dam%(37)
Level 30: Distortion Field -- GldNet-Dam%(A), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(37), NrnSht-Dam%(39), ImpSwf-Dam%(39)
Level 32: Chrono Shift -- DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(39), EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(40), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(40)
Level 35: Soul Drain -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), Erd-%Dam(40), ScrDrv-Dam%(42), Obl-%Dam(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 38: Hail of Bullets -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), FrcFdb-Rechg%(43), Arm-Dam%(45), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(45)
Level 41: Dark Embrace -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(45), UnbGrd-ResDam(46), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Piercing Rounds -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Ann-ResDeb%(48), PstBls-Dam%(50), ImpSwf-Dam%(50)
Level 47: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13), Pnc-Heal/+End(13)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(15)
Level 10: Chemical Ammunition
Level 10: Cryo Ammunition
Level 10: Incendiary Ammunition
Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement
Level 50: Clarion Radial Epiphany
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment
Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 50: Tsoo Core Superior Ally
------------

 

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[wolfshadow31]

My dark/dark has been soloing 0x6 to 0x8 ever since around level 30 or so(she is 49 now).  Twilight's Grasp is a decent heal.  You have a hold, tar patch.  The heal debuffs regen, and tar patch debuffs damage resistance, so it's a nice combo on harder enemies.  Bunch of cones...but I love them.  Fearsome Stare, drop tar patch, Tenebrous tentacles to immobilize everyone.  Then spam your aoe cones while using your single target hold and attacks on the bosses.  Everything is dead by the time tar patch expires.  The -tohit that pretty much all the dark blast has, is basically like +def for you, so you rarely get hit.  The dark pet procs a hold, and heal every onec in awhile to supplement your own.  

 

The cones do usually require some running around to position yourself, but I kind of like that its an active movement set.  Anyways, just my input on the topic

[Without_Pause]

My main on live was Kin/elec. In short, you need -recovery to make end drain worth a damn and having more than one player helping can be required in some cases. Damage isn't that great either. I wasn't all that fond of soloing the build even high up. My Rad/sonic was far better.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Without_Pause

[ranster44]

 Thank you all for the awesome suggestions. I am trying Traps/Fire first  :)