How is Personal Force Field supposed to be used?

[arcane]

35 minutes ago, roleki said:

everything still has a 5% chance of clobbering me...

I think you forgot to apply the damage resistance portion of the equation. 

[Rishidian]

38 minutes ago, roleki said:

 

'Worthless' is a pretty strong word, but only by a shade.

 

In 180-odd levels of running Fire/FF controllers, I've only ever activated PFF in earnest maybe 10 times.  That said, I've done so understanding that even with PFF active, everything still has a 5% chance of clobbering me... so I usually only activate it if escape is possible.

Ya know, Roleki - you just did the most to redeem this power for me.

 

Thank you!!

[DoctorDitko]

It's also a great adjunct to travel powers in areas with snipers, purples, or PVPers.

 

Get those Explore badges for the Long-Range Teleport power!

Edited July 30, 2021 by DoctorDitko

[Force Redux]

PFF ..no Tanker to take that Malta Alpha strike? Jump in with PFF, let them unleash on you. Now the team can join in.

 

Remember, PFF isn't just about Defense. It comes with a very large boost to resists, too. 

[roleki]

13 hours ago, arcane said:

I think you forgot to apply the damage resistance portion of the equation. 

 

Not forgetting that at all!  On those few occasions I needed PFF, by the time I realized I NEEDED PFF, I'd already taken enough damage that the next couple hits, even at ~60% strength, would be enough to make me a grease spot. 

 

Back before the Incarnate system was a thing and even yellow IO sets were only for the affluent, I used to 'farm' the wall in Cimerora with my Fire/FF controller; if even one of the Lieutenants-or-better broke containment, they would break containment for the whole mob and next thing I know, I've got multiple jerks farming ME.  Even the minions had 6000 attacks, so I had like a microsecond between hearing the "Hyuh! of Death" and actual death. 

 

Point being, if you use PFF as a buff to go places you probably shouldn't instead of using it as an ohshi button, that 40% Res(All) is of more benefit. 

[Shenanigunner]

On 7/28/2021 at 10:52 PM, Twisted Toon said:

Which reminds me, I need to make a keybind for my magic themed character with Teleport Other...

 

/bind LeftDoubleClick "powexecname [TP Self Power Here]"
/bind CTRL+LeftDoubleClick "powexecname [TP Other Powername Here]"
/bind Q "powexeclocation cursor [TP Self Power Here]"

 

...works for me. Besides the TPO, I find it easiest to make the first travel TP with the double-click, then keep tapping Q to jaunt along.

[Force Redux]

On my FF/Sonic and Bots/FF I developed a sixth sense for when things might head south. Because, yeah, if you time it poorly.... That said, PFF had saved my bacon many times. Combined with a resist epic armor and +health, it all stacks nicely. 

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

Yep a certain blaster player who shall remain nameless was often praising how useful powers like PFF and Phase shift on a blaster could be as classic oh shit buttons, especially handy when things ike force of nature are on cd or when you get a bit of bad luck with something like drain psyche and are not regenerating at a rate almost on par with a regen scrapper. It also is an lotg mule which is nice.

 

I have to be honest anyone who has to ask how to use such a power must be terrible at any game that requires tactical thought. Maybe try playing a game of chess every day against the computer at max dif setting. Might help sharpen up the ol strategy circuits and make you not need to ask such silly questions like what a force field that protects me from near all threat can be good for. If it worked as you foolishly seemed to think, it would be a most broken power indeed.

[arcane]

7 minutes ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

I have to be honest anyone who has to ask how to use such a power must be terrible at any game that requires tactical thought. Maybe try playing a game of chess every day against the computer at max dif setting. Might help sharpen up the ol strategy circuits and make you not need to ask such silly questions like what a force field that protects me from near all threat can be good for. If it worked as you foolishly seemed to think, it would be a most broken power indeed.

“Someone didn’t love you enough when you were little.” - Texas Ranger Bobby

[Shenanigunner]

It is kind of a bizarre power, especially as it's T1 (and required, IIRC). Of no real use except, as noted, a last-ditch run-and-hide power.

 

Do any other shield powers invoke Affect Self Only?

[oedipus_tex]

 

1 hour ago, Shenanigunner said:

Do any other shield powers invoke Affect Self Only?

 

 

Not sure I'd call it a shield power, but the pool power Invisibility used to do this.

 

I kinda wish PFF worked more like that. A huge Defense bonus as long as you perform only defensive actions, dropping if you attack. 

[Doomguide2005]

     A few other random thoughts:  

     Be wary of any power that says +Defense (All).  Seldom is 'all' actually 'all'.  PFF All doesn't include Toxic damage as well as a few truly exotic sorts.

     Up rank and up level foes get accuracy bonuses which can make you significantly easier to hit than 5% for their final hit chance.  Powers themselves get accuracy mods.  If a +4 AV unloads with a Nuke ... well that chance is closer to 15% than 5%.  

     Hopefully cascade failure isn't a thing or closer attention should be paid to your defense.  Base defense is 75%.  That's means you got hit through the soft cap 3 to 4 times in less than 10 to 15 seconds to get primed for cascade failure vs a +4 Cimeroran sword attack.  Could that happen sure but you should see those hits dropping your defense 75 to ~65 to ~55 to ~45 before it really gets ugly as you go under 45.

[Frunobulax]

it's my awesome zerg bubble for rushing objectives (can click through bubble) and then herding everything for a buffed t9 blast and waste buildup because I forgot to turn pff off

[Shred Monkey]

This is more of a question then a suggestion as I am ignorant about this subject.  Can masterminds use it once they get agro to tank for their beasties?  Or would that just be slow, awkward, and short-lived?

[arcane]

1 minute ago, Shred Monkey said:

This is more of a question then a suggestion as I am ignorant about this subject.  Can masterminds use it once they get agro to tank for their beasties?  Or would that just be slow, awkward, and short-lived?

You could, yes. It would just be clunky to *keep* aggro.

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

This is more of a question then a suggestion as I am ignorant about this subject.  Can masterminds use it once they get agro to tank for their beasties?  Or would that just be slow, awkward, and short-lived?

 

Unfortunately, pets lose Supremacy and the Pet IO buffs, so once they grab aggro back, they are going to get punished more. And PFF has a slow enough recharge for MMs that you can't just toggle it up and down in between taunts. 

[DoctorDitko]

Yep, apparently PFF is opaque to your pets. No Supremacy or buffs for y'all.

 

"Where did the boss go?"

"Dunno, he was there a minute ago."

"Should we keep doing what he told us to?"

"Yeah, but we shouldn't work as hard at it."

"At least we don't have to look out for him any more."

"Yeah! 'Bout time."

 

Same thing happens if you go fully invisible. There's a workaround for that one, just stack Stealth (Superspeed+Stealth is my favorite) and you're effectively invisible but your damn robots can still tell you are there.

Anyone know a workaround for any of the "Affect only self" powers? 'Cause even flying on my Cosmic Frisbee makes them forget about me.

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by DoctorDitko

[oedipus_tex]

There are insightful posts above about this power.

 

A lot of the conversation dovetails with a classic complaint about PFF. Ducking into it cuts your allies/pets off from the benefits of Dispersion Bubble. That's why in the IO era it's usually considered more effective to IO for Defense. Once you're soft capped, unless you need the extra Resistance or experience a -Defense effect, using PFF sets your pets/team back. Of course not every Force Fielder is IO'ed, so you might occasionally use PFF and just leave the team to be picked off by the Karens.

 

Blasters and such who pick it up as an APP power don't need to worry about this as much so it can be an okay power for them.

[Rishidian]

8 hours ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

I have to be honest anyone who has to ask how to use such a power must be terrible at any game that requires tactical thought. Maybe try playing a game of chess every day against the computer at max dif setting. Might help sharpen up the ol strategy circuits and make you not need to ask such silly questions like what a force field that protects me from near all threat can be good for. If it worked as you foolishly seemed to think, it would be a most broken power indeed.

Would this mean you haven't been honest up to now?

[ForeverLaxx]

I found the best use of PFF is to deflect the alpha strike of a mob rather than try and survive the damage afterwards if things go south. The most dangerous moment for most spawns is that initial attack since all the enemies in the spawn will be relatively in sync with each other. Each guy in the group may only deal 100 damage on its own, but when 10 different sources of 100 damage are all hitting you at the same time, you may as well be taking a single hit for 1000. PFF gets around this completely when needed and should still be back up in time to use as an "oh crap" button should you still need it.

Edited July 31, 2021 by ForeverLaxx

[Twisted Toon]

10 hours ago, Shenanigunner said:

 

/bind LeftDoubleClick "powexecname [TP Self Power Here]"
/bind CTRL+LeftDoubleClick "powexecname [TP Other Powername Here]"
/bind Q "powexeclocation cursor [TP Self Power Here]"

 

...works for me. Besides the TPO, I find it easiest to make the first travel TP with the double-click, then keep tapping Q to jaunt along.

 

Actually, what I was thinking, was having my magic user say "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home!".

 

And then teleport the target to me.

 

Might have to make a lizard wizard for this one...

[Shenanigunner]

31 minutes ago, Twisted Toon said:

Actually, what I was thinking, was having my magic user say "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home!".

And then teleport the target to me.

 

/bind CTRL+LeftDoubleClick "powexecname [TP Other Powername Here]$$gDrizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home!"

 

Next? 😄

[UltraAlt]

On 7/29/2021 at 2:00 PM, Rafkin said:

it sounds like it's a rather strong "oh crap" button.

 

Yep, exactly. Give you a second to go through your tray for respites or what not, if you don't have a marco built for that yet.

 

/macro Heal "inspexec_name respite$$inspexec_name dramatic_improvement$$inspexec_name resurgence"
is my basic one.

[Shred Monkey]

I think that the bonuses of PFF are obviously too much to not have a big down side.  So while the downside makes it pretty useless, if they changed something it would need to be offset with some sort of weakening of the upside.  

 

That said, almost every build I have uses defense pool powers for IO mules to slot one or more of the IO global bonuses.  Some of these are used so little, or not at all so I don't even drop them in my power tray.  (grant invis, vengence, etc).  PFF would be an upgrade in that I might have a reason to turn it on sometimes.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2021 by Shred Monkey

[catsi563]

On 7/29/2021 at 12:03 AM, Blackbird71 said:

When everything else goes wrong and you need to get out of Dodge.

 

Or, when everything else goes wrong, and you need to stop and reapply buffs/use a bunch of inspirations to recover before getting back into the fight.

 

Basically, it's a panic button.