If you had to choose 1 Defender to run all the TFs, what defender would you choose ??

[smnolimits41]

The title says it all.  What would you choose and why ??

[Psyonico]

My Defender that leveled entirely through TFs (well, once he was 8 that is) was a Thermal/DP.  Thermal because it has a *lot* of great utility, and DP because it fit the concept that I had.

 

If I were to do it again, maybe Thermal/Dark? Dark provides -to-hit which is a nice compliment to Thermal's resistance shields.

[Linea]

Time/ - Just because it's my favorite, and you can build it like a tank.

FF/ - Same as above.  FF/Water, or FF/Dark is recommended, but even though those are optimal, I actually tend to play the FF/DP instead.

Huntsman - It's half defender half sentinel and there are very few builds that can malfactor as well.

[nethod]

ff or traps, i can't stand not having a dispersion bubble

[Ceejer]

Seconding the FF/* & Time/* for Defense based. Thermal/* for Heal and Resistance. 

 

Water and Dark give nice self health buffs with Dark winning out for that -tohit. 

[Doomguide2005]

     Solo or teaming?

 

     Solo well Cold, Dark, Traps are familiar.  Been there done that.  I'd try Nature, EAff, Thermal, Time and TA.  They're either new to me or highly changed since I last played (TA).  Traps I've run as my choice in a hardcore SG (didn't make 50, died at 20th when I over-aggro'd).

 

     Teamed would be Empathy, Pain, Sonic, RadEm, Storm.  I generally prefer Storm, RadEm, Kinetics, and Force Field as a secondaries.

 

     Which leaves Poison as last choice and pretty much only a tendency to try everything making it a choice. 

 

    I've done a lot of Empathy and would give it a go solo just to see but that wouldn't be first choice in general ... more a challenge mode option.

Edited August 30, 2022 by Doomguide2005
Typos

[Cutter]

My go-to is EAff/*. Especially for the lower-level TFs. EAff plugs so many holes in incomplete builds. My current is EAff/Rad, because +hit from the primary and -def from the secondary is a lovely combination. I really should make another one & go with something different in the secondary this time.

[Voltak]

On 8/30/2022 at 10:33 AM, smnolimits41 said:

The title says it all.  What would you choose and why ??

Solo or for team play?

I have solo'd ITF with my defender and done plenty of two-man teams in that and many other Task Forces. 

Huge difference there.

[Coyotedancer]

I don't solo my Defenders generally, so speaking from a with-partner-or-team perspective... Either my Time/Dark or Darkity/Dark/SoDark. I find them both a good combination of support and debuff, so useful for most things.  

[00Troy00]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:30 AM, Linea said:

Time/ - Just because it's my favorite, and you can build it like a tank.

FF/ - Same as above.  FF/Water, or FF/Dark is recommended, but even though those are optimal, I actually tend to play the FF/DP instead.

Huntsman - It's half defender half sentinel and there are very few builds that can malfactor as well.

Mind if ai take a look at your FF/Dark build?

[Linea]

I don't have an updated /Dark.  You'll have to translate one of the other builds to /Dark.

FF DP Scorpion Def - STF SLE 1c - [i25].mxdFF Water Dark - Soul Drain - Overwatch 1 - [i25].mxdFF Water Soul - Heavy Support 57-74 - Overwatch 1 - [i25].mxd

[Carnifax]

Run them on Teams? Probably Trick Arrow for the wide range of debuffs. I also have a Time/Sonic who is great but a bit end-game biased. Trick Arrow gets fun toys all the way up. 

[Kalean]

On 8/30/2022 at 8:30 AM, Linea said:

Huntsman - It's half defender half sentinel and there are very few builds that can malfactor as well.

 

I'd be interested in this one - do you happen to have a build to share?

[Ankhammon]

TA/Ice - adds debuffs on top of debuffs. Very fast animations and a good amount of damage. 

 

Have to throw in heal self for the big fights maybe.  

[SeraphimKensai]

I have several defenders that work great in task forces either solo or on teams:

• TA/DP
• Poison/Rad
• Kin/Sonic
• DM/Elec
• Rad/Sonic

I think the big thing with them is you want them to have some means of debuffing and breaking the AV's Regen.

[Sir Myshkin]

Muwahaha … haha … ha

 

Storm/Energy Mad King v4.0 (Unreleased) Specialist build.

[Kalean]

On 10/1/2022 at 12:45 PM, Sir Myshkin said:

Muwahaha … haha … ha

 

Storm/Energy Mad King v4.0 (Unreleased) Specialist build.

...? What's it play like?

[Doomguide2005]

22 minutes ago, Kalean said:

...? What's it play like?

I don't know but I'll bet a team of 8 is crazy

[Sir Myshkin]

3 hours ago, Kalean said:

...? What's it play like?

 

Clip from a solo +4/x8 No Temp/Insp ITF Run:

 

Knocking out a Pylon without full Incarnates (T3 Musculature and only T1 Degenerative), about 4:35 for the Pylon itself:

 

The 4.0 Build however is heavily tailored to my time with it. It'd be like someone who's never driven hopping behind the wheel of a Formula 1. Versions 3.0 and under however are more favorable, but do take some getting used to. They're full self sufficient Storm builds which are hard to do, especially at the kind of level these run at. They'll drop multiple Tornado and Lightning Storms in roll, Nova is like every ~35/s. Every cast of Lightning Storm procs a BU effect, so pretty much every spawn is LS > BU > Explosive Blast (or) Nova. What's funny about that BU proc is it results in the same kind of net gains in the build that a regular player would get having BU, but it doesn't cost me a power pick.

 

This is the 3.0 Build if you're interested (and is the one closest to what's tested in the Pylon video).

Spoiler

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3 hours ago, Doomguide2005 said:

I don't know but I'll bet a team of 8 is crazy

 

Madness, simply madness. 😉

[Kalean]

12 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

 

Clip from a solo +4/x8 No Temp/Insp ITF Run:

 

Knocking out a Pylon without full Incarnates (T3 Musculature and only T1 Degenerative), about 4:35 for the Pylon itself:

 

The 4.0 Build however is heavily tailored to my time with it. It'd be like someone who's never driven hopping behind the wheel of a Formula 1. Versions 3.0 and under however are more favorable, but do take some getting used to. They're full self sufficient Storm builds which are hard to do, especially at the kind of level these run at. They'll drop multiple Tornado and Lightning Storms in roll, Nova is like every ~35/s. Every cast of Lightning Storm procs a BU effect, so pretty much every spawn is LS > BU > Explosive Blast (or) Nova. What's funny about that BU proc is it results in the same kind of net gains in the build that a regular player would get having BU, but it doesn't cost me a power pick.

 

This is the 3.0 Build if you're interested (and is the one closest to what's tested in the Pylon video).

  Hide contents

 

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Madness, simply madness. 😉

Well, that seems pretty intense.  I'll give it a run, see if I can get it close to times like yours.  Thanks for the suggestion - I love weird off-role builds, they help me learn the ways in which the systems can be bent.

[Linea]

I have probably dozens of variations.

Huntsman - Agent Seventy Seven - Malfactor 2n - [i25].mxd - This is probably the one I did the most malfactoring with

 

Huntsman - Agent Seventy Seven - Malfactor 3b (Hybrid Offense) - [i26].mxd - This is probably the current one, aimed at a higher average level

 

There are so many other ways to build.  Most frequently would be double leadership and/or Crab.  But the whole point of the huntsman is to get rid of the Fugly Legs.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Linea

[Kalean]

On 10/2/2022 at 7:28 PM, Sir Myshkin said:

This is the 3.0 Build if you're interested (and is the one closest to what's tested in the Pylon video).

 

I've taken this to 50 recently, and it's been an interesting ride.   Tons of DPS for a Defender, that proc monstering is doing heavy lifting on power burst, basically turning it into a second snipe (or better sometimes.) Lightning storm with what feels like 100% buildup chance every 30 seconds or so is phenomenal.   Nova doesn't hardly cost anything when any of the 3 endurance conservation buffs are on, and even though I burn through endurance like crazy, I'm never out because of your heavy emphasis on +end buffs.

 

I've noticed, however, that I am, to use your metaphor, a bad driver.    Enemies, even 3+ elite bosses in a group, are often running and scattering far, far away - desperately afraid to be in that AoE maelstrom of death.    I feel like I'm never using optimal rotations outside of the "Freezing Rain, Tornado, Lightning Storm" sequence.  

 

Any advice for someone still learning to drive?

[Sir Myshkin]

2 hours ago, Kalean said:

Any advice for someone still learning to drive?

There are some critters in the game that have an inherent AI that wigs out when confronted with certain metrics, wether it be a fear trigger, a weird issue with DoT, confuse, what have you. The worst cases seem to exist in ITF with the EBs and Rommy for sure having some odd experiences that drive them into track star runners. I notice that sometimes it is just a matter of not using a specific power once you get down to that last enemy and it’s just a matter of experimenting on which one is causing the mob AI to wig out. A lot of time Tornado seems to be the culprit to me because it can chase its target, but isn’t always the case.

 

Explosive Blast is a great tool for keeping groups down, and Freezing Rain will slow their ability to run. It’s easy to keep this going no matter where you’re at. For me my typical entrance into a spawn would be LS > EB > FR > Tornado or LS > Nuke

 

After a while the flow of the powers will come naturally and you’ll become less fearful about jumping erratically into spawns. Remember that the faster this thing plays the longer it spends at 300+% recharge. Fill in hand with snipes. Between Victory Rush and Conserve Power and all that recharge, the Snipe in this set gets used like a pud T1 just fired from the hip left and right.

 

Also, use your inspirations! Convert things to reds and burn them up. You’re there to bring damage, not “support” at that point. This build keeps the team alive by being ahead of the curve and causing so much controlled chaos that the enemies don’t have time to react, and by the time they can, they’re dead.

[Lusiphur Malache]

Made a Dark^3 offender that i had to keep blues in email to play.  I finally learned how to play it, roundabout lvl 30.  I prefer corruptors for support more than defenders.

[Frosticus]

Rad/sonic

Teamed or solo it just enables everyone to do things easy to hard. 

 

For low level content that occasionally gets turned up too high making people whiff - rad infection is a godsend

For higher content - EF, AM and sonic blasts keep the team running quickly

Lingering rad is still one of the best powers in the game - good range, big aoe, high values, can be stacked a bit solo - arguably the best -regen power

 

Goldilocks combo for almost any team.