Defender or Corrupter?

[ceto555]

Hi folks,

 

I'm looking to make a FF/Energy to mainly solo level, and do Task Forces and raids once in awhile at 50. Which would give me an easier time leveling up, Defender or Corrupter?

 

Thanks!

[OmegaOne]

My main is an FF/EB Defender and I had no issues with levelling solo. The Corruptor will probably do more overall damage due to Scourge (though the bonus damage DEFs get when solo is nice, and with Assault I'm doing almost +50% damage). As a Defender you will get some nice status resists 8 levels earlier with Dispersion Bubble, and it is more powerful.

 

In any case, I've successfully solo-levelled with both ATs - really comes down to when you want to get your powers and flavour.

[Apparition]

Dispersion Bubble's mez protection is actually stronger on Corruptor than Defender, and being that there are plenty more sources of +defense compared to AoE mez protection, that tips the scale in favor of Corruptor IMO.

[oedipus_tex]

Both have their perks.

 

I'd lean Defender for the (IMO) superior self heal proc ATO, which will come in handy on a set like Force Field. 

 

 

Arguments for the Corruptor is the late blast powers are a lot more useful than the late Force Field powers. Level 35 is a long wait for Explosive Blast.

[Doomguide2005]

     My answer when it's more or less a coin toss and potential preferences is 

    1000 slots, so do them both.  Then when the next person comes along asking, just like @OmegaOne you'll know the pros and cons.

50 minutes ago, Apparition said:

Dispersion Bubble's mez protection is actually stronger on Corruptor than Defender, and being that there are plenty more sources of +defense compared to AoE mez protection, that tips the scale in favor of Corruptor IMO.

And weird assuming CoD is correct (weird twice over, first defender vs corruptor and then primary vs secondary).  But the difference should moot outside of some very unique circumstances where the mobs both hit and hence stack 3 (vs 4) mag 3 mez attacks (and 4+ would likely mez both anyway).

Edited November 22, 2021 by Doomguide2005
Punctuation

[roleki]

1 minute ago, Doomguide2005 said:

     My answer when it's more or less a coin toss and potential preferences is 

    1000, slots do them both.  Then when the next person comes along asking, just like @OmegaOne you'll know the pros and cons.

And weird assuming CoD is correct (weird twice over, first defender vs corruptor and then primary vs secondary).  But the difference should moot outside of some very unique circumstances where the mobs both hit and hence stack 3 (vs 4) mag 3 mez attacks (and 4+ would likely mez both anyway).

 

I thought that sounded weird, but I guess Corruptors get the same version of Dispersion Bubble as controllers (7.5 +Def, 10.38 Mez) vs Defenders (10.0 +Def, 8.65 Mez).  What a weird thing, for Defenders to be less effective on one side of the power.

[Hjarki]

Without going into a lot of details, I'd caution that the two sets you're choosing are generally mediocre from the standpoint of game mechanics. If you want to play them for thematic reasons, that's perfectly acceptable but you should do so with an understanding of what you're getting into.

 

While leveling up with standard IO, Corruptor would almost certainly be better. Force Field is front-loaded in terms of powers, so it develops quickly even in secondary. Couple this with better damage in primary and Corruptor is just a solid choice.

 

Once you're at 50, Defender starts to look a lot better due to how you slot the powers. A large part of your damage comes from procs (which are the same regardless of AT) and Defenders are easier to build since they have better fundamentals to build around (which can also sometimes translate into more of those procs).

[Luigrein]

5 hours ago, roleki said:

 

I thought that sounded weird, but I guess Corruptors get the same version of Dispersion Bubble as controllers (7.5 +Def, 10.38 Mez) vs Defenders (10.0 +Def, 8.65 Mez).  What a weird thing, for Defenders to be less effective on one side of the power.

I admittedly am going off ancient memory here but I was under the impression power strength differences generally come from AT modifiers rather than baked in differences*. The controller version having better mez protection somewhat tracks there, they have better mez modifiers than defenders**, but I would expect corruptors to be closer to defenders on that front? I don't know the mods off hand but they were generally losely tiered into things your primary is known for>things your secondary is known for>other things.

 

*powers that summon psuedopets were a somewhat recurring issue that necessitated baked in differences for them.

 

**which I definitely remember being a topic of discussion once upon a time, some defender primaries have powers that are primarily control effects, which were numerically stronger when used on controllers despite it being their secondary set.

[Uun]

10 hours ago, Luigrein said:

I admittedly am going off ancient memory here but I was under the impression power strength differences generally come from AT modifiers rather than baked in differences*. The controller version having better mez protection somewhat tracks there, they have better mez modifiers than defenders**, but I would expect corruptors to be closer to defenders on that front? I don't know the mods off hand but they were generally losely tiered into things your primary is known for>things your secondary is known for>other things.

 

Apparently it's baked in and not the AT modifier. The corruptor/controller version is actually stronger. The Ranged_Res_Boolean modifier is actually higher for defenders, but it's multiplied by -20 instead of -30. 

Defender/Mastermind:   Mag (-20 * Ranged_Res_Boolean) Mez Protection (Held, Immobilized, Stunned) for 2.25s (all affected targets) for 2.25s

Corruptor/Controller:     Mag (-30 * Ranged_Res_Boolean) Mez Protection (Held, Immobilized, Stunned) for 2.25s (all affected targets) for 2.25s

 

[Troo]

 

Corruptor

[SeraphimKensai]

Gonna weigh in and say corruptor for the reasoning: if it's principally a solo build corruptor will get a complete attack chain earlier while you'll have access to PFF from the start, you'll get dispersion at 20 which is reasonably fine. In the event you team up, and the rarer event that you take the ally only bubbles on a solo toon with no pets, most teammates build towards defense softcaps, so the shield buffs are likely fine to be at corruptor levels rather than defender buff scales (but then again, since your a solo toon with no pets, what use do you get from them aside of chasing a set bonus or a mule?).

 

Scourge will help you finish off some enemies, but it's kinda a moot point as the solo defender damage buff + assault is really nice.

Make sure to slot any extra attacks with kb/damage iOS might as well send things flying and squeeze more damage. Aoes like explosive blast/Nova make sure to use a FF proc.

[Peacemoon]

I would go Defender. +30% dmg when solo helps a lot, plus the higher numbers from leadership and bubbles.

Also Defenders get some crazy good ATOs, where you can heal and shield yourself and allies just by blasting. 
 

Having said this, both will work well, and corrupters do get some perks. You’ll definitely do more damage whilst teamed as a corruptor, as Defenders lose their damage bonus then, and corrupters get Scourge. 

[Linea]

In general I recommend defender.

 

Something like this, but adjust it to your blast set.

FF Beam Dark Sniper - Heavy Gun 42-59 - Overwatch 1b - [i25].mxd

Edited November 22, 2021 by Linea

[Marshal_General]

I remember doing the math when I was choosing between sonic/TA or TA/sonic and even with the buff defenders get, corrupters still out damaged them before scourge was factored in unless the numbers on the character creation screen has scourge accounted for.

[JJDrakken]

On 11/21/2021 at 3:27 PM, ceto555 said:

Hi folks,

 

I'm looking to make a FF/Energy to mainly solo level, and do Task Forces and raids once in awhile at 50. Which would give me an easier time leveling up, Defender or Corrupter?

 

Thanks!

 

Corruptor - Energy Blast - Force Field.mxd  Here you go, if you plan to solo, this will be the build that will work best for you.

[Parabola]

1 hour ago, Marshal_General said:

I remember doing the math when I was choosing between sonic/TA or TA/sonic and even with the buff defenders get, corrupters still out damaged them before scourge was factored in unless the numbers on the character creation screen has scourge accounted for.

I believe scourge is included unless that's been changed recently. If the more detailed power data has two separate values, each 50% of the total then that's base and scourge. The representation of scourge numbers in game and mids are both wildly inaccurate* (again unless this has been changed recently, not in front of my pc to check).

 

* Edit: inaccurate is the wrong word, misleading is better.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Parabola

[Without_Pause]

On 11/22/2021 at 1:45 PM, Peacemoon said:

Also Defenders get some crazy good ATOs, where you can heal and shield yourself and allies just by blasting. 

The actual difference is defenders gets 8% more heal and Corrs get 4% more recovery through set bonuses. The difference in procs are Defenders get a minor PBAoE Heal and a minor PBAoE Absorb as where a Corr gets minor PBAoE +End/+Health and Chance for +Neg damage. So, a Corr will get more end and damage solo. A Defender would likely get more self heals solo due to the proc and some Absorb so a bit tougher.