Defender powersets info

[Elia87]

Hello everyone! 

I was just starting to get into the defender realm..I was wondering which power sets I could use to be able to solo content at 50 (gms and AVs?) and have fun..I wanted to make a defender for the first time, something with lots of procs to pump out dmg..any help is appreciated 

Thanks

[Psyonico]

Well, if you want to solo AVs, might I suggest Rad/Sonic? it's not a proc-tastic combination, but with all of the -res you stack (plus Lingering Radiation for -regen) it puts you in a good spot.

[Elia87]

Wow sounds awesome! But how do you deal dmg then with that combination?

[Arbegla]

21 minutes ago, Elia87 said:

Wow sounds awesome! But how do you deal dmg then with that combination?

 

Sonic Blast has damaging attacks. Its not the highest damaging ones, but it stacks some nice -res, so you're going to be doing more damage the more you attack. Especially with your radiation debuffs stacking on top of that. I think its the highest possible single entity -resistance combination.

[Gulbasaur]

I had a lot of fun with water blast - it's a very defensive powerset, having a lot of soft-control, reasonably good damage and a self-heal. It's more rounded than sonic and can take a lot more procs, meaning you do more damage overall. Sonic is a fantastic damage multiplier on teams, but I think it's a bit mediocre solo.

 

Radiation emission is the traditional "solo anything" powerset, having one of every single debuff in the game, but poison is also worth looking at because of the sheer strength of its debuffs. Time is also very good solo.

[Sir Myshkin]

Definitely check out the Proc Monster thread (link in signature) for help with procs on Defenders.

 

As far as AV killing is concerned, at least even con setting you should be able to handle quite a few of them regardless of the choice in power sets. Some of the biggest components to taking down hard targets aren’t just damage but debuffs, so things like -Resistance, -Regeneration will play a big part. Certain sets provide bigger impact and debuffs like Radiation, Cold, Traps, whereas some others don’t have any like Force Fields which make the struggle more difficult.

 

For blast sets you’ve got some like Sonic which have built in debuffing with -Res, but are inherently weaker in damage to offset that, and others like Fire which are aggressively strong damage dealers.

 

While I couldn’t personally get past the visuals of the set, Posion is a good call for being an AV hunter paired with Fire or Ice as a suggestion.

[Psyonico]

Poison and Time are great sets, but neither puts out nearly as much -regen as Rad or Dark, or even Cold, which if the OP wants to solo AVs, is really necessary (note: I haven't tried soloing AVs on Poison/Time defenders).  Another good choice would be Traps stacked acid mortars put out tons of -resist while poison trap floors regen.

[Sir Myshkin]

2 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Poison and Time are great sets, but neither puts out nearly as much -regen as Rad or Dark, or even Cold...

Just for clarity: having -Regen is definitely beneficial in a battle against an AV, but it isn’t a necessity. The biggest thing to overcome in a battle with an AV is their Regen, and than can be done by raw damage, or debuffs, of which just flooring their -Res can be enough for a Defender to do the work they need to no different than how melee builds can leverage small additions of -20 to -32.5% from a couple of procs to wildly swing their “DPS”.

 

Both Poison and Time are capable of supporting a set in taking down an AV, although Poison leverages a lot more -Res in the process.

[Psylenz0511]

10 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Poison and Time are great sets, but neither puts out nearly as much -regen as Rad or Dark, or even Cold, which if the OP wants to solo AVs, is really necessary (note: I haven't tried soloing AVs on Poison/Time defenders).  Another good choice would be Traps stacked acid mortars put out tons of -resist while poison trap floors regen.

 

I remember a post in the live forums that compared the raw -regen of defenders and that traps came out on top of dark and rad although dark, and rad have very good burst -regen.

[Psylenz0511]

I would like to add, this analysis was done before the buffs to Trick Arrow. Poison gas arrow and disruption arrow are no slouches in the debuffing  aspects of defenders. I just have a hard time soloing Trick Arrow, but I would think Trick Arrow/Fire might be godly damage.

 

For the synergy with buffing sets, don't overlook the beam rifle secondary. Disintegration is no joke either.

[Hjarki]

20 hours ago, Psylenz0511 said:

 

I remember a post in the live forums that compared the raw -regen of defenders and that traps came out on top of dark and rad although dark, and rad have very good burst -regen.

The use conditions on most Traps powers are sufficiently inconvenient that it's tough to directly compare them. It's not a bad secondary for a Mastermind since you're already stuck managing your pets and the same sort of tools (like Mass Teleport) tend to work for Traps. But for a non-Mastermind, you basically get all the clunkiness of a Mastermind without performing all that much better than the alternatives.

[Hjarki]

2 hours ago, Psylenz0511 said:

I would like to add, this analysis was done before the buffs to Trick Arrow. Poison gas arrow and disruption arrow are no slouches in the debuffing  aspects of defenders. I just have a hard time soloing Trick Arrow, but I would think Trick Arrow/Fire might be godly damage.

Flash Arrow makes solo'ing Trick Arrow trivial. Unless you're pushing the limits of the game, it floors enemy hit chances. The fact that you get a second ultimate in Oil Slick Arrow is no slouch either.

 

For AV/GM solo'ing, it's nearly unmatched because you get status protection on top of massive debuffs.

[FEARtheCURRY]

I thought instead of making a new topic this would be a good one to respond to. I was thinking of doing the exact opposite of the OP I was getting back to the game and wanna make a lowkey team player, someone that isnt as good with the solo content but will excel with the group stuff.

 

The powersets that I was thinking of using were empathy, time, pain and dark as my primaries (please let me know if there are others that make me a better healer/support) and then for secondary I was thinking either dark, sonic, water or psychic. Any help would be much appreciated 

[Dahkness]

54 minutes ago, FEARtheCURRY said:

I thought instead of making a new topic this would be a good one to respond to. I was thinking of doing the exact opposite of the OP I was getting back to the game and wanna make a lowkey team player, someone that isnt as good with the solo content but will excel with the group stuff.

 

The powersets that I was thinking of using were empathy, time, pain and dark as my primaries (please let me know if there are others that make me a better healer/support) and then for secondary I was thinking either dark, sonic, water or psychic. Any help would be much appreciated 

Time is absolutely OP. It can solo perfectly fine and be a monster in groups.  Defenders have access to the dark mastery. That’s pretty much a personal fulcrum shift. It can make empath or any other power set feel powerful

Edited May 2, 2021 by Dahkness

[Doomguide2005]

     The short of it:

      Empathy and Pain are probably the top sets for healing support with Pain offering some debuffs.  Time and Dark offer less healing options but provide strong buffs and debuffs.  But all Defenders offer strong buffs and/or debuffs.  Cold Domination, Sonic Resonance, Force Field, and Trick Arrow all have no heal, absorb or regeneration powers at all focusing on buffs and/or debuffs.  While healing can be important at low levels buffs and debuffs are far more vital to success by endgame and Incarnate content.  

     

[Bastille Boy]

@FEARtheCURRY The general rule for support toons in CoX is that buffs and debuffs are priority #1, attacks are priority #2, healing is priority #3. (The exception is in team PVP, where healing is top priority for emps.) I happen to like "healing" powersets thematically, and I've played all four of them to 50 on either a defender or a corruptor. I also have a Time defender. Thoughts:

• Empathy is very useful on mid-level teams and essential in team PVP. On endgame teams, where most characters have softcapped defenses, Fortitude loses some of its value. A resistance buff is usually more useful. It is a very "clicky" set; you won't be able to focus on your blast set as much. That said, by all means roll empathy if you like it thematically. (Your backstory can be almost literally any story!) A few highly skilled players have done amazing things with solo emps.
• Thermal Radiation is like Empathy, in that it is a "clicky" healing set, but it provides a +res buff rather than a +def buff, which is more useful in the endgame. The last two powers in the set are powerful debuffs. This is arguably the top "healing" set for PVE. I find it challenging to play solo. Aside from the AOE heal, there's nothing to protect the player.
• Pain Domination is less "clicky" than Empathy and Thermal. It has an AOE damage, resistance, and tohit buff that affects the player. If you want to focus on your blast set, or if you want to play a support toon who sometimes solos, Pain is a solid choice.
• Nature Affinity works differently from the other healing sets, as it provides +absorb, +regen, and healing over time to teammates rather than direct heals. (There's a cone heal, but I skip it.) It lacks a power to mez-proof your teammates. It does, however, provide +res and +dam. Nature defenders contribute well to teams and can also solo quite well.
• Time Manipulation is an excellent powerset both solo and on teams. It's not really a healing set, though it does have an AOE heal. Its key power is an AOE defense buff. Unlike the defense buff in empathy, the AOE buff in Time affects the player. This makes it easy to achieve softcapped defenses (45% either typed or positional) and gives you flexibility in an endgame build.

Of the four blast sets you mention, sonic is arguably the best on teams, due to the -res debuff it applies. You won't do as much damage as you would with other sets, but you will help your teammates do more damage. It's not as good as other sets solo. If you plan to solo, I would go with dark or water. Dark provides a -tohit debuff which is helpful defensively. Water allows you to fight entirely at range (no PBAOE tier 9 power).

[Elia87]

So it comes down to rad/sonic

And what else? Dark?/fire? Time also from what you guys say seems interesting

Edit spelling

Edited May 2, 2021 by Elia87

[Psylenz0511]

TA/fire

Dark/fire (works better with corruptors and the scourge ticks on the rains)

Traps/dark (for extra immobilize)

Rad/water

Time/*

 

Depends on the player tactics too, but all should be quite solid 

[Spectre7878]

The one thing I  don’t not like about defense sets like bubbles empathy etc is ally target buffs. I know it sounds trivial but constantly putting speed boost, bubbles, etc is just annoying. I like the pbaoe buffs that last a decent duration. I wish some of the sets were revamp to act more this way. That’s why I like time and nature.  That’s just my opinion though 😁

[Spectre7878]

Also. I wouldn’t mind defense set apply to the caster. I have a force field controller and I like that she can use the dispersion bubble on herself and allies. It would be awesome if the other two bubbles would apply on myself and team mates whether it’s a toggle buff (dispersion bubble) or a pbaoe click group buff (group invisible). I for one don’t think it would make the classes overpowered. I guess it depends on how you look at it. 

[StriderIV]

On 4/30/2021 at 5:24 PM, Hjarki said:

Flash Arrow makes solo'ing Trick Arrow trivial. Unless you're pushing the limits of the game, it floors enemy hit chances. The fact that you get a second ultimate in Oil Slick Arrow is no slouch either.

 

For AV/GM solo'ing, it's nearly unmatched because you get status protection on top of massive debuffs.

Trick Arrow for AV/GM soloing? Sir, you have my attention.

[StriderIV]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:16 AM, Psylenz0511 said:

TA/fire

Dark/fire (works better with corruptors and the scourge ticks on the rains)

Traps/dark (for extra immobilize)

Rad/water

Time/*

 

Depends on the player tactics too, but all should be quite solid 

Rad/Water seems like it could be pretty sweet.

[Doomguide2005]

    Again a lot if not all defenders can take on AVs particularly if the player doesn't self impose any limitations.  An Empath has solo'd a +4/×8 ITF.  I had an Emp/Sonic/Power build that could handle way back in issue 13 or so a RWZ lvl 53 3 boss Rikti mob (no temps, scrapper challenge rules).  And the lvl 54's were a draw, getting mezzed dropped her dps too much.  These days with Incarnate powers, changes to Nukes, P2W buffs alone would probably tip balance well into they're getting trounced territory.

    The only thing I'd add to @Sir Myshkin's post is a recommendation to have an Immobilize if at all possible.  Some AV's become Olympic class track and field stars and the ability to make sure they stay put as well as unable to get into melee range unless you want them to is not to be underestimated.

 

[StriderIV]

2 hours ago, Doomguide2005 said:

  Some AV's become Olympic class track and field stars and the ability to make sure they stay put as well as unable to get into melee range unless you want them to is not to be underestimated.

 

This had me rolling because we have all experienced this before 😂

[Elia87]

On 5/1/2021 at 2:24 AM, Hjarki said:

Flash Arrow makes solo'ing Trick Arrow trivial. Unless you're pushing the limits of the game, it floors enemy hit chances. The fact that you get a second ultimate in Oil Slick Arrow is no slouch either.

 

For AV/GM solo'ing, it's nearly unmatched because you get status protection on top of massive debuffs.

Any builds for that?