ArchGemini

While I think it may have been close before, the changes to some of the ST buffs to affect people in a general area around the target push Kinetics over the top.

There is going to be at least some bias in my looks at the two sets, but bare with me. I am only going to compare what I think are the two best more-or-less pure buffing sets, Kinetics and Empathy.

Adrenaline Boost is the single baddest ST buff in the land, no question, and Empathy as a set is pretty badA at buffing in general, but with Speed Boost providing half of the recharge buff of AB permanently, Transfusion, Increase Density and Transference working on green, blue and status bars (the Trans powers do require a target, but they also debuff that target), Kin's average level of buff per teammate is higher. To be fair, Regen and Recovery Auras are awesome, and specifically built for it, you can get to a pretty good uptime.

500/
(1[base]+1.25[Slotting + Spiritual Alpha]+.7[Hasten]+1.15[100% Global Recharge from IO slotting without going Super Purple or destroying my Ice Blasting for it]) equals about 120s, so 75% uptime.

The Transes have pretty good frequency without needing to dedicate for it if one chooses not to.

Empathy has Resurrect, Fortitude and the straight Heal powers, Kinetics has Fulcrum Shift. I can see the appeal Empathy has (I have an IO'ed Empathy Defender and he kicks tail), and it is probably closer to Cleric sets of other games, but the power to drive your entire team to the game's damage cap (or close) in a decently sized spawn... it is just something else.

Oh, and the movement buffs from Speed Boost and Inertial Reduction.

My Emp/Ice/Mace Defender (Softcap lets me go leaner than normal on breakfrees without Clarion) and my Fire/Emp/Fire Controller rock, but my Kin/Dark/Mace Defender and Fire/Kin/Earth Controller win the day for me.

Edited to add: There are some compelling arguments for the ease versus power of FF. Never thought of it that way. I do not mind being ridiculously active in providing mitigation, but for people who prefer to get their buffing out of the way early, FF and Emp are great.

I am waiting for a Martial Arts seconday, although they would have to come up with something to use for the ranged T1 immobilize.

It would mean that I have an argument to get Dual Pistols as an ancillary for Scrappers.

I was on a team one time with at least 2 fully IOed Elec/Shd/Fire Scrappers and a third well on the way.

It was not quite like watching 8 kin defenders, but it was worth mentioning.

"Is that continuous explosion coming this way?!"

I still shuffle my DM/Regen among the Scrappers I play, but aside from getting T3 incarnate stuff (and the T4 barrier), I mostly only use him for Tips. When I want to absolutely break face and do all kinds of crazy Scrapper stuff, I go for my Shieldies or my DM/SR.

And @SickSadisticBomb

Unless you are specifically trying to build up some non-zero amount of Psionic Resistance (not really worth it), I would not bother six-slotting some of the powers you have with a full set, if at all. You could use the extra slots to move Gaussian's Sync to Focused Accuracy and get some Accuracy and more Recharge in Soul Drain. The slots could also be given to Hasten to get up more often. Your attack chain and your /Regen powers love more recharge.

On a /Regen, Dark Consumption and Conserve Power are absolutely overkill. Probably Physical Perfection, as well, but at least it is a passive that can hold a Performance Shifter Proc. Slotted QR, Stamina, the +End accolades and bits of Recovery and +End scattered in my set bonuses carry me. In replacement of the first two powers, you could get Resilience (also a solid holder for the Steadfast +3%) and Laser Beam Eyes or Energy Torrent (for the quick and dirty ranged attack in LBE or the knockdown in ET).

Siphon Life is an awesome attack that also heals. You are seriously shortchanging yourself by not slotting that up like a full attack.

Keeping within the same ballpark cost-wise and power selection wise, I am looking at:

Shadow Punch (6 - Touch of Death)
Smite (5 - Crushing Impact: all but Dmg/End)
Shadow Maul (5 - Scirocco's Devrish: all but Dmg/End)
Siphon Life (6 - Mako's Bite)
Soul Drain (Scirocco Acc/Rch, Cleaving Blow Acc/Rch, Rch IO)
Midnight Grasp (6 - Mako's Bite)

Fast Healing (3 - Numina's Convalescence: +Reg/Rec, Heal, Heal/End)
Reconstruction (5 - Doctored Wounds: Slant toward Recharge or Heal to taste)
Quick Recovery (Performance Shifter: +End Proc, End, End/Acc, End/Rch)
Dull Pain (5 - Doc'd Wounds: All but Heal/End)
Integration (3 Numi's: Heal, Heal/End, Heal/Rch)
Resilience (1 - Steadfast +3%)
Instant Healing (5 - Doc'd Wounds: All but Heal/End)
Revive (Heal IO)
Moment of Glory (3 - 2 Rch IO, Titanium Coating Rst/Rch)

Focused Accuracy (6 - Gaussian)
Physical Perfection (Performance Shifter +End Proc)
Laser Beam Eyes (Acc IO)... if you must have Conserve Power, I guess it is not a terrible base-slot power.

Boxing
Tough (6 - Titanium Coating)
Weave (5 - Red Fortune: All but End/Rch)
Combat Jumping (Luck of the Gambler +7.5%)
Super Jump
Hasten (3 Rch IOs)
Swift
Hurdle
Health (3 Miracle: +Recovery, Heal, Heal/End)
Stamina (repeat QR slotting here)

And I am sure there are others who can come up with more efficient use of slots that will make you more effective without being gut-bustingly bank-breaking. Tips can get you more LotG's easily (I would put one in Moment of Glory instead of the Rst/Rch and sub out the third power in Body Mastery for Stealth just to hold another).

With level 30 IO's across the board, the Totals tab in my Mid's shows around 19/20/16 M/R/AoE Defense (not crazy, but not bad), 2.9 net endurance gain per second, and a LotG unique short of having the 55% global threshold for Perma Dull Pain if you go all level 50 IOs in Dull Pain and Hasten. If you have either the time or the moolah, move two of the slots in Weave to Soul Drain, then slot:

Weave (3 - LotG: +7.5, Def, Def/End)
Soul Drain (5 - Obliteration: all but the Proc)

It is still 55% with all those other pre-requisites, right, lol?

Cold,

Did you mean to not include the Steadfast Unique? Sub a slot to get it in, turn Combat Jumping on and you are looking at 45+ F/C defense on top of being over 32.5 for S/L.

Grounded from Electric Armor, last I remember.

You have to be on the ground to turn on Hot Feet, too, I think.

Fissure from Earth Mastery for Controllers is a third.

Moving this to where it belongs, since the only cone in Dark Manipulation is Shadow Maul.

Is this a good opportunity to get the ranges and the arcs on the cones brought into something closer to alignment? Tenebrous Tentacles being 40ft/40deg, Umbral Torrent at whatever they decide (Torrent was 80ft/20deg), Nightfall at 60ft/20deg and Soul Tentacles at 40ft/25deg is just annoying as all get-out. Slotting them all similarly (especially with any IO set with Range enhancements) makes them further apart.

So is the standing belief that Kinetics is good as is? I did not see it on the list, although that might explain why it is my favorite Defender primary (other than those mass damage and endurance granting tricks).

Shadow Maul is also capable of holding whatever PBAoE IO set you might need/want later. Mine currently has a full set of Obliterations. Damage Bonus, Accuracy Bonus, Recharge Time and Melee Defense make it an easy set to want to get in as many times as you can.

General sets I would love to see ported or rolled out.

Blasters: Dark Blast (with an Aim)/Dark Manipulation(with a Build-Up)
Controllers: Dark Control/Dark Miasma
Defenders: Thermal Radiation/Fire Blast
Scrappers: Energy Melee/Energy Aura
Tankers: Martial Arts/Super Reflexes

Brutes: Broadsword or Katana/Ninjitsu (it and Ice Armor are the only two armors Brutes do not have unless I missed something, and Melee and Armor should port together)
Corruptors: Psychic Blast/Empathy
Dominators: Dark Control/Dark Assault (I would probably roll one of these the day they went live, or a Dark/Dark Blaster)
Masterminds: Sonic Resonance (although Kinetics or Radiation Emission would be nuts)
Stalkers: Fire Melee/Fiery Aura (which would probably work out the same way Dark Armor did during its port)

Dark Control/Dark Assault Dominator

Only issue is 3 of the powers that would work really well with Dark Assault (Soul Drain, Dark Consumption and Dark Obliteration) are already in Soul Mastery.

Thanks, team. There really was no concept to follow, but I figured what I wanted most was the level shift, so I might as well take the baddest pet in the group. The occasional stuns that the IDF commander might throw out with its melee attacks might stack with Dark Pit. At least I did not pick the worst damage pet of the group (I took that one on my Scrapper before I knew what I was doing).

Note to self: just accumulate components until I scrounge the boards and figure out exactly what I want to do with them.

In trying to put together a pet for my wife's Kin/Dark/Mace Defender, I kinda had a thought to do something a little different and try the IDF Commander Boss pet for extra damage. Was this decision a really big mistake next to Vicky (in other words, is the gap that large between getting Vicky and any other boss pet), especially considering the defender will be able to play pocket kin for the pet?