The Protector - Musings Regarding The Rebirth AT.

[MDLittle]

I've always wondered why there was no Buff/Debuff Primary and Melee Secondary AT...,

 

So the Rebirth Server actual made such an AT...well, kind of like that idea. The Protector - a Melee Primary, Buff/Debuff Secondary AT. Here's my critique, and bare with me because it's going to be a very loose evaluation since I'm not going to be providing hard number data and whatnot.

 

Firstly, there are three AT's that already have Melee as their primary power set - Brutes, Scrappers and Stalkers. Another AT whose primary is melee didn't seem to gel all that well, especially since (in my honest opinion) the AT would generally be considered a support class, much like a Defender. Certainly, they could bring the pain...but what really make them shine is their ability to buff/debuff. Thus, it felt like it'd make more sense to make their primary power set buff/debuff instead of melee.

 

Secondly, the melee power sets they used were based on the Scrapper melee power sets including critical hit capacity. Again, to me, this felt kind of wrong. Tanker secondary (melee) power sets were revamped recently in HC and would work well with the concept of having a melee as a secondary power set. It could be argued that the Brute primary power sets could be used as the secondary melee power sets for this AT, if only just to gain access to melee aoe attacks sooner in some cases.

 

As a Protector has access to said melee power sets, they also had Taunt...and here's where the problems begin. While certainly, a Protector is a beefier Defender...the Protector suffers the same problem as a Defender. The only defenses they have are what's available through their buff/debuff power set as well as whatever secondary effects they can muster through their melee power sets. Placate or Challenge might be better for the Protector because firing off an aoe buff/debuff/heal is Taunt enough,

 

Overall, it was a fun AT to play. You could make a Broadsword/Radiation Emission space faring Paladin of sorts. I found Kinetics/Kinetic Melee had some wonderful synergy (the aoe toggle KB made melee combat a breeze in most cases). My personal favorite was War Mace/Thermal Radiation (The Heirophant). Other than the changes I suggested above, I think it's a pretty solid AT with a lot of variety and utility. It gives some of the buff/debuff/heals that are either pbaoe or targeted aoe to be more effectively used in some melee centric groups.

 

Anywho, just my ramblings/observations. Ciao!