Hover just for avoiding melee?

[Swaggz_McGee]

Played on live years ago and just came back. Made an Emp/Rad defender and was going to go experimental for SoS and Jaunt as movement powers as that's my origin. My question is if it's worth wasting a power on hover just to stay out of melee range or if that's a total waste of a power.

 

I'm only level 8 so also not opposed to remaking rad/rad to get choking cloud although that set combo already seems to get played a lot. (Thermal rad also works for my toons theme; at least aesthetically)

 

Or maybe I'm worrying about something that is no big deal? Idk what the balance is like in homecoming and when I played live I was a grav control so just kept the mobs slow/immob.

[Lunar Ronin]

Hover is useful for a small amount of extra defense in combat, and as a defense IO enhancement mule.  That said, if you intend to primarily use Speed of Sound, I would go with Combat Jumping instead, for much the same reasons as Hover.

[Swaggz_McGee]

38 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

Hover is useful for a small amount of extra defense in combat, and as a defense IO enhancement mule.  That said, if you intend to primarily use Speed of Sound, I would go with Combat Jumping instead, for much the same reasons as Hover.

 

Okay so you're saying being able to hover out of melee reach isn't even really a factor? It's more so the defense buff? 

 

That being said is combat jump buff worth spending a whole power on? Cuz I shouldn't need the extra jump I with jaunt. Once again I would be buying the whole power just for that buff. 

 

Obviously I have no idea of where the numbers are at in the game's current state.

[Lunar Ronin]

1 minute ago, Swaggz_McGee said:

 

Okay so you're saying being able to hover out of melee reach isn't even really a factor? It's more so the defense buff? 

 

That being said is combat jump buff worth spending a whole power on? Cuz I shouldn't need the extra jump I with jaunt. Once again I would be buying the whole power just for that buff. 

 

Obviously I have no idea of where the numbers are at in the game's current state.

 

It depends on your play style, honestly.  Some people prefer to hang back, others prefer to get in the mix of it.

 

If you have the spare power slot, yeah I'd say Combat Jump is worth it as it costs very little endurance.  Again, it's the small amount of defense combined with muling the defense IO enhancements.

[Swaggz_McGee]

18 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

 

It depends on your play style, honestly.  Some people prefer to hang back, others prefer to get in the mix of it.

 

If you have the spare power slot, yeah I'd say Combat Jump is worth it as it costs very little endurance.  Again, it's the small amount of defense combined with muling the defense IO enhancements.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip. Just that can be a later decision since I'm not at the point of IOs yet.

[Owl Girl]

if You aren't using melee or even PbAoE, the defense value for Hover will only matter against range, it effectively makes You unaffected by melee in most situations. but keep in mind that Hover without Evasive Maneuvers is basically like pulling your own teeth out. sober.

[Wimbochismo]

So this is kind of a confluence of playstyle choice, what powers you have available, and how you end up building out your character. It is 100% possible to be just fine on the ground as a "ranged" character.

 

Others have mentioned playstyle - some just love to use Hover and others need to be on the ground, and right in the melee. But then what do you do if you're in melee but have no defense, little resists, no cc powers, and you get cc'd and 2-shot. It's probably easiest to build out a Defender for 45 ranged def and just take Hover. Really you don't even need 45 of a defense, if you do something like take Rune of Protection for status protection and cycle it with Melee Core at the high end.

 

There's even more options. Getting 45 s/l defense through an epic shield is a good start. Bumping up s/l resists with Tough and/or a different epic shield. As an Emp Defender you've got heals n stuff. Radiation has some cc.

 

Even if you just build out a character with 45 ranged def but take Combat Jumping instead, it's not hard to play keep away with enemies. Get a feel for when they begin to use a melee attack. If they run up on you, Radiation has Electron Haze you can slot as kb-kd and Atomic Blast pbaoe mag 3 Hold.

 

Probably worst case scenario is if you're working with ranged def without Hover and get swarmed with no safe place to walk. You can always keep one of those Jetpacks on your bar.

[Psyonico]

45 minutes ago, Wimbochismo said:

It's probably easiest to build out a Defender for 45 ranged def

 I generally aim for 45% ranged and AoE defense on most of my defenders, it's not that hard to achieve, though you usually have to make some sacrifices to do so

[Without_Pause]

I only take Hover if I take Fly. I take CJ as a late pick for the LotG mule and added combat movement. My willingness to play at range or melee really depends on the powers. Emp/rad is pretty easy to play at range.

[Swaggz_McGee]

Okay good tips y'all thanks! I learned that in homecoming you get respect every 10 levels. So I took it just for the sake of lazy farming melee mobs in my lower levels. When I get higher I'll respect out of it and maybe do like y'all are saying take combat jumping for the mule. Cuz yeah I've started to get used to the jousting at range when I'm really trying.

[Doomguide2005]

My Emp/Rad/Dark often plays at melee range  Irradiate+Oppressive Gloom plus Cosmic Burst+Air Superiority and, of course, Atomic Blast (and Stun Grenades from p2w) make her dangerous in melee even with well less than capped defenses.  Everything is either Held or Stunned fairly quickly.  She has Fly, Evasive Maneuvers and Hover.  I'm seriously considering dropping Hover as I almost never run it, it's far more mule than anything.  Evasive Maneuvers gives me plenty of movement speed and control with Fly.

[SeraphimKensai]

I was a PvP Empathy for years back on live. I fully recommend jousting as an empath. No need to fly/hover, but SS/CJ (or SJ when outside) you're able to reposition yourself so easily that if a mob gets close to you you can just as easily move out of melee range.

[High_Beam]

16 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

I was a PvP Empathy for years back on live. I fully recommend jousting as an empath. No need to fly/hover, but SS/CJ (or SJ when outside) you're able to reposition yourself so easily that if a mob gets close to you you can just as easily move out of melee range.

This.

 

My buffers and such tend to bounce around in and out of the mix dropping what they can when they can, not just Empathy.  Similarly a lot of my characters with drains and their ilk have to be closer and if I am to far off the ground say hover blasting, those drains may not go off.  Hover is useful for sure, I have it on almost every shooter I have but I don't use it exclusively.  Constantly tweaking the altitude is more attention consuming than just leaping back. after doing my PBAoE.  Definitely hover blast outdoors (I am looking at you Marauder).

[MoonSheep]

i pick up combat jumping on every alt i take (other than my kin which has IR and is immune to combat travel lag) - i don’t know how people live without it. i like to be agile during battle

 

hover makes you a sitting duck in my view 

[Ultimo]

I use hover on MANY of my characters.  I find it VERY useful, because it doesn't cost much endurance, keeps you out of melee range, adds a bit of defense (paired with Combat Jumping, Weave and perhaps Maneuvers, it can add up), and with enhancement, gives you enough mobility to keep you where you need to be.

[Ukase]

My first 50, a zillion years ago back in the days of issue 3 was an emp elec. I had fly, and hover. 

Over the years, my playstyle has changed a bit. Now, I get Combat Jumping for any characters that don't fly - which is most of them. The characters that fly get hover. Both provide the same defense% last I checked, and would take the same defensive IO's I'd be inclined to put in them. 

Staying out of melee range is harder when you're solo than when you're teamed with a melee. This is why it always pays for a ranged character to have some method of keeping melee npcs at range. For my ice blasters/defenders/corruptors, freeze ray works like a charm, but it only stops one npc. Still the recharge is pretty good, so typically (at least in the 20's anyway) I can tackle two npcs that are trying to get to melee. It's probably why blasters get a t-1 immob to start out with. 

You mentioned being level 8, so until you get up a few levels, if you can at all afford it, visit the start vendor and get some plasmatic tasers. They're great for tossing a few npcs back about 10 feet. Until then, hover (or the jet pack you get at level 2) can work just fine. Hover will work better. Not for the defense, but because hover won't use up so much endurance the way the jet pack will. But, in a pinch, the jet pack can work.