Best Stand-Off sets

[Scarlet Shocker]

Referencing a conversation with @Snarky re his corruptor build it got me thinking of other sets that are great at stand off combat for characters with few defences.

 

It would seem relatively obvious that a controller set would come top of the list given their ability to lock down and immobilise foes but I'm wondering what other ATs and sets excel at this and what your preferences are.

 

I'm imagining a scenario where you want to do reasonable damage (not many controllers' fortes) and yet not get clobbered by bosses before you've had a chance to deal with minions.

 

What would you choose and more importantly, why?

[MoonSheep]

poison/fire defender, it’s a bit wild in the first few seconds, but once things are debuffed it tends to go a bit smoother. poison/ice would be better for solo with its two hold blasts

[BlackSpectre]

51 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

Referencing a conversation with @Snarky re his corruptor build

Link please. 🙂

 

[Skyhawke]

Would the ole Energy/Energy Blaster count? Don't need defense if everything you hit keeps flying away and having to get back up. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

39 minutes ago, BlackSpectre said:

Link please. 🙂

 

 

It's not important but you're welcome to search!

 

My point is that it's about the outcome of that conversation not that conversation itself.

[Scarlet Shocker]

1 hour ago, MoonSheep said:

poison/fire defender, it’s a bit wild in the first few seconds, but once things are debuffed it tends to go a bit smoother. poison/ice would be better for solo with its two hold blasts

I love Poison as a set but I've never seen it as stand-off. It's primarily a melee set and it has a lot of powers that are team oriented and the T9 requires you to be in melee range for it to be effective.

 

I would love to know your thinking on this

 

[Maelwys]

Forcefield is the obvious one, or standing inside a Bonfire (with no KB>KD slotted in it).
Things with Slow patches too... Dark Miasma, Traps, Time Manipulation, Marine?

My Bots/Traps MM was rather good at playing "Tower Defense" back in the day; setting up multiple "kill zones" with the Ranged Henchmen and various clusters of Caltrops and Trip Mines etc. for incoming ambushes in things like the Terra Volta Reactor and that one Croatoa mission.

[Scarlet Shocker]

39 minutes ago, Skyhawke said:

Would the ole Energy/Energy Blaster count? Don't need defense if everything you hit keeps flying away and having to get back up. 

 

They certainly used to be great back around Issue 9. I would regularly PVP with my friend Proximity  and they would be devastating. But with the insistence of the player base that KB is bad it's been nerfed to near on impotency. It used to be that Knockback would be one of the most effective defence mechanisms - it would send enemies flying, then they'd have to pause, get up and run back into the fight. Now they just get back up and punch you in the face. Players are idiots sometimes.

[Scarlet Shocker]

2 minutes ago, Maelwys said:

Forcefield is the obvious one, or standing inside a Bonfire (with no KB>KD slotted in it).
Things with Slow patches too... Dark Miasma, Traps, Time Manipulation, Marine?

My Bots/Traps MM was rather good at playing "Tower Defense" back in the day; setting up multiple "kill zones" with the Ranged Henchmen and various clusters of Caltrops and Trip Mines etc. for incoming ambushes in things like the Terra Volta Reactor and that one Croatoa mission.

 

I love slotting the KD PRoc you get from START in Caltrops. That's a thing of beauty for sure!

[Snarky]

here are some builds that are good basic, or odd "fully ranged" that i have run

 

Blaster - Electrical Blast - Temporal Manipulation tank 4.0.mxd Blaster Beam Temporal Munitions w ach.mxd Corruptor (Ice Blast - Dark Miasma) 2024 v2.01.mbd

[Uncle Shags]

If you mean what can stay at range with high degree of safety my vote is for Doms. More control than trollers and more damage.  Going into melee to attack is available but not necessary. 

[MoonSheep]

10 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I love Poison as a set but I've never seen it as stand-off. It's primarily a melee set and it has a lot of powers that are team oriented and the T9 requires you to be in melee range for it to be effective.

 

I would love to know your thinking on this

 

 

ah, didn‘t know what you meant by standoff - i interpreted it to mean an equal combat situation rather than a ranged mexican standoff style battle

[Scarlet Shocker]

8 minutes ago, MoonSheep said:

 

ah, didn‘t know what you meant by standoff - i interpreted it to mean an equal combat situation rather than a ranged mexican standoff style battle

 

I perhaps should have been more specific.

 

I love Poison as a set. I've got a couple of great toons that use Poison. A plant/poison troller is pretty lethal and I've also got a poison/water blast defender that's useful but I've yet to find anything as potent as my dark/poison troller

[Uun]

Trick Arrow defender or corruptor can play almost entirely at range (only possible exception being EMP Arrow). Flash Arrow is a very effective opener (doesn't aggro) that allows you to lay out all your other debuffs in relative safety.

 

Dark Miasma defender or corruptor is also very effective, although I like to stand in the Darkest Night AoE (or next to Dark Servant) so that probably puts me in melee range.

[Octogoat]

14 minutes ago, Uun said:

Trick Arrow defender or corruptor can play almost entirely at range (only possible exception being EMP Arrow). Flash Arrow is a very effective opener (doesn't aggro) that allows you to lay out all your other debuffs in relative safety.

 

Dark Miasma defender or corruptor is also very effective, although I like to stand in the Darkest Night AoE (or next to Dark Servant) so that probably puts me in melee range.

I'll second this I like AR/ta corr a lot

[Snarky]

18 hours ago, Maelwys said:

Forcefield is the obvious one, or standing inside a Bonfire (with no KB>KD slotted in it).
Things with Slow patches too... Dark Miasma, Traps, Time Manipulation, Marine?

My Bots/Traps MM was rather good at playing "Tower Defense" back in the day; setting up multiple "kill zones" with the Ranged Henchmen and various clusters of Caltrops and Trip Mines etc. for incoming ambushes in things like the Terra Volta Reactor and that one Croatoa mission.

This is an interesting take on “stand off” sets. Which is a very effective strategy in the game.  Rather than being actually physically separated, you create a variety of effects right around you so that anyone coming in is facing a hellaciously bad uphill fight.  I do this with my Dark Dark Dark Corruptor using tar patch, aoe stun, to hit debuffs, etc.  other sets and ATs can really be more effective at this, i just do the best i can with my concept toon. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

This is an interesting take on “stand off” sets. Which is a very effective strategy in the game.  Rather than being actually physically separated, you create a variety of effects right around you so that anyone coming in is facing a hellaciously bad uphill fight.  I do this with my Dark Dark Dark Corruptor using tar patch, aoe stun, to hit debuffs, etc.  other sets and ATs can really be more effective at this, i just do the best i can with my concept toon. 

 

Storm is excellent for that. You've got a few powers that tell your opponent "gerrof" in no uncertain terms.

 

 

[Jacke]

There are some fiddly bits about some of these choices:

 

22 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

poison/fire defender, it’s a bit wild in the first few seconds, but once things are debuffed it tends to go a bit smoother. poison/ice would be better for solo with its two hold blasts

 

The Tier 9 Power of Poison is Venomous Gas, a 15ft radius PBAoE toggle.  The Tier 9 Power of Fire Blast is Inferno, a 25ft radius PBAoE click.  Those tends to draw the Toon into melee range.  The combo is still good (as most combos are), but I'd pair Poison with a Blast Powerrset that also wants to be in melee radius like Radiation Blast.

 

There are some Blast Powersets that can do everything at range, like Ice Blast.

 

 

21 hours ago, Skyhawke said:

Would the ole Energy/Energy Blaster count? Don't need defense if everything you hit keeps flying away and having to get back up. 

 

Knockback is fun!  But also can generate Ally Aggro on Teams and Leagues.  Energy Manipulation and Electricity Manipulation are two of the Blaster Secondaries that Blappers (Blasters who fight a lot in melee range) use.  And putting in a lot of KB>KD Enhancements to reduce the KB to KD in ALL Energy Blast Powers is rather harsh tax.

 

I would pair Energy Blast with a good Secondary with a Tier 1 Power that provides KB Resistance to the Mobs so only the AoE Powers will need KB>KD Enhancements.  That's not Energy Manipulation (Tier 1 Power is Power Thrust with even more KB 😺).  I'm planning to pair Energy Blast with Atomic Manipulation, which has a fast casting Tier 1 Power with KB Resistance for the Mobs, Electron Shackles.

 

 

Edited July 9 by Jacke

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 7/8/2025 at 3:43 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

What would you choose and more importantly, why?

 

This is not what you are asking at all, but my favorite/best scrappers lean heavily into stun and knockdown and I let that influence my choices when playing other ATs as well.

[Biff Pow]

On 7/8/2025 at 1:43 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

I'm imagining a scenario where you want to do reasonable damage (not many controllers' fortes) and yet not get clobbered by bosses before you've had a chance to deal with minions.

 

Sonic Blast kind of does the opposite- put the minions and Lts to sleep with Siren Song while you deal with the boss. And it's auto-hit.

[twozerofoxtrot]

I have a fire×3 dom that flies and excels at what you are mentioning. The only time she goes into Melee is if I need to top off End with Consume.

 

I also have a very tanky FF/Elec Defender that... wasn't supposed to end up as good as she is. But very survival without much effort and thanks to Shock does pretty decent damage. 

[KaizenSoze]

Trick Arrow/Beam Defender. Not the quickest, but you can just stand back in hover and pummel the spawn safely.

 

Lots of -tohit, AOE damage, -resist, and large AOE hold that provides status protection.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I'm thinking of reworking my Angel of Mons character. Read "The Bowmen" by Arthur Machin for further details and the legend here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angels_of_Mons

 

Obviously Bow and Arrows are a big part of that tale - a lot of course harks back to the legend of the Battle of Agincourt where the English archers decimated the French knights - sometimes history is a heavy burden. So she needs at least one arrow component and I've never warmed to her as TA/Archery Defender

 

In my own mind, she's not the symbol of good heroism she is often portrayed as. Despite the fact that this is an entirely fictional story I imagine her much more as a parasitic leech character living off death. Historically, had the BEF been defeated at Mons, it's likely that WWI would have taken a very very different turn and there would likely not have been a sequel in WWII. So I figure she might be rogue-like at the very least if not a villain.

 

I am leaning towards TA as a stand off set but in the light of these discussions what do you guys think would be an appropriate complimentary power set? Please show workings for extra credit 🤣

 

 

Edit:

 

I've looked in Mids and I don't like any pairing with TA for this toon so I'm thinking Archery might be a better option.

 

I've not fully decided. I leave it to you, dearest forumite

Edited July 10 by Scarlet Shocker
Ferthur Thorts

[Ukase]

On 7/8/2025 at 2:43 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

 other sets that are great at stand off combat for characters with few defences.

I'm imagining a scenario where you want to do reasonable damage (not many controllers' fortes) and yet not get clobbered by bosses before you've had a chance to deal with minions.

 

What would you choose and more importantly, why?

I don't think I understand the question. 

"Stand off combat"? Isn't that every character in the game? 

[Mopery]

Dark/Electric Tank

 

With Oppressive Gloom, Thunderstrike, and yes Thunder Clap(name?) enemies just sort of wander around stunned(even AVs except for ptod time).

Nothing can damage it outside of iTrial AV double-taps, 60% melee Def, 90% Resist to all but Energy(which is like 65%), and if something does hurt you, you have the best* heal in the game up every 8 seconds or so. Plus the boom of Lightning Rod, always fun.

 

Painful all the way to 50, guaranteed toggle dropper.

Will need Cardiac Alpha at 50+.

Or maybe Ageless.

 

Will see if I can find my Mids build for it...