The Badass Empath Guide

[MonteCarla]

The Empathy powerset has a strange stigma around it.

 

• It's supposedly the powerset that clueless people from other games take when they're wanting to play "a healer". True, most Defenders I've met with a single unslotted attack have been Empaths.
• By virtue of it's name, it was historically considered "too nice" to port to Villains. They got a special "nasty" version instead with Pain Domination. (I suffered chronic eyeroll when that happened!)
• Numina's the signature Empath, and she makes you do all those stupid hunts in her Task Force!

I'll just come out and say it, it's considered by some to be "weak and girly". 🙂 I aim to refute that!

 

This is written from the point of view of someone who runs pick-up-group task forces with levelling characters, rather than end-game/hard-mode.

 

My take on Empathy:

 

• Mechanically, it is one of the worst sets to solo with, since only three of your powers can affect you. But I believe you can make a good character out of anything in CoH, and have set out to prove this a few times. You'll never be a Brute, but a badass Empath can solo +2 x0 missions easily enough if you want to run a story arc.
• It's one of the harder sets to play. Paying attention will improve your benefit to the team greatly. It is not cruise control support like Force Fields or Sonic. (No shade one them, I also love them both.)
• It's all about amplifying your teammates powers. While the set is almost certainly named with Raven from Teen Titans in mind, power-amplifiers like Ando from the Heroes TV series, and Fabian Cortez from X-Men are better fictional example of what empaths actually do.
• Unlike many other buff sets, you pick which teammates you're going to buff, and play favourites.

 

Empathy Powers

 

Healing Aura 5/5
This is your self-heal. Take it, slot it.

 

Heal Other 5/5
Heals for twice the amount Healing Aura does, and ideal for a teammate in trouble. When someone's health bar dips badly, Healing Aura won't cut it as you have to find them, maybe move and activate. Heal Other can be done purely with keyboard strokes.

 

Absorb Pain 1/5 (or 4/5)
A terrible power if you play Offender like I do. It applies a big cheap heal at almost zero endurance cost, but hurts you, and kills your ability to protect yourself for 20 seconds. It was obviously modelled on Raven from Teen Titans. It's a nice idea, but not always good in practice.

[Edit based on Moonsheep and Frozen Burn's feedback]

If you're playing on harder modes or on SO'd teams, where the team Tank is in danger and needs your support, AND you don't attack much yourself, then this power shoots up in utility to 4 or 5 out of 5 due to the sheer size of it's heal - 2.5 times that of Heal Other. It does have a place, just not one that I have ever used. 

 

Resurrect 2/5
One of the worse rez's in the game, because it does nothing else. It can be partially replaced with a device from the P2W Vendor, and falls into a nice-to-have category. I usually grab this later.

 

Clear Mind 5/5
Single Target protects vs Status Effects and Blindness. Makes Resurrect less attractive, in that you can rez using inspirations and then Clear Mind. If you're really good, keep this up on Blasters and fellow supporters, or blinded melee characters. It may be worth announcing to your team: "If you get held or blinded, say zzz and I'll cure you"

[Edited from 3/5 to 5/5 thanks to feedback from Nemu and Doomguide below.]

Clear Mind provides a buff to other squishies on the team that they can't get anywhere else - mez protection. This allows them to heal you, buff you, nuke enemies and other things, so its in your self-interest to take this and use it proactively.

It also helps melee teammates by clearing blindness (which otherwise requires Tactics), providing Fear protection vs Jack-In-Irons, and blocking Ghost Widow's mag 100 hold on the Ms Liberty Task Force. 

 

Fortitude 6/5
Your main buff. Take it, slot it for Def and Recharge, and use it. It provides as much Defence as the Force Field bubbles, and bonuses to Hit and Damage. Out of the box, this covers 2 allies. With Recharge slotting and global recharge you can just about cover all 7 teammates with a lot of effort and concentration. This is your main task as an Empath.

 

Recovery Aura 5/5
Regen Aura 5/5 
Good powers with very long recharges and the worst buff delivery mechanism - PBAoE. Maybe have a bind to say "Auras in 5..." or just wing it, and let these off mid fight when everyone is more or less stationary.  

 

Adrenalin Boost 5/5
A super-buff. The massive Recovery and Regen are nice, but the main bonus is the +100% Recharge.

Playing an Empath
Turn on the recharge indicators. (Options->Windows->Powers: Power Recharge Indiciators: Bottom)
This will help you track when your powers are about to recharge, which is the key to peak performance.

 

Who do I Fortitude?
Fortitude lasts 120 seconds and you can get the recharge down from 60 to 15, so a whole team is just about possible under laboratory conditions. Assume you can keep it up on 5 or 6, and pick your targets.
1. Blasters. They need the defence and do the most damage.
2. Force Fielders. (And Cold Dom and Sonic Res users) They're the keystone of the team, giving everyone but themselves defence, and making this task so much more relaxed. So give it back and buff them!
3. Anyone who's health keeps dipping (eg a developing Tanker, a badass fearless non-melee type)
4. Masterminds. The buffs don't extend to their pets, so they get the least benefit. Unless they look like they're in danger of dying constantly, save for another teammate.

 

How do I Fortitude?
Get used to using the Shift+1 through to Shift+8 shortcuts to select a teammate. When you see Fortitude is close to recharging, select the next teammate and target through them and keep attacking. Fortitude them as soon as it's up, and go back to manual targetting. If they're out of range, move on to the next teammate and Fort them quickly.
Outside a mission, keep rotating through the team and Forting everyone on your list. You'll look a bit obsessive, but this way everyone enters the mission buffed. Otherwise, the final teammate may have to wait a couple of minutes to get their Fort, and missions can last not much more than that sometimes.

 

Why do I Fortitude?

Repeat after me: An unused recharged Fortitude is a crime!

 

Who do I Adrenalin Boost?
AB lasts 90 seconds and you can get the recharge down from 300 to about 75
You can choose to either keep this up full-time on one teammate, or partial coverage on two.
1. Blasters with nukes. Faster Build Up, Aim and Nukes get missions done more quickly.
2. Other people with nukes.
3. Anyone who's really struggling for endurance and missed out on Recovery Aura.
4. Controllers and doms with long recharge AoE controls
5. Another Badass Empath? This will mean double auras for everyone at all times, and double Fortitude for everyone, and the other badass Empath probably has a Nuke.
6. A teammate with a really nice costume, or who's funny in chat, or who you just fancy. You're allowed to play favourites. 🙂

 

Secondary Choices

 

Energy Blast - this gives you a fairly easy ride when you solo due to the active defence of knocking enemies around. It also allows for Force Feedback +Recharge procs in your area attacks. This was my first badass Empathy Defender, and no regrets.

 

Ice Blast - the holds are nice active defence, and allow for Basilisk's Gaze slotting. This will be my next Badass empath.

 

Archery - if you really want to challenge yourself, take this set. Your active defence is just Stunning Shot, which comes in late at 28. This is my current badass Empath, deliberately chosen to need a team to play off.

 

Pool Choices

Hasten - TAKE THIS! Between this and global recharge bonuses its posisble to run at around +200% global recharge, which means a downtime on your auras of around 30 seconds!

 

Teleport - great for Fort n' Port rescues, and retrieving dead teammates if you didn't take Resurrection.
bind e "powexeclocation target Teleport
This will allow you to select a teammate in the HUD and then teleport to them from several rooms away most of the time.

 

Leadership - two LotG mules and even more Team support. Tactics devalues Clear Mind a little bit by making the team immune to blindness.

 

Concealment: Grant Invisibility and Stealth - Adds a smidge more defence to allies. Two LotG mules and some nice utility for task forces. If you take Stealth and Teleport Target you open up a new role as team scout for task force missions where you wnat to take out the end boss. Grant Invisibility makes instead of teleport opens up another option to do this, but requires a bit of upfront coordination with the team to get them to line up at the door and make them invisible one by one.

 

Fighting - self defence: +14% Defence from slotted Weave and the two +Def IO's in Tough. Allows you to cap S/L resistances.

 

Sorcery - More protection for a teammate via Arcane Ward. Arcane Blast is great for Controllers but slow animation and low damage for a

 

IO Slotting
Slot everything for global recharge obsessively.
Holds get 4x Basilisk's Gaze
Snipes get 5x Sting of the Manticore
Healing Aura gets 6 x Preventative Medicine
Heal Other, Regen Aura and Adrenalin Boost get 5 x Doctored Wounds
Never slots Recovery Aura or AB for endurance mod, both give you far more than you can consume. 
Recovery Aura and Hasten get 2 x Recharge IOs, which you'll boost to 50+5 when you hit 50.
Stuns get 5 x Stupefy
Blasts get 5 x Decimation
Split Vigilant Assault across two powers for the double +6.25% recharge bonus. I usually do this to my AoE's, and add one or two damage IOs on top.
Slot Defender's Bastion in a good high tier blast power, or your nuke.
Slot LotG +Recharge where you can, and 5x Red Fortune as well in Fortitude and maybe Manouvers 
Slot Aim with a Gaussian's Chance for Build Up proc to do badass damage with your nuke!

 

And make sure you're slot your powers for damage. Defender damage is only anaemic if you don't enhance it.

 

If you want to build towards personal defence:
Tough takes the two unique +Def IO's (Steadfast Protection and Gladiator's Armor)
Weave gets LotG Recharge + 5 x Red Fortune

 

Hover or Combat Jumping adds 3% Defence with a single LotG slotted.

 

A couple of Thunderstrike Sets in your blasts will help capping Ranged Defence.

 

Add in an epic resistance armor and you can get very good defence and close to the S/L resist caps, which certainly qualifies as mid-level invulnerability. (Or go Scorpion Shield)

 

Defender or Corrupter?
Empaths do not lose that much going Corrupter. Your main build goal, recharges on your buffs, stay the same on both archetypes. The biggest loss is about 6% less Defence from slotted Fortitude. 
In terms of power unlock order, both get Recovery Aura for Synapse, and all powers for Penny Yin.
If you're building for self defence, Defenders get better values for pool powers - around 4% more defence for slotted Weave and Manouvers with a single slotted CJ/Hover. Defenders will also have a much easier time hitting 75% S/L if that's a goal.
Mechanically, I would recommend Corrupter for a new badass Empath character, although I take perverse delight in being a badass Empath Defender.

 

Controllers and Masterminds
This powerset is quite different on these classes, since you have pets to buff, and other means of self-defence. A Mastermind can try to keep all 6 minions Fortitude'd when soloing. I tried this once and gave up on my Tier 1 ninjas.
Adrenalin Boost is mostly wasted on pets, since they don't get recharge buffs due to AI reasons.

Edited February 17 by MonteCarla
Amending rating for Absorb Pain based on feedback

[Nemu]

12 hours ago, MonteCarla said:

Clear Mind 3/5
Single Target protects vs Status Effects and Blindness. Makes Resurrect less attractive, in that you can rez using inspirations and then Clear Mind. If you're really good, keep this up on Blasters and fellow supporters, or blinded melee characters. It may be worth announcing to your team: "If you get held or blinded, say zzz and I'll cure you"

Others will disagree with the justification "but you have cLaRiOn" and "you have breakfrees"

 

For squishies, CM is 5/5.

 

It's the only buff I care about on my squishies for regular, non-hardmode content. I can build for softcap, I can use other tools at my disposal to mitigate damage, my biggest weakness is mez. Mez = I can't nuke after I just hit build up, mez = my enemy anchored toggles drop and the team suffers for it, mez = I can't hit that clutch heal for a dying teammate, etc...

 

Fortitude, the auras, and Adrenaline Boost are good buffs, not arguing that. All things considered, these buffs have a marginal to nominal effect on my contribution to the team, but I can't contribute ANYTHING regardless of uber buffs if I'm mezzed.

 

CM is a game changer for squishies, and I will always advocate that if you want to be a good emp you know to keep Fortitude and the other buffs up. But if you want to be GREAT, CM those who need it and keep it on them.

[Glacier Peak]

12 hours ago, MonteCarla said:

Absorb Pain 1/5
A terrible power. It applies a big cheap heal at almost zero endurance cost, but hurts you, and kills your ability to protect yourself for 15 seconds. It was obviously modelled on Raven from Teen Titans. It's a nice idea, but not good in practice.

Lol 1 out of 5??

[MonteCarla]

8 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Lol 1 out of 5??

 

Yeah! And that's me being generous and not giving it a 0!

 

The really big drawback is that you become 100% resistant to healing for 20 seconds after using it, and you have no way to shorten that 20s window. This cancels out your main self-protection - which is Healing Aura.

This is maybe fine if you're not drawing aggro, but this is a guide for badass Empaths! 🙂

 

The advantages over Heal Other (2.5x heal value, minimal end cost) aren't worth it. Heal Other heals enough, maybe taking two applications to get someone back to full. And end isn't an issue once Recovery Aura is unlocked.
 

[Doomguide2005]

17 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Lol 1 out of 5??

     What @MonteCarlasaid.  You gain almost no benefit for either you or your teammate over target ally > hit follow > use HO > zip over to ally and hit HA.  If that isn't enough your there to add your blasts targeting through them and HO is ready to go again (or drop Fort or CM).  The number of times an ally survives with AP and wouldn't with HO/HA are almost non existent.  Usually it's they survive with either or die with either process.  And with the second you stand an excellent chance of following them to face plant.

     I'm also in @Nemu's court when it comes to CM.  I think it's under used and under rated even in endgame.  That said it is easier to find yourself on a team where it is considerably less useful while dealing with incarnates between Clarion, Barrier and general high defense and resists of teammates vs your typical PuG running Synapse,Yin or Citadel where mez can really be a dps dampner before characters and builds mature.  But even with Incarnates I find reason enough to take this one slot wonder.  There are teams who are fighting enough mez users to stop a late game armored user at times (like 3 +4 Master Illusionists and friends all hitting Flash and or Blind in overlap).

Edited January 28 by Doomguide2005
Formatting

[MonteCarla]

@Nemu and @Doomguide2005 - I've taken your comments on board and bumped Clear Mind up to a 5 as well.

You're right, there's no way you can call yourself a Badass Empath if you leave your teammates frozen and mind-controlled!

 

Thanks heaps for the feedback. 🙂

[Linea]

On 1/26/2024 at 9:13 PM, MonteCarla said:

.... but a badass Empath can solo +2 x0 missions easily enough ...

 

Jilaiya (Emp/Fire/Souldrain) is offended.  She solo's +4x8 just fine. 

Mindset, Playstyle, and Buildstyle are primary issues.  If you build it and play it like a squishie, it's gonna squish.  Ignoring your offense, defense, and buffs in favor of 6 slotting every heal power in the game will ultimately end in failure.   If you build it to be more durable and more offensive, emphasize buffs, ... .  Early on get all the temps you can to supplement both offense and defense.  Build your defense early, your offense will ramp up later, but once you get to about level 41 and can leverage souldrain, offense will take off nicely.  The worst part would be level ... ??? ... 28-35 probably, before you can run the ITF.  Even if you play to primarily be support, you still want to have at least minimal competence in defense and offense.

 

Soloing a +4x8 ITF has been done by empaths with both support builds and offense builds.  I took the overwhelming force option with heavy armor, heavy offense.  Others have taken the support approach, buffing and supporting Incarnate Pets (and/or other temp or patron pets) to take out the AVs, while blasting and playing a more sedate pace between pet summons.

 

Regardless of your approach, soloing missions of some moderate difficulty level should not be unreasonable.

[Doomguide2005]

@MoonSheepand others who think we're a bit harsh on Absorb Pain what do you like about the power?  What do you see as pros to the power that make the cons worth having it in your tool kit?  Is it merely the size of the heal or do you find it more useful at certain level ranges.  Do you find it less hazardous to use than implied?

[MoonSheep]

18 minutes ago, Doomguide2005 said:

@MoonSheepand others who think we're a bit harsh on Absorb Pain what do you like about the power?  What do you see as pros to the power that make the cons worth having it in your tool kit?  Is it merely the size of the heal or do you find it more useful at certain level ranges.  Do you find it less hazardous to use than implied?

 

if a high HP lead tank gets hit by a hard mode AV and needs rapidly bringing back up to full health, it’s one of the few powers in the game that can do that

 

in hectic situations it also gives the defender a second ranged heal to provide support and can be the difference between the target recipient dying or staying alive

 

the art of playing a fast paced “PvP” style empath to support a target during challenging runs has mostly been forgotten

[MonteCarla]

@Linea - Wow! That's amazing - congrats on being able to pull that off!

I've always advocated for slotting for damage on every Defender ever ever. So much so that I've taken that for granted and forgot to mention it in this guide. 🙂 I've amended that now. 

 

@MoonSheep - fair enough. I have zero experience with Hard Mode content. The range I play in (PUG Task Forces with most teammates IO'd) means the tank is usually not in great danger and I'm supporting the squishies more. Classic SO gameplay and now Hard Mode mean the Tank does need more support, so I guess Absorb Pain makes much more sense then. (It's not so much that I've forgotten that playstyle, as never known...)

Edited January 29 by MonteCarla

[Doomguide2005]

18 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

 

if a high HP lead tank gets hit by a hard mode AV and needs rapidly bringing back up to full health, it’s one of the few powers in the game that can do that

 

in hectic situations it also gives the defender a second ranged heal to provide support and can be the difference between the target recipient dying or staying alive

 

the art of playing a fast paced “PvP” style empath to support a target during challenging runs has mostly been forgotten

     Thanks for the very prompt reply.  The answer is much as expected leading me to many of the same conclusions as MonteCarla.  First I've minimal experience in Hard Mode and none of it so far is as an Empath but I have put a couple of builds together in Mids which have included AP because much like I'm experimenting with adding Elude back into my SR build seems like the utility of both Elude and AP might find a place in a Hard Mode specific build.  The massive size of a single heal is appealing indeed even tough I'm not yet convinced AP would significantly out preform spamming HO/HA.  And of course there's nothing to say AP can't become part of the spammed healing especially if distance is an issue.  But there's also things I've read and heard about Incandescence particularly coupled with PB or PBU that might make AP iffy again (as in when spammed HA alone becomes thousands of restored health.  But I definitely need some experience with that whole process to draw any solid conclusions personally such as how restrictive that becomes to building "the one true way".  I don't as a rule think there ever is a one true way.  I mean that's why Green Machine and later making builds for the RWZ challenge and soloing Cimeroran repeatables was my thing.  I also suspect the blast secondary plays a strong role here.  My main Empaths are Rad Blast, Electric Blast and Fire Blast.  The first two in particular mean i spend a great deal of time face to face with whatever is trying to defeat my allies and myself.  Becoming immune to healing not just from my own HA but anyone else's be it Transfusion or Radiant Aura etc. just seems like a particularly unsmart thing to do.  I might have a much different outlook if my favored secondary sets were Ice, Dark and AR blast sets (and I have run all 3 to 50 on Live).  Two of those blast sets don't even require being at melee range to unleash a GM's Nuke nevermind a less restrictive offender and badass Empath type build.

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, Doomguide2005 said:

     Thanks for the very prompt reply.  The answer is much as expected leading me to many of the same conclusions as MonteCarla.  First I've minimal experience in Hard Mode and none of it so far is as an Empath but I have put a couple of builds together in Mids which have included AP because much like I'm experimenting with adding Elude back into my SR build seems like the utility of both Elude and AP might find a place in a Hard Mode specific build.  

 

well, thank you for the friendly discussion. i’ve replaced my thumbs down with a banjo on OPs post 

 

spamming heal aura sounds to me like a long time, a 5-6 second wait for multiple applications is an eternity when chaos is raining down. max HP tanks have over 3000hp, it’s going to take a long time to get them up to a healthy position

 

my main defender is a kin with powerboost, even powerboosted transfusion - the most powerful AoE heal in the game (along with dark’s AoE heal i think) - sometimes feels it’s not doing enough when supporting the big tanks!

Edited January 30 by MoonSheep

[Doomguide2005]

48 minutes ago, MoonSheep said:

 

well, thank you for the friendly discussion. i’ve replaced my thumbs down with a banjo on OPs post 

 

spamming heal aura sounds to me like a long time, a 5-6 second wait for multiple applications is an eternity when chaos is raining down. max HP tanks have over 3000hp, it’s going to take a long time to get them up to a healthy position

 

my main defender is a kin with powerboost, even powerboosted transfusion - the most powerful AoE heal in the game (along with dark’s AoE heal i think) - sometimes feels it’s not doing enough when supporting the big tanks!

I'm guessing the same things that would effect HA when concerning other defender heals like Transfusion would apply.  If so one big advantage to HA vs other is a complete lack of aiming or requiring a foe to be present, positioning issues would be about as minimized as you'd get.  I really need to dig around these forums for info about how recharge, cast time, arcanatime and the rest all interact.  While I'm probably more a numbers guy than a lot of folks are I'm nowhere near the same league as the top folks are.  So just how fast on 300% recharge could one spam HO/HA rinse repeat ad infinitum is not a question playing to my number crunching strengths.  And I remember the days my Kin/Psy/Power using PBU Transfusion and watching a fairly jaw dropping number come up.  And that was probably on SOs only as they were one of my earliest characters on Live.  It's also why I'm a little annoyed with myself for not taking better notes on where the info about Incandescence came up and it put replacing 3000+ hp in the 3 use of HA or less category.  Still as long as it hit not hard to see something like Transfusion putting up similar numbers in a similar time span. 

[MoonSheep]

56 minutes ago, Doomguide2005 said:

I'm guessing the same things that would effect HA when concerning other defender heals like Transfusion would apply.  If so one big advantage to HA vs other is a complete lack of aiming or requiring a foe to be present, positioning issues would be about as minimized as you'd get.  I really need to dig around these forums for info about how recharge, cast time, arcanatime and the rest all interact.  While I'm probably more a numbers guy than a lot of folks are I'm nowhere near the same league as the top folks are.  So just how fast on 300% recharge could one spam HO/HA rinse repeat ad infinitum is not a question playing to my number crunching strengths.  And I remember the days my Kin/Psy/Power using PBU Transfusion and watching a fairly jaw dropping number come up.  And that was probably on SOs only as they were one of my earliest characters on Live.  It's also why I'm a little annoyed with myself for not taking better notes on where the info about Incandescence came up and it put replacing 3000+ hp in the 3 use of HA or less category.  Still as long as it hit not hard to see something like Transfusion putting up similar numbers in a similar time span. 

 

yes you’re absolutely right - there’s a reason i have vengeance well slotted on the kin def. if my powerboosted transfusion misses, i wait a few seconds, mourn briefly and then get a lovely +63% def vengeance buff for the team

 

i think thesedays nature is the new empathy, it seems more viable for end stage content and has buffs that work better in the modern era

[Doomguide2005]

On 1/30/2024 at 1:41 PM, MoonSheep said:

 

yes you’re absolutely right - there’s a reason i have vengeance well slotted on the kin def. if my powerboosted transfusion misses, i wait a few seconds, mourn briefly and then get a lovely +63% def vengeance buff for the team

 

i think thesedays nature is the new empathy, it seems more viable for end stage content and has buffs that work better in the modern era

Okay I put together a build for my main empath an Emp/Rad using PBU and Incandescence.  And those number per Mids are not making a lot of sense I think stemming from Incan providing a massive unresistable heal resistance debuff.  Going to just have to try it out on the server

[MoonSheep]

3 hours ago, Doomguide2005 said:

Okay I put together a build for my main empath an Emp/Rad using PBU and Incandescence.  And those number per Mids are not making a lot of sense I think stemming from Incan providing a massive unresistable heal resistance debuff.  Going to just have to try it out on the server

 

the numbers for vengeance? yeah, in-game and on mids keeps it as a bit of a mystery until you actually use the power and right click - strange

[Doomguide2005]

On 1/30/2024 at 1:41 PM, MoonSheep said:

 

yes you’re absolutely right - there’s a reason i have vengeance well slotted on the kin def. if my powerboosted transfusion misses, i wait a few seconds, mourn briefly and then get a lovely +63% def vengeance buff for the team

 

i think thesedays nature is the new empathy, it seems more viable for end stage content and has buffs that work better in the modern era

     Been running a new Symphony/Nature Affinity and enjoy it a great deal.  Partly I think it's the lack of having to target anything specific.  No matter binds, young reflexes etc., it is an added step where the CM goes to the Tanker rather than mez protection absent support by mistake or Fortitude is redundantly sent to a character instead of another.  So much about NA seems more like using the Auras just position and use.  And fast moving, chaotic combat makes that much less ... intense than having to target single targets.

     As for Incandescene (at t3) some minimal testing without PB or PBU (no alt build yet) bumps the Emp/Rad from 300 to 500ish on HA.  Makes me think on replacing several of the Panacea's with Doctored Wounds to gain the set bonus (at 5 rather than 6) on your heals and see that difference in output.  I also noted the +hit points from the Panacea proc is boosted while under Incandescence.  Guessing a similar boost would happen with the Power Transfer proc.  Downside is trying to scrape together both power choices and slots for 5 in more Heal accepting powers.  Well it's why there's Mids'.   

     

Edited February 10 by Doomguide2005

[MoonSheep]

1 hour ago, Doomguide2005 said:

     Been running a new Symphony/Nature Affinity and enjoy it a great deal.  Partly I think it's the lack of having to target anything specific.  No matter binds, young reflexes etc., it is an added step where the CM goes to the Tanker rather than mez protection absent support by mistake or Fortitude is redundantly sent to a character instead of another.  So much about NA seems more like using the Auras just position and use.  And fast moving, chaotic combat makes that much less ... intense than having to target single targets.

     As for Incandescene (at t3) some minimal testing without PB or PBU (no alt build yet) bumps the Emp/Rad from 300 to 500ish on HA.  Makes me think on replacing several of the Panacea's with Doctored Wounds to gain the set bonus (at 5 rather than 6) on your heals and see that difference in output.  I also noted the +hit points from the Panacea proc is boosted while under Incandescence.  Guessing a similar boost would happen with the Power Transfer proc.  Downside is trying to scrape together both power choices and slots for 5 in more Heal accepting powers.  Well it's why there's Mids'.   

     

 

you seem quite into getting the most out of the support aspect of emp/nature, have you considered rolling it as a full fat nature defender? it’s the ultimate support thesedays. can then bring out the unique debuff qualities of whatever secondary you choose

[MonteCarla]

@Doomguide2005 - funny how you cite Nature's strength of not having to target anything.

I played a Nature Defender as my main for a long time (Jenny Foxgloves - Nature/Ice) and loved it. It's easily the best looking set in the game, but also mechanically powerful and versatile. Entangling Aura plus a single target hold to stack on bosses made me more Controller-y than some Controllers I've played.

My one gripe was the untargeted cone heal. I didn't need it that often due to my other buffs and holds, but when I did, it was a case of select using Shift + N, follow (to orient me towards the target), fire off heal, which seemed much more fraught than Empathy's Shift+N, heal.

Do you have any good tips for using it?

[Doomguide2005]

37 minutes ago, MonteCarla said:

@Doomguide2005 - funny how you cite Nature's strength of not having to target anything.

I played a Nature Defender as my main for a long time (Jenny Foxgloves - Nature/Ice) and loved it. It's easily the best looking set in the game, but also mechanically powerful and versatile. Entangling Aura plus a single target hold to stack on bosses made me more Controller-y than some Controllers I've played.

My one gripe was the untargeted cone heal. I didn't need it that often due to my other buffs and holds, but when I did, it was a case of select using Shift + N, follow (to orient me towards the target), fire off heal, which seemed much more fraught than Empathy's Shift+N, heal.

Do you have any good tips for using it?

     Well I'm still very new to NA especially compared to Empathy but I've paired it with Symphony (to which I'm also fairly new) whose powers so far are also ranged.  So mostly I hang back and the cone naturally covers more as the distance from the cones origin grows larger making targeting less necessary i'd guess.  Perhaps as I get more into the various auras and the PBAoEs becomes part of the arsenal it'll develop into an issue,  But one of my first Empaths was paired with Dark Blast and then Sonic both of which are strongly ranged outside the nuke (No Irradiate type power unlike my Emp/Rad ).  I got fairly adept at moving out for Tentacles or Howl and in for other PBAoE's.  That and a weakness I have as an Empath especially these days is I don't target by a bind/keyboard I click on the name in the team window and fire off the various buffs and healing via the number keys on the keyboard.  That and my main above all is a Claws/SR scrapper so I'm very used to finding and using the 'F' to seek a target(s), well not so much seek but to follow after hitting 'R' for target nearest.  Perhaps NA will push this old dog back into using keybinds again and or buying a mouse with a lot more extra keys to target teammates.

3 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

 

you seem quite into getting the most out of the support aspect of emp/nature, have you considered rolling it as a full fat nature defender? it’s the ultimate support thesedays. can then bring out the unique debuff qualities of whatever secondary you choose

I have a NA defender just found a shiney that pulled me away I'm guessing as they been sitting in the low teens for a while now.  Paired it with Archery Blast so that may be part of the issue.  I'm personally fairly meh on Archery.  Love the look and idea of it but ... .

[Doomguide2005]

For reference here's the build I've been tinkering with.

 

Reyna Morningdew EmpathyRadBlast Hvy Arm (v1.00 i27.6) - Defender (Empathy - Radiation Blast).mbd

Edited February 11 by Doomguide2005

[Linea]

If you're into Nature/ ... you should look up my old Fourcade builds.

Let me see if this has them in it ... Nope that was binds.

Probably one of these ... That build is at least 4? years old.

Near-Perma self damage cap while solo, and with Linea approved durability.

I likely ran it with Amps, Dampeners, and Base Buffs?

Nature Fire - Fourcade 2td - [i25].mxd

 

 

 

Edited February 11 by Linea

[Harlequin565]

Nice guide. Even with the discussion it's great to see another guide touting Empathy as something other than a "heal" set.

 

FWIW, my Emp/Archery doesn't have HO and took AP instead. Anyone taking a battering gets healed with one click rather than faffing with HA. Anything that distracts me from Rain of Arrows and it's 14sec CD is an annoyance 🙂

 

Enough recharge in the build to keep Fort on a team of 7 - which I rarely need to do because... RoA... I did take Ressurect though. So I can tell people I have it, which gives me a sec or two to turn them into Veng bait rather than making two clicks before discovering they have used their RtB.

 

With Regen Aura on for 90 then off for 30, the team very rarely needs any healing anyway - unless I mis-positioned when I dropped it. I'm usually ok though 🙂

[Hedgefund]

I think it's worth mentioning Power Boost, it takes Fort from 6/5 to infinity/5.  That's hyperbole of course but I (not an emp pro by any means) like to take it because I can use it every other Fort.  While the boost is in effect the heals will be for more as well, I just view that as gravy.

[Frozen Burn]

On 1/27/2024 at 6:51 PM, MonteCarla said:

 

Yeah! And that's me being generous and not giving it a 0!

 

The really big drawback is that you become 100% resistant to healing for 20 seconds after using it, and you have no way to shorten that 20s window. This cancels out your main self-protection - which is Healing Aura.

This is maybe fine if you're not drawing aggro, but this is a guide for badass Empaths! 🙂

 

The advantages over Heal Other (2.5x heal value, minimal end cost) aren't worth it. Heal Other heals enough, maybe taking two applications to get someone back to full. And end isn't an issue once Recovery Aura is unlocked.
 

 

On 1/28/2024 at 3:31 AM, Doomguide2005 said:

     What @MonteCarlasaid.  You gain almost no benefit for either you or your teammate over target ally > hit follow > use HO > zip over to ally and hit HA.  If that isn't enough your there to add your blasts targeting through them and HO is ready to go again (or drop Fort or CM).  The number of times an ally survives with AP and wouldn't with HO/HA are almost non existent.  Usually it's they survive with either or die with either process.  And with the second you stand an excellent chance of following them to face plant.

 

I completely disagree with you all here.  I respect your opinions, and how you play your empaths - it's your choice.  But for other readers/players out there, I offer a different side to using Absorb Pain....  

 

Absorb Pain can be a life changer at times for your allies.  Generally, if you're healing and not attacking much, you have little to no aggro - so the cannot self-heal debuff is moot.  There have been MANY times a team has been in the sh*t and the tanker/brute (or both) is/are getting low on HPs - Heal Other hardly moves the bar, but Absorb Pain will generally restore them to near full, buying you one less teammate to worry about while you take care of others.

 

Additionally, there are times when you need HO to be recharged immediately to heal another, but waiting those few extra extra seconds for it to recharge or for you to move into range for Healing Aura is too long.  Having a 2nd single target ranged heal can be the difference between life or death for your teammate.

 

Typically, I am hanging back with other squishies and they get Healing Aura, while I use Heal Other on those in melee range.  When it it gets too much for HO to cover all the players needing assistance in melee, having AP to fill in saves them and you.  Additionally, sometimes that controller that you're hanging with who is in your Healing Aura has drawn extra aggro and needs HO as well as those who are in melee range - having AP to rotate in again, saves lives. 

 

Following someone who is dying into melee range to heal them with Healing Aura is risky itself - you could be putting yourself into the splash damage of many AOEs and while your Healing Aura and Heal Other may help your ally, but HA alone may not be enough to save you.  And then, you've also abandoned others that may benefit better from your HA, when rotating in Absorb Pain from a safe distance would have been better for your teammate and you.  However, sometimes I will hover a group of melee toons and use Healing Aura for them and toss the occasional HO or AP to the squishie ranged toons.  

 

I've rotated using AP in my healing chain many times and I have yet to die from it - whether it taking my HPs, or from taking damage.  Your own defenses (sets and pool/epic powers) can also protect you in case you draw aggro while not able to heal yourself and of course, you have a tray of inspirations to take purples and oranges as needed.

 

Another bonus to AP is that it only needs 1 slot - a Heal or Rech in it - or use it for a mule.  I still 4 slot it with a heal set and make it uber.  I can fill an almost dead tank's HP bar - and all I have to do is make sure I don't pull aggro eat a couple inspirations make sure I'm safe??  DONE!   

 

So, if this guide "is a guide for badass Empaths" - then taking and using AP and being successful with it despite the "no-heal" debuff - is the difference from being an average Empath and being a GREAT Empath.  To me, AP should be a 5/5 for a badass Empath, a 4/5 at minimum.