Briarpatch

Regarding forge preferenece...

It changes for me based on the team composition, but the rule of thumb is to forge people that need to hit reliably to keep the team safe--the damage portion is just a bonus.

Good candadites are Doms with AoE holds, Brutes using AoEs to manage aggro, and Kin corrs using transfusion and fulcrum shift to make my job easier.

On teams stacking tactics I just rotate forge equally amongst the non AFK prone people.

Therm does have a lot of buffs on different timers which can be a pain.

The best thing you can do as a therm is have an extensive set of binds to make buffing and healing easier. Here is a cut and paste of what I use in my bind load file:

NUMPAD9 "powexec_name warmth"
NUMPAD1 "unselect$$team_select 1"
NUMPAD2 "unselect$$team_select 2"
NUMPAD3 "unselect$$team_select 3"
NUMPAD4 "unselect$$team_select 4"
NUMPAD5 "unselect$$team_select 5"
NUMPAD6 "unselect$$team_select 6"
NUMPAD7 "unselect$$team_select 7"
NUMPAD8 "unselect$$team_select 8"
MULTIPLY "powexec_name plasma shield"
DIVIDE "powexec_name Fire Shield"
SUBTRACT "powexec_name thaw"
ADD "powexec_name Cauterize"
NUMPAD0 "powexec_name forge"
INSERT "powexec_name Melt Armor"
HOME "Powexec_name heat exhaustion"

Armed with a good set of binds you can shave your buffing time down by a third leaving you more time to debuff and blast.

As for buffing...
I actively maintain the two resist shields on all team member and rotate forge when it's up and I remember. I don't chase people down to buff them, so if they're out of range they're on their own.

Thaw is more of a reactive buff for me. Just remember, it can provide a little help to people trying to escape quicksand or a single layer of caltrops.

Teams of eight will have you playing your secondary more than you may like. I usually stuck to teams of four unless I had another support type that could split the duties with me. Therm corrupters are fun but busy. I really found therm to be more enjoyable on my controller where I had downtime to buff after locking things down.

Hope this helps some!

Damage over time attacks do seem to cause mobs to occassionally flip out. With /fire you will see things pull away from you and snap back due to your tank inherent/aggro aura.

The effect is more pronounced in conjunction with slows and -recharge but does occur with plain old fire attacks as well.

I don't have any hard evidence or numbers to support my statements--just a lot of time paying attention to mob AI in game.

As far as procs go, I've removed all my damage procs in favor of a single chance for hold proc. That single proc brought poison trap closer to it's prenerf glory in terms of CC/mitigation.

These are some quality changes! Can't wait to try them out.

The functionality of the new software is much improved, BUT...

The colors you've selected are realy quite droll. Is there any way you'd consider using the brighter blue from the previous forums?

Oh I hear ya!

I'm just really curious what a capped build would look like! I already go a bit crazy on teams with this character--it's currently built to work as a melee ranged sapper.

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My Rad/Rad/Dark is nearly a tank. FF and Sonic are the only ones who can really be built to "tank" because they're the only defenders with mez-protection. With IO's, Sonics especially can get ridiculous (softcapped defense + 75% resist S/L and 55% resist Energy is just awesome.)

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Yeah, I got my Son/Son to 42% ranged def and 67% S/L resists (55% energy). It was too much picking up Fighting for Tough/Weave to cap the def & S/L resists, but he's *plenty* tough as is. Except sleeps. Freakin' sleeps are everywhere!

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I've been working with mids to come up with a high defense build for my Sonic/Elec and I can't really seem to get over mid 30's AoE and low 30's Ranged. Would one of you mind posting or sending a build so I can see where I'm going wrong?

Thanks!

TP Foe is only usable on Lts and below. It's handy for PvP, but in PvE not nearly as usefull (unless your bot sticks a mob into a wall or something).

I reluctantly picked up Detonator on mine at 44. I LOVE it! The explosion is nearly instant, and the damage is really quite good. It's a keeper in my build.

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I might as well add my opinion (just an opinion). I’ve leveled a FF to 35, and I’ve leveled a cold to 50. I’ve played with both sets quite a bit and through respecs have used every power in each set.

Cold blows FF away. There’s a reason one never made it past 35, and the other breezed right through and became my first 50. It wasn’t play style. It wasn’t because it was the new shiny. It was because it was just that much better. With cold shields I could support a team just as well as my FF. While the defense numbers may have been a little less they were more than enough when layered with their own mitigation. Also that +30 % damage to nearly every person on the team (a well placed sleet) made a heck of a lot more difference than the additional defense would have. Plus most of those mobs in sleet are flopping around on the ground and not doing damage. FF is overkill I think in a lot of cases. Most of those cases coming in the 30+ game when characters become more well rounded. Which is likely why my FF stopped at 35.

A lot of the TF and late game content is EB’s and AV’s. Cold is miles better than FF when dealing with hard targets. Let’s be honest. That is usually the ONLY time a team of 50’s is in danger usually. Cold debuffs typically make those AV fights a lot less dangerous.
Honestly, the biggest advantage FF has isn’t even the minor additional defense. It’s the AOE mez protection. That is pretty sexy. I would argue that the stealth of Arctic fog counters that somewhat but not completely. So when we are talking the defense powers, FF is ahead. Once you get past the shields and the main toggle, Cold has a ton of debuffs with some nice Buffs, FF has knockback basically. I’m sorry but I wouldn’t trade all the rest of FF’s powers for Sleet. No Cold ever would. That’s why it isn’t even a “fair” comparison in my book. Sleet is just that good, and that excludes all the other great powers in the cold set.

Knockback is not awesome. It never will be. It can control a chaotic situation. It can make a controlled situation chaotic. While “good” in the hands of a skilled user, it is absolutely horrible in the hands of an unskilled user. That isn’t a play style choice. That’s a well known fact. If I feel the need to “control” a mob, will lay down a sleet and let them flop around like fishes. It doesn’t require skill, it doesn’t require coordination with the team, it doesn’t require a wall or object, and the fishes die 30% faster. It controls just as well and is a ton easier to execute and it works in all terrains.

Did I mention I love sleet?

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There are some good points in here.

As a cold and FF player I'd like to add my vote to the cold list. In situations where team composition is an important factor it is my opinion that cold simply brings more to the table that myself and the teams I run with find useful.

If FF bubbles provided some resistance to defense debuffs then the debate would be a bit more interesting for me.

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Emperor, not sure what was holding us back.

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Team makeup is huge for that last battle. You briefly listed some ATs, but what was the composition how many did you have of what, and what specifically were the defenders and controlers?

It took them about 3-5 working days to fix mine.

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I have even tried standing in a Mercy Island building fire with ticks of 14 a piece.....takes a looong time.

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If you have any powers, IO sets, or accolades that artificially boost your base hit points you may not even get credit for any of those 14 points.

In order for the damage you take to register on the bar you have to chew through all of your artificially boosted hits first. This is part of why the "Rikti Chief" method works so well--bigger spikes means more counts.

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The Nictus are immune to any kind of debuff and control I think (other than sleeps).

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Bah! Now I'm going to have to get my character with surveillance out there to verify this.

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you can also... you know... slot it with one of those funny HOs that will increase the intangibility, say Endoplasms

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This actually works? Hmm...

Not too long ago on a pick up ITF I was asked if my bubbler had detention field. The leader went on to explain that you could detain the healing nictus in the final mission. I didn't have it, but thought it was a neat idea and decided that upon next respec I'd give it a try.

Well, long story short--it doesn't work. I was not able to detain any of the nictus essences.

Now I've also heard that you can detain the buff stations at the end of the STF. Is this a fish story too?

Also, does anyone know if powerboost affects the mag of DF in any way?

Thanks!

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The Devs gave us Taunt Auras, like Tankers and Scrappers.


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They sure did!

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The Devs gave us Taunt, like Tankers and Scrappers.


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From the AoE standpoint it's more like tankers. Scrapper taunts are single target.

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The Devs gave us Gauntlet in our attacks, like Tankers.


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I need to do a side by side comparrison. I don't think the devs gave away the tanker inherrent here am implied. I think it's a watered down version if anything. I'll get back to you on this.

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The Devs failed to give Masterminds a tool to control their Aggro themselves.


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The pets themselves have high threat levels. And while MM's don't have a ranged taunt in their primary or secondary, a 6 slotted provoke fills in quite nicely.

How do I know this? Just last night I tanked the ITF on my SO'd mastermind. The only melee toon we had was a /WP stalker.

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The Devs failed to give Brutes the tools to survive the Aggro they gather using SOs and their armors, alone.


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Not sure I agree with this point. I believe player skill comes into play here.

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What gives? Has Super Reflexes been completely and utterly nerfed or what?

I've achieved close to 200% defense on SFs or on ITFs, etc, and it means nothing. I remember when Defense used to actually keep you alive, and now I might as well run toggless for all the good the endurance cost does me.

I implore the devs...please fix Defense. As it stands right now my SR Brute is almost utterly worthless. There are so many enemy groups that have accuracy enough that they can hit me right through my toggles. SR should have the same level of survivability as any other secondary brute set, and it simply does not. Either up the level of resist that gets afforded by the innate defense sets, or stop giving such ridiculous accuracy bonuses to enemies which turn our brutes into one-shotable nobodies.

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ur doin it wrong!

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It's unrelated to Corruptors, but EQ doesn't do KB

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Does now, even without KB sets. It officially does KB.

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This is incorrect. EQ on my earth controller and earth dom do knock down.
Only exceptions are mobs with -KB (like clockwork) or mobs lower than my level.

If I were you I'd check me AoE attacks for pairs of Air Burst, and verify I didn't accidentally slot a KB enhancer.

Was running around Striga last night and noticed that there are two "stores" there now: one near the zone entrance and one near Hess.

Anyone know when they went into the game?

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I honestly believe you wont go wrong with any of those 3.

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Good stuff in that post up there! I have a Dark/Mace coming up on 20. It's slow to get started, but quite a bit of potential in that build.

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It's when the "tell the scrapper to stay with the team or kick him" mindset occurs that the above philosophy falls into failure.

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I can respect your position that. I am not inclined to demand others play a certain way. I would be inclined to disuade someone from conducting themselves in a way that the team (not just me mind you) feels is detracting from their experience.

After wading through several posts in which people made comments about treating their team as a filler or bunch of buff bots; hopefully tongue in cheek, though I have my doubts; I thought I'd express those 3 points.

Anyhow, thanks for having a rational discussion. I'm happy to hear that one of the forum heavies sees the value in "sharing the fun".

I do agree with you that there are bad players that bite off more than they can chew and dump their mess on the team.

I do agree that these players should avoided if they are beyond redemption.

However, there are a couple points in which I disagree.

You make a presumption that I equate fun with achieving some maximum overall kill rate. While getting through a mission at a good pace is a factor in my having fun, going through a task at maximum speed often sacrifices another thing I consider fun--interaction/communication between team members. Even taking twice as long as the average team can be fun if there is good interaction in team chat or on vent.

You also seem to think that I mandate running through missions in a "hero huddle". I don't know how you derived that from my series of posts. let me assure you that my playstyle is much more flexible than that.

People that set the pace are important. But on a team of friends who all play the game at various skill levels, sometimes it's best to set a pace in the middle to ensure that your friends are having fun too.

I believe my original points still hold merit. Though by the reactions I'e received on this thread I think they fall on deaf ears.
1) Everyone has their own definition of fun.
2) My version of fun deviates from that of some of the popular old time scrappers.
3) Sometimes "sharing the fun" can allow good relationships to grow or even a better understanding of the game.

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It would be so nice if the scrapper haters would get the hell out of our forum.

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Sorry to be a buzz kill in our forum.

I don't hate scrappers by any means.

I think you and I actually have something in common! We both seem to dislike it when someone insists on doing certain things at the expense of what we consider fun.

To each their own!

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Whatever you gotta tell yourself...

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Good one! /rollseyes

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Scrapper envy, while understandable, is an ugly thing.

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Funny stuff considering my main is a scrapper.

[/ QUOTE ] Self-loathing scrappers are so cliche.

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So are ignorant ones!