My First Defender...a few questions about EA/Fire

[Yournameonrice]

I rolled an EA/Fire Defender as my first attempt at the AT.   I'm not new to the game, just never rolled one for some reason.  And I chose those sets as a bit of a concept so I want to stick with them.

 

But before i start working through a Mid's build, I was hoping to get some guidance on a few key questions.

 

What is reasonable to aim for with these 2 powersets?  Soft capped DEF?  Just S/L? 

 

Should I get as much global RCH as possible or just go for DEF/RES?

 

What about procs?  (specifically DMG procs)  Any powers that really excel with them?  I would love to get as much DMG as possible out of this toon and from what I have read it seems procs are a good way for Defenders to do so.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 8, 2021 by Yournameonrice

[Psylenz0511]

I have an EA/fire. He isn't level 50 yet, but I can tell you EA is a powerhouse on a defender. There are signature powers in every defender primary. I would point out one salient power in Electric Affinity that will define your build, imho. Faraday Cage is the game changer. I run in with the tank, or scrapper, or brute for that matter, drop the Faraday Cage first, proceed to buff, recharge, health, absorb, and tohit. The one feature, heal, is the one that comes up the fastest, but if you do it right, you don't need it as much as the energizing circuit which is +recharge, +end, Faraday Cage is a bundle of buffs, +resistance, mezz protection, endurance drain protection, knockback protection, and recharge debuffs (slows). You cast FC, you stay in FC, you invite squishies to FC. "Keep all arms and legs inside the Faraday Cage until the fighting comes to a complete stop." 

 

With that in mind, I suggest boosting your damage resistance attributes, slotting for recharge, and modest +defense as defenders go. I personally take all the EA abilities. Amp Up is lackluster to some. I get it. It's not Fulcrum shift, it's not Tactics, it's certainly not Fortitude, But, it does well with damage dealers, and the status effects and debuffs of your controller type characters are buffed as well.. Fire does synergize well with EA. The only one I find awkward to use is fire breath, and I might add, well worth using, but the other attacks are really good with staying in the FC. Proc it up, you have targetted AOE abilities and there are procs for those. Fire doesn't have -resistance or -defense to tack procs on, but fire itself seems to do more damage innately than other defender blasts. Plus, inferno, inferno, inferno to your hearts content in the FC.

 

Do I sound over the top high on Faraday Cage? Perhaps, I am. But I have experienced on an ITF where Faraday Cage has resisted the 'rez stun' when Romulus is defeated and absorbs one of his nicti, and that resistance is higher than the resistance in Dispersion Bubble for Forcefield and Sonic Resonance. Plus it stacks with other mezz resistance powers especially of the incarnate variety. You won't have to hide when Romulus dies on your squishy defender. I have also experienced that the mezz resistance for the Romulus stun is not as potent on a corruptor or mastermind -- Rommie will stun you!

[Linea]

Some builds ...

EAfn Fire Defender - Alpha 1 - [i26].mxd

EAfn Fire Defender - Fourcade 1 - [i26].mxd

EAfn Fire Defender - Myshkin 1 - [i26].mxd

Edited February 9, 2021 by Linea

[Yournameonrice]

19 hours ago, Psylenz0511 said:

I have an EA/fire. He isn't level 50 yet, but I can tell you EA is a powerhouse on a defender. There are signature powers in every defender primary. I would point out one salient power in Electric Affinity that will define your build, imho. Faraday Cage is the game changer. I run in with the tank, or scrapper, or brute for that matter, drop the Faraday Cage first, proceed to buff, recharge, health, absorb, and tohit. The one feature, heal, is the one that comes up the fastest, but if you do it right, you don't need it as much as the energizing circuit which is +recharge, +end, Faraday Cage is a bundle of buffs, +resistance, mezz protection, endurance drain protection, knockback protection, and recharge debuffs (slows). You cast FC, you stay in FC, you invite squishies to FC. "Keep all arms and legs inside the Faraday Cage until the fighting comes to a complete stop." 

 

With that in mind, I suggest boosting your damage resistance attributes, slotting for recharge, and modest +defense as defenders go. I personally take all the EA abilities. Amp Up is lackluster to some. I get it. It's not Fulcrum shift, it's not Tactics, it's certainly not Fortitude, But, it does well with damage dealers, and the status effects and debuffs of your controller type characters are buffed as well.. Fire does synergize well with EA. The only one I find awkward to use is fire breath, and I might add, well worth using, but the other attacks are really good with staying in the FC. Proc it up, you have targetted AOE abilities and there are procs for those. Fire doesn't have -resistance or -defense to tack procs on, but fire itself seems to do more damage innately than other defender blasts. Plus, inferno, inferno, inferno to your hearts content in the FC.

 

Do I sound over the top high on Faraday Cage? Perhaps, I am. But I have experienced on an ITF where Faraday Cage has resisted the 'rez stun' when Romulus is defeated and absorbs one of his nicti, and that resistance is higher than the resistance in Dispersion Bubble for Forcefield and Sonic Resonance. Plus it stacks with other mezz resistance powers especially of the incarnate variety. You won't have to hide when Romulus dies on your squishy defender. I have also experienced that the mezz resistance for the Romulus stun is not as potent on a corruptor or mastermind -- Rommie will stun you!

Thank you Psy!  That is great info!  I did not know of FC's true potency!  I have several of the AOE procs already waiting for this toon!

 

7 hours ago, Linea said:

Some builds ...

EAfn Fire Defender - Alpha 1 - [i26].mxd 5.54 kB · 43 downloads

EAfn Fire Defender - Fourcade 1 - [i26].mxd 5.52 kB · 48 downloads

EAfn Fire Defender - Myshkin 1 - [i26].mxd 1.46 kB · 0 downloads

And thank you Linea!  These are great starting points for my build.  And I am seeing several things I would not have thought of.  One question though...does the Gaussian Build Up Proc in Empowering Circuit give the BU to my toon or to allies?

 

Thanks again to both of you!