An Elec / Water Defender Discussion

[Dracomicon]

Trying out my first Defender and here are some of my thoughts on Electical Affinity and Water Blast sets. This has been a difficult adjustment as I am used to playing a blaster and the damage difference between Blaster and Defender is huge. Procs added to the blast set powers can help out here, but then you lose out on set bonuses.

 

Electrical Affinity
This is a very clicky set, that has alot of potential but I often feel like I am herding a bunch of stray suicidal cats that can't sit still. Just trying to get the PUG members to stay in the Faraday Cage or keep moving it to follow them is exhausting. The more you use your powers the more static you get, the more players you can affect. I am not sure if chasing recharge or defense/resist bonuses is the best way to go yet.
Shock - This is a nice debuffer for the harder targets. Plus it builds one stack of static. I just don't use it much. It's hard to see the effects of the debuff, so I just put an one accuracy in it.
Rejuvenating Circuit - This is a nice heal that can make quite a difference if you are in the right place at the right time. It is great to have in the low levels but it often becomes less needed in the higher levels. I sloted this with Preventative Medicine (6 slots).
Galvanic Sentinel - My little sparky buddy. Nice to have when solo to get your bonuses bounced back at you. His help is situational but the -regen is helpful on hard targets. I am still debating about the slotting here.
Energizing Circuit - This end boost makes a big difference to most players. Just need enough recharge to have it when needed. I slotted this with 6 Synapse's Shock for the recharge and resist boost.
Faraday Cage - A fantasic power that gives a great boost to all resists and Mez protection to all but fears and confuses. This is a must have power. I drop 4 Unbreakable Guards and some of the resist uniques. I find it nice to have some sort of stealth to follow the melee and drop this down when they stop to clear mobs. You can also stay back with the ranged folks and give them some nice protection.
Empowering Circuit - This will give a nice boost to Damage and To Hit. The downside is that it only lasts for 60 seconds. I slotted this with 6 Gaussians for the defense bonus.
Defibrillate - A nice AoE rez that I have not used yet. I slot this with recharge. I am wondering if I should have taken this earlier in my build.
Insulating Circuit - I love this power! It give a nice chunk of absorb and a boost to regeneration. It is good to get this on as many players as possible and as often as you can cause it only lasts 30 seconds. I slot with a full set of Numinas.
Amp Up - This is a nice boost to recharge and specials of an player. Mids says it has a defense component but that is not correct. I just put a recharge in it.

 

Water Blast
This seems like a really nice set, and I kinda want to use it on a blaster. Full of slows and -Def and good damage if you are not a Defender. Lots of AoE as well.
Aqua Bolt - You have to take it, but the damage is lackluster. It builds tidal power. I slot for the bonuses.
Hydro Blast - This does more damage, builds tidal power, slows, and can knockdown. If I had a chance, this is the power to take first. I did not see the use of having both Aqua Bolt and this power.
Water Burst - This is an AoE with Aqua bolt damage and possible knock up. The more tidal power the better change to knock up. This is a power that I use often.
Whirlpool - I like this power, it slows and damages a large targeted area. I struggle to figure out how to slot this. Do I slot for slows, procs, or damage?
Tidal Forces - It is a nice build up power. It grants 3 tidal, so you can click this then click Water Jet twice. Slot for recharge and maybe to hit.
Water Jet - This is a great power when proc'ed out and you can hit this twice with 3 tidal. I liked this much more with procs, but is that best for it?
Steam Spray - I do not use cone powers much, and so I skipped this. But if you have the slots, this is a nice power with some range in it and procs.
Geyser - Love this power, large area, slows, can disorient. I stuffed as many procs in this as I could and love it. However, I did try 6 bombardments and it was good as well.

 

Power Pools
These are common pools that all ATs have access to, that help round out a build and give travel powers to all. Probably the most commonly chosen pools are: Speed, Leadership, Fighting, Leaping, and Flight. I am still learning which pools work well for my Defender. Here are some of my thoughts:

Fighting - This pool helps shore up your resist and defense with Tough and Weave.
Leadership - This is a great teaming pool that if everyone takes on your team the team bonuses are absurd. Maneuvers gives everyone ~5% defense in a 60' radius, and nice to have.
Leaping - This gives combat jumping for yet more defense and access to a fun travel power Super jump. Acrobatics is a not needed due to Faraday Cage.
Sorcery - A great set of powers with Spirit Ward for a bit more health protection, Flight, Enflame for a damage patch and Run of Protection for a great get out of jail button when needed.
Speed - The closest thing we have to a must have is Hasten, shouldn't be needed but very helpful in being able to use that favorite power more often. Super Speed with a stealth IO gives full invisibility, Burnout is an interesting power that can be fantastic when used correctly (two gang wars at once), and Whirlwind is a decent control power with a KB to KD IO if you have the end to run it.
Teleport - Combat Teleport is great for quick movement. Fold Space is great to round up mobs.

 

Questions:
1) End use seems like feast or famine. I either have plenty to use, or I am bone dry with no blue available. What's up with that? All the powers use a bit of end, am I spamming them too much?
2) Electrical Affinity is better in melee or at range? Does this change on a team?
3) How often do I use Shock? Only for AV's, or Bosses too, or also Leutenants? 
4) Who do I use Amp Up on? The crazy suicidal blaster, or boost the secondaries of a controller/dominator? It is more like a power boost and I am not sure how to use it.
5) Do I chase after procs or bonuses with the blast powers? Are they even worth using most of the time as the damage is so low?
6) Is there a good binding for Whirlpool that players use? I often click on it and loose the targeting recticle.
7) Do the proc's activate twice if you use the 3 tidal reset for this power? Proc's happen more often on long recharge powers when you have lots of global rechage, but with the tidal reset of the recharge does this mess up the proc rate?

 

 

Here is a build that focuses on defense range and S/L:

 

Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Electrical Affinity
Secondary Power Set: Water Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Rejuvenating Circuit -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(46), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(46), Prv-Heal/Rchg(48), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(48), Prv-Absorb%(50)
Level 1: Aqua Bolt -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 2: Galvanic Sentinel -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-Dam/Rech(42), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(43), SynSck-Dam/Rech/Acc(43), SynSck-Dam/Acc/End(43)
Level 4: Water Burst -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(9), Artl-Dam/Rech(11), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(11), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(13), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(13)
Level 6: Energizing Circuit -- SynSck-EndMod(A), SynSck-Dam/Rech(15), SynSck-EndMod/Rech(15), SynSck-Dam/Rech/Acc(17), SynSck-Dam/Acc/End(40), SynSck-EndMod/+RunSpeed(42)
Level 8: Faraday Cage -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(19), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(19), UnbGrd-Max HP%(21), GldArm-3defTpProc(21)
Level 10: Whirlpool -- PcnoftheT-Acc/Slow(A), PcnoftheT-Dmg/Slow(23), PcnoftheT-Acc/EndRdx(23), PcnoftheT-Rng/Slow(25), PcnoftheT-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(25), PcnoftheT--Rchg%(27)
Level 12: Empowering Circuit -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(27), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(31), GssSynFr--Build%(31)
Level 14: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(50), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(50)
Level 16: Tidal Forces -- GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(A)
Level 18: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Dehydrate -- PcnoftheT-Acc/Slow(A), PcnoftheT-Dmg/Slow(31), PcnoftheT-Acc/EndRdx(33), PcnoftheT-Rng/Slow(33), PcnoftheT-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(33), PcnoftheT--Rchg%(46)
Level 22: Shock -- PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(A)
Level 24: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 26: Insulating Circuit -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(34), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36), NmnCnv-Heal(36)
Level 28: Water Jet -- ImpSwf-Dam%(A), IceMisTrmt-Dam/Rech(36), GldJvl-Dam%(37), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(37)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(37)
Level 32: Amp Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 35: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Geyser -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(39), Artl-Dam/Rech(39), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(39), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(40), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(42)
Level 44: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(48)
Level 49: Defibrillate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance 
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(7)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(9)
Level 1: Combo Level 1 
Level 1: Combo Level 2 
Level 1: Combo Level 3 
Level 24: Speed Phase 
------------

 

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1430;676;1352;HEX;|
|78DA6594596F525110C7CF854B29B440E9462B5D2850E84269F113185BFBA0AD694|
|BEB6EC80D5C964880004DEC83718B5FC0179F5CA3551F5CBF821FC66EB4266AD4F8|
|80C39DFF0934DEC0FDDD336766FE33E70E2CDF5CE84CA7174F09C5399FD72A95C48|
|29ED60B29BD6C59D632B9A4685C56FA7AA53D717A339D8EC6B3C5E48DC47A562F6B|
|A5ADE6DE9A56C8E8A9E845ADDA70A47C55D1B1522CE6A38BF95C265BB51BCFF192A|
|EA75CC6E392AE5158259B2B39D8ADE1952B64BC674AB96474BE582E6F96AAC57262|
|594BEA74AB50DAAD01AA2640DF8D29BA294681758BD8310B1153C5CC2EB8C79CDD0|
|70F98B11AF356A035F8B1308CA627E053A6FA0C7CCE6C7BC1BC44CA0A8255654F35|
|8C93FBCCA903B0061E326F93A2592A9ACD16C3D8AE32ED16B08DD96905DB999749D|
|122832D507442D109C52E2886A13879C4BC42C156196CFDC107D0E521CBB02ABA7F|
|F2BAFB17B3F70F78927987CAB6C960DB3BC530F6BF073F30073E829F98273E33AF9|
|272870CEE7869E2CD57CCA16DF03573E40DF89669A3B17320D8E4E8E38CB1EF788F|
|E79877A93C179C840B99FD14E99646F734BFB47BE4D9236BE941232368C487467C6|
|8C4874666D0C83A35D22733F6FDE5730D908C471A3D36D6BE4E9E835266F002878F|
|AD826B609C1958073798F7A9462F82CDDE6D7E43013BCF4030C22D079DBC7693FC3|
|09C95619C4FB09799A03246656DA338021345F8058CFE3A5DE201298ECB72C73195|
|214C65085319C254863195614C65890A9A90154CA08249546026B169D9CB34A62E8|
|2698B60DA22BF992A394765A62832CD22D335EA654EF632875E865421AF3A7D1ABD|
|2CFD6F3AAF367FE6F515553ED3BE62ECD7ECCD7DFE57A1D4472D46458C71856D67C|
|91256C5E1B188098EF8762CE2114F42FB43E6D7FE6659F59DD6C56EEBE20B75E991|
|8B7FA609D8F0|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by Dracomicon
Updated as I learn more