Favorite Flavor of Defender Teamate

[PhotriusPyrelus]

I'm curious, what kind of defender to *non*-defenders (which is why I put this here instead of the Defender sub-forum) most-like to have on the team.

It would be nice to know what AT you play, too (e.g. Tankers may prefer Empaths for healing and Fortitude, but I doubt blasters would most-like Empaths, as they would die before the Empath could even react =P).

[Eiko-chan]

The one that I am friends with.

But all of my friends are old now and outgrew this game.

[twozerofoxtrot]

To be perfectly honest I'm content with any Defender on the team so long as they're capable and competent.

 

I play a range of different ATs so that part of your question I can't really provide feedback to other than when I'm on Melee characters it's always good to see a Kin.

[Lunar Ronin]

My personal opinion: Electrical Affinity or Sonic Resonance.  Both provide rare buffs (absorb and/or +res), AoE mez protection, and in Sonic Resonance's case strong -res debuffs.  As far as ATs I play: Mastermind, Stalker, Corruptor, Blaster, VEATs, and Controller mostly.

[Sanguinesun]

48 minutes ago, PhotriusPyrelus said:

I'm curious, what kind of defender to *non*-defenders (which is why I put this here instead of the Defender sub-forum) most-like to have on the team.

It would be nice to know what AT you play, too (e.g. Tankers may prefer Empaths for healing and Fortitude, but I doubt blasters would most-like Empaths, as they would die before the Empath could even react =P).

 

 

 

1-50?

Post 50 casual?

Post 50 hardmode?

etc etc

 

Arguably 1-50 and post 50 casual, any darn thing is truly fine as you're contributing to the team no matter what.  And there will be a spectrum of "preferences" that'll mirror and exceed any responses people will give you here which further supports the point of just being a team member being the most impactful part.

 

As for post 50 hardmode and similar content, you'll be more likely to see specific types of corruptors preferred though some defenders may make the cut too of course.

 

Point is, a team mindfulness in how you play vs the set choices you make for the majority of the player base is going to be more welcome than anything.  Over the years similar "what's best" roundabout asking threads will have pretty similar answers be it in the defender forum or elsewhere.

 

[AlwaysAPrice]

As a general rule I love playing alongside Dark Miasmists because my main main is one, so I know what they're doing and can put myself where I need to be to get the most out of their various location-specific tools (paying attention to: where's the -ToHit anchor, where's the Tar Patch, where's Fluffy, where are they when they're Twilight Grasping, etc.). Otherwise my ideal Defender to run with is going to depend on what I'm playing and where its build is weakest, but it's not like there's any bad ones I'd turn my nose up at on any grounds other than disliking the aesthetic of some shields. Even Empathy, which probably gets the least love nowadays, is still a blast to team with because I feel like I can take stupider risks to give them something to do and if it catches their fancy to anoint me the Adrenalin Boost Chosen One I am off to the races.

[skoryy]

All of them!

[Luminara]

@NotDiantane

[cranebump]

Pretty much any of them (though there's a special place in my heart for RAD/RAD).

Edited May 24 by cranebump

[Greycat]

Any, really. I'm more interested in the player being fun to play with. If I wanted to worry about numbers, I'd have gone into accounting.

[WumpusRat]

2 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

To sort of anti-answer, I'm kind of against Kins.  Yes yes I know, "numbers go up gud" blah blah blah, and yes I know I can go see Null to remove the effect. Think of it as my Group Fly. 

 

But for me the unending speeding about turns CoH into a twitch game, especially if I'm running a positional toon like say trying to line up a cone, or just moving through a cave NOT like a drunken pinball.  

I'm just curious, though. You KNOW you can just go to Null and have him turn off the "high speed pinball" effect, but you...choose not to? So you can be annoyed by it when it happens?

I don't get it.

[Eiko-chan]

6 minutes ago, WumpusRat said:

I'm just curious, though. You KNOW you can just go to Null and have him turn off the "high speed pinball" effect, but you...choose not to? So you can be annoyed by it when it happens?

I don't get it.

There's probably a lot of "did I remember to do that on this character?" involved here.

[WumpusRat]

7 minutes ago, Eiko-chan said:

There's probably a lot of "did I remember to do that on this character?" involved here.

Could be. I suppose it's just that pretty much every character I've made in the last year or so has been a vigilante or rogue, so one of the first things I do is head to Null to switch alignments, and just do all the other stuff while I'm there as well. 🙂

[twozerofoxtrot]

I literally just turn off travel powers when a Kin is on the team and let the Speed Boost take me up to Athletic Run speed.

 

It's that simple. Saves End, too.

[Lazarillo]

As a teammate, I like to see a Kinetics user, because I love getting buffed by Kinetics but I hate playing Kinetics.

[Frozen Burn]

5 hours ago, PhotriusPyrelus said:

I'm curious, what kind of defender to *non*-defenders (which is why I put this here instead of the Defender sub-forum) most-like to have on the team.

It would be nice to know what AT you play, too (e.g. Tankers may prefer Empaths for healing and Fortitude, but I doubt blasters would most-like Empaths, as they would die before the Empath could even react =P).

 

Totally not true regarding Blasters and Empaths.  Empaths are perfect for Blasters - everything Emps do make Blasters unkillable juggernauts.  An Emp would really have to slack for a Blaster die while on their watch.  

 

And my opinion - Tankers should not get Fortitude.  They already have high defenses.  Fort should go to squishies that need the extra defense so they can survive better, and also make less need for reactive heals.  Personally, I always put Fort on Blasters, Doms, and Controllers as they typically pull lots of aggro and need the extra defense, to Hit, and Damage.

 

As for your OP... I'll take any Defender no matter what AT I'm playing.  I can adapt to whatever they bring to the party.  

[BazookaTwo]

5 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

To sort of anti-answer, I'm kind of against Kins.  Yes yes I know, "numbers go up gud" blah blah blah, and yes I know I can go see Null to remove the effect. Think of it as my Group Fly. 

 

But for me the unending speeding about turns CoH into a twitch game, especially if I'm running a positional toon like say trying to line up a cone, or just moving through a cave NOT like a drunken pinball.  

 

If you hate speed boost, go to Null the Gull in Pocket D, and turn it off for your character. You'll still get the recovery bonus anyway. 

[BazookaTwo]

2 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

I literally just turn off travel powers when a Kin is on the team and let the Speed Boost take me up to Athletic Run speed.

 

It's that simple. Saves End, too.

 

It really depends. Sometimes you have a character tuned *just so* for maneuverability, and Ninja Run + Speed boost feels fiddly.  Sometimes your Celerity Stealth proc is in Sprint too. 

 

Speed boost is largely annoying, movement wise. 

 

The other day I was on an ITF with 3 kins. The only person not dying all over the place was me, and it was the triple speed boost's fault. 😂

Edited May 24 by BazookaTwo

[BazookaTwo]

2 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

I literally just turn off travel powers when a Kin is on the team and let the Speed Boost take me up to Athletic Run speed.

 

It's that simple. Saves End, too.

 

It really depends. Sometimes you have a character tuned *just so* for maneuverability, and Ninja Run + Speed boost feels fiddly. 

[shortguy on indom]

Defender Twins.  Fun to play with another def that shares same powers.

[ZorkNemesis]

Every defender is a good one as long s they can pull their weight.  Having any support is infinitely better than going in with just guns blazing.

 

Playing a favorite though, I think my top pick might be Time.  Time has such a variety of healing, buffing and debuffing that they're good for everything.  I always love more recharge if I have the end to cover it and Farsight is an amazing team buff.  Plus the heal over time from Temporal Mending and Chrono Shift are really good at passively keeping everyone healthy letting them focus on their debuffs more.

[OverkillEngine]

1 hour ago, BazookaTwo said:

 

If you hate speed boost, go to Null the Gull in Pocket D, and turn it off for your character. You'll still get the recovery bonus anyway. 

 

I just wish the options for speed buffs and group travel powers were added to the client config so I did not have to remember to do it on every dang alt.


As far as the Op question: The type of Defender I prefer is "Yes", same as for Controllers and Corrupters and Masterminds. I'll take any kind of support I can get while barrelling towards the enemy like a ferret high on crystal meth. Especially if I don't already have any on the team.

Edited May 24 by OverkillEngine

[Scarlet Shocker]

9 hours ago, Eiko-chan said:

But all of my friends are old now and outgrew this game.

 

I'm old and I haven't outgrown this game. I reject that hypothesis! 🤣

 

I prefer Defenders which debuff rather than buff, simply because the best mode of defence is a dead antagonist. If they are laying on the deck they aren't likely to hurt you. It doesn't matter how good your own defenders are, a live enemy can still splatter you across the floorboards and send you back to the hospital. Reduce your enemy's uptime and win!

[Oubliette_Red]

2 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I'm old and I haven't outgrown this game. I reject that hypothesis! 🤣

 

 

QFT!

 

The majority of my characters are "support" class, though many are equal amounts of debuffage to go along with the buffage. When it comes to playing a Kin, I typically hold off on SB until the team enters active combat or for outside travel boosts. Most of my friends can handle the ping-ponging, but when it comes to tight tunnels or CoT catacombs there's really no need to get caught on every boulder and torch in the place.

 

[Greycat]

1 hour ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

 

Did neither of you re

 

Hmm?