How is Archery on Defender?

[Zewks]

Looking for a thematically classic archery/TA build, and been trying to decide between Defender and Corruptor.

 

Corruptors damage in mids is almost twice as much as the Defenders.  Does the extra -reset on some of the TA powers make up for it?

[Onlyasandwich]

Mids is showing scourge as well, so the actual gap is not so great 

 

I find it serviceable overall. Aoe is really nice. RoA is good dpa, and explosive animates quickly, also providing a great place for ffback.

 

Single target is a bit weak, as you dont have many extra proc opportunities to gain ground on corruptors. A proccy snipe goes a long way though.

 

 

[kelika2]

The damage will be bad

support will be so-so

forced to take t1 attack

 

I say go Corr or even Blaster.  Blaster's tactical arrow secondary is damn good

[Hjarki]

Archery is a 'Corruptor' set for a few reasons:

• Corruptors have an additional damage proc that Defenders don't. This is a big deal on a set where none of the single target attacks can take additional procs.
• The first attack (the one Defenders are forced to take) is awful and never used.
• It's one of only two sets with an Ultimate that can (realistically) Scourge. On a Defender, Rain of Arrows is crappy compared to the other ultimates. On a Corruptor, it's one of the best ultimates any set receives.

Archery on a Sentinel is also strong:

• Rain of Arrows is the only 16 target Sentinel ultimate and its damage/recharge is normalized to match the other ultimates.
• While still not very proc'able, Archery receives an additional decent single target attack (although this creates a problematic rotation where you don't use either of your first two powers).
• The fast activating, Force Feedback'able Explosive Arrow is probably the best basic AE in any Blast Set.

[TygerDarkstorm]

On 5/20/2022 at 10:17 AM, Zewks said:

Looking for a thematically classic archery/TA build, and been trying to decide between Defender and Corruptor.

 

Corruptors damage in mids is almost twice as much as the Defenders.  Does the extra -reset on some of the TA powers make up for it?

I generally say play what you like, but in this case, I agree with the others here. I made an Emp/Arch Def waaaaayyy back on live when I first started playing... Arch sucks on a defender. It's just absolutely painful. You're already doing lethal damage (mostly), so do yourself a favor and play the combo on a corruptor or blaster or a sentinel I guess (I didn't realize that it was decent on them but Hjarki makes it sound appealing).

[Mezmera]

Yes I wouldn't play Archery on a Defender seeing how they get the best debuff values out of their assaults so something like Archery that doesn't have a secondary effect for the AT to take advantage of I wouldn't recommend it over something like Sonic and Dual Pistol which has some real nice -dmg debuffing.

 

TA Defender is fantastic though.  I highly recommend TA/DP, its a busy playstyle but if you get some binds set up it is an amazing character to play.   

[JayboH]

Archery is terrible on a defender.  It's possible that it may be the weakest option.

 

Trick Arrow though is great after the revamp.

[Psyonico]

I'll be the voice on the other side, I guess...

 

Archery is better on Corrs than Defenders, yes, but then again, *most* blast sets are better on corrs than defenders.  Defenders have much more potent (de)buffs than Corruptors, however, and this can be a game changer.

 

I've got both a TA/A (50/T4'd) and an A/TA (34).  It is hard to compare them because the Def has been 50 for a long time, but I do think I enjoy it more than the Corr.  I want to take the Corr to 50 and IO him out so I can get a fair comparison of the two sets though.

[Sir Myshkin]

Aww, I like my TA/A Defender. It does just fine nuking everything in existence. It may not be the fastest alt in my stable, but there is no content it fears.

[Hjarki]

On 6/14/2022 at 4:35 PM, Psyonico said:

Archery is better on Corrs than Defenders, yes, but then again, *most* blast sets are better on corrs than defenders.  Defenders have much more potent (de)buffs than Corruptors, however, and this can be a game changer.

Blast sets will almost universally do more damage on Corruptors. However, certain features tend to make them better/worse:

• Strong reliance on secondary effects (example: Sonic) tends to make for "Defender" sets.
• Useless Tier One attack tends to make for "Corruptor" sets.
• Rains that optimize Scourge damage tend to make for "Corruptor" sets.
• Secondary effects that permit a high degree of proc slotting tend to make for "Defender" sets.

Archery hits every one of those points on the 'Corruptor' side of the equation.