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korenlei

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Blander...is it possible?

Question for you techies that are into the statistics of the different builds (as this is totally beyond me).

How close can a defender get to having the same damage capabilities of a blaster with slotting, etc?

I love playing defenders but want the power of a blaster. How close can I get to that and still be able to be an effective defender?

Thanks!

02/26/07 21:09

Variety

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

First,Welcome to Gameamp!Glad to see new Faces!

Also That is a good question,I guess it'd depend on your Primary,I don't see alot of Empathys with many attacks just cause of the End drain.Any other Primary would be great for that.

A man with no Fear is a man with no Hope

02/26/07 22:48

bold-lightning

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

I'd say if you really wanna be doing damage asa defedner, try a radiation/sonic defender. Radiation will make your enemeis easier to hit and also lower their resistances, and with each hit of your sonics, they'll get even squishier.

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02/26/07 23:35

Variety

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

That sounds more of Debuffing Bold

A man with no Fear is a man with no Hope

02/26/07 23:40

bold-lightning

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

well, defender generally do just that, but it will be enough debuffing to just about reach the dmg abilities of a blaster.

02/26/07 23:42

Variety

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

'Ight got ya bro

A man with no Fear is a man with no Hope

02/27/07 00:02

knickknack

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

Nice to see you posting, Mrs, Lunar One....errrr...I mean, Koren. Sorry had to be done.

You've posed a very good question, and it's something I've been trying to do since I started playing defenders. I can't say that you will ever get the same kind of damage generation as a blaster, but you can come fairly close. Like Bold said, it mainly depends on the sets you chose.

The biggest drawback is that your damage is in your secondary set and trying to balance high damage with good defendering(?) is rough. Ok, I know it's not a word....

If you really want to get close to the power of a blaster yet still be a great aid to your team, I actually recommend using Force Fields as your primary. Yes, I said FF. It's a set that aids a party greatly with only a minimal amount of slotting compared to the other sets. You don't have to take every power in the set like Empathy to be effective, and you have great defense by level 12 with dispersion bubble.

When it comes to secondaries, look at the damage levels and the types of attacks in the set. Again, like Bold pointed out, sonic has good damage that also debuffs the target. It would make a decent choice as a secondary. The trick is just finding the sets that work for you.

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02/27/07 00:27

korenlei

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

Specifically I want to ask if I can respec Tyla (pic left) to be more blaster-like. She is an empathy/energy blast defender, level 40.

I also have a rad/rad defender, level 21. Would that have more possibilities?

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02/27/07 10:53

Nakoma

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

I would say you have literally no chance of coming near the damage a blaster does. The best you can hope for is to choose an epic set with Build Up and use the heck out of it. Radiation is nice for debuffing and making things weaker (as previously stated), but the rad blasts aren't all that powerful, damage wise. As far as your Emp/NRG, no dice. the best you can do there is to slot for damage and do the best you can. After all, if you could get close to a Blaster's damage, why would anybody play a Blaster then? I know plenty of people who play a Blastfender, but all of them realize that they will be limited in damage before they even start their build.

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02/27/07 11:48

Thundarpants

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

The Radiation Defender would have better possibilities simply because the Debuffs add to your overall DPS by lowering defense and resistance.

You can play Blaster-Light, but have no misconceptions that you will ever match up with a real Blaster's damage. I get discouraged with my Defender builds all the time simply because I run mostly Blasters, and the damage is simply not comparable. I have to get it straight in my head that my blasts on my Defenders are for applying debuffs when I play them to not get frustrated.

The reason that the Defenders have the ranged blasts is to be able to apply debuffs from a distance and contribute to overall team DPS. Not be a primary DPS provider.

If you respec an Empathy Defender to be Blaster-Light..... good luck getting teams. You are better off leaving that character as a healer. It's a mind set of the gaming community that you will not be able to get over that especially goes towards the Empathy set. On top of that, your secondary is Energy. Although I love KnockBack and have friends that can appreciate KB teams, the majority of the gaming community hates it. That's 2 strikes against you on that character. You chose Empathy on a Defender, they will expect you to heal. Sorry.

Now, in more detail on the Rad/Rad....... This is an awesome Blaster-Light combination because the secondary effect is Defense Debuff. Teams will want you spreading your blasts all over the place to debuff the mobs as you go. You have a lot more creative license with this character build that will attract teaming possibilities. Radiation players have been in high demand since the changes to Giant Monsters in I6 or I7. You will be immensely popular playing in the Blaster-Light on this character. Rad/Rad Defenders are a total "Blast" to play.

Personally, I don't like the facts that I had to convey to you. I think the gaming community should be a bit more flexible. I'm simply trying to save you a little grief. Not everyone can have a stack of 50's in their queue to choose from, and if you have that Empathy Defender's level up high you may not have the game time to develop a second. I understand that perfectly because I have to schedule my gaming nights, and they are very limited at that.

Give the Rad/Rad some time and effort. I think that character could easily fulfill that Blaster desire in you, and you get a cool set of bright green blasts that the Blaster set does not get to choose from. It's one of my favorite Defender combinations hands down.

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02/27/07 11:49

Hobsnob

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

QUOTE

If you really want to get close to the power of a blaster yet still be a great aid to your team, I actually recommend using Force Fields as your primary. Yes, I said FF

I agree, but you forget one thing that makes FF even more suitable - All the buffs can be cast pre-battle, leaving you completely open to blast to your heart's content.

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02/27/07 13:06

LordStarwolf

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

I have done a blaster light, and yes it was with energy, although I had kinetics as a secondary. I slotted my blasts for damage and got pretty high, certainly higher than non slotted blaster powers. The reduction from primary to secondary I believe only lowers the output by 80% if I remember correctly, so getting them above the level of non slotted blaster is not that hard. Blasters can always stay ahead of you by slotting theirs, but thats a given. With mine I kept almost all of my usual Kin powers and just didn't slot them quite as high and put slots on the blasts.

One thing to remember Koren is that you don't have to have that many blasts. You can always get just the first three or so, or any three from the list and slot them up heavy. Then choose all the emp powers you normally would and don't slot them quite as high. People may say your a little slow with heals/buffs/etc, but they will still be there. Then you slot two or three blasts up with damage and recharge, maybe take hasten to get them back up quick, and you can give them what they want in the emp side and blast very well. Maybe not as high as the pure damage dealing, long range blaster, but certainly your ranged stuff will outperform someone with, say, a blapper build who has dropped some range for melee power.

One other blast powerset to think about is sonic. Not only does it do debuffs like rad, but in my experience the debuffs are more effective and the blasts do much more damage.

All in all I would say it can be done well enough to contribute to the damage output. Whether or not it can make you happy I can't say. If you need some advice on how to do it send me a PM. I could whip you up a build I would recommend if you would like.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

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Avant Guard = Emp/Rad/Psychic Defender Lvl 50 (Dedicated Healer)
Astral Plane = Peacebringer Lvl 50
Spica = Fire/Em/Energy Tank Lvl 50 (Scranker)
Avant Spines = Spines/Regen Scrapper Lvl 50 (AOE King)
Beliskner = Eng/Eng Blaster Lvl 41 (Blapper)
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02/27/07 13:38

infernalstorm

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

Without repeating anything that your fellow ampers have already shared...

If you truly enjoy playing a defender, but yearn for the power of a blaster, my recommendation is get COV and build a Corrupter.

Playing the dark side can be a different experience, but the powerset combinations rock! ie, fire primary's aoes couple very well with radiation's and cold's aoe debuffs.

Good hunting

Infernal Storm fire/energy/fire blaster
Cosmo Crush energy/energy/force blaster

and many more...

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02/27/07 15:50

Chunkaliscious

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

Not sure about respecing your Defender into a more blaster style role. But, if you are looking at increasing damage, I would play a Kin/ defender. If you properly slot Fulcrum Shift, you can have 2 applications of it running for a couple of attacks. You also have Siphon Power, from an early level. You can usually get 3 of those stacked on yourself. If that doesnt put you at the damage cap for a defender, not sure what else would.
While probably not the highest damage secondary, I have archery and can dole out good enough damage to feel like I contribute to a team. Although on a team by the time I Fulcrum Shift the herd and Heal the tank from the alpha, the herd is usually dead.
I can also solo pretty well. I only run on the lowest difficulty, but have no problems running through a mish.

So in short....Kinetics FTW ! !

Global @chunkaliscious

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02/27/07 16:22

Sturmwolf

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

I have to agree with the 2 posts before me.
(Lord Starwolf & infernalstorm)
I'm playing a "Blander" myself with Kin/En.
Works pretty well.
I use Siphon Speed to spice up my rechargetimes and Siphon Power to get the better dmg.
With all the Knockbacks and Repel I keep all baddies away from me.
And 2ndly....I play a Corrupter En/Rad, as a kind o Blander.
Would work very similar as a hero Def Rad/En.
My main Rad-Power is Accelerated Metabolism.
Together with Hasten, I creat an all time AM/hast buff on me (with the AoE-Heal to keep me alive).
And even in a Team your will still be a good mate.
But still you will not get the overall Blaster-DPS.
On the other hand you have a pretty useful aray of controleffects that make up for it.

***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***

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02/27/07 16:27

Thundarpants

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

QUOTE

Just a reminder. The original poster was asking about existing characters in their account.

If someone did want to roll up a new Defender to play like this, I agree with the multiple posts about Kinetics. The one thing that the Defenders lack is a "Build up" type power until the Epics are made available in the 40's. Kinetics gives you Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift that would facilitate DPS boosting. After that, the Blast type is a personal preference issue.

For solo survivability, I would go with a Kin/Enrg. The KnockBack feature allows you to buy a little time to get more attacks in to make up for the lower DPS. They can't attack you if they can't get up. I use the same tactic on my AR/DEV Blaster. KnockBack is an effective defense. Very good for lowering incoming DPS.

One of the real advantages to the Energy Blast secondary is that it's dual damage. Energy and Smashing. If an enemy is resistant to smashing damage, they are rarely resistant energy damage, and vice versa.

But all of the Defender Secondary Blasts get amped up secondary effects. So utilizing Dark's Accuracy Debuff so they can't hit you as easily, or Radiations Defense Debuff so you miss less and land more DPS, or the Sonic's debuffs AND KnockBack for a little of both. Match any of them up with Kinetics and you would be very effective.

I'd personaly like to see more people using Defenders in this manner. This AT is so under utilized, and highly effective in teams no matter how you play them. Adding a Defender to any team just lowered the difficulty of the mission at hand. They make all of us better at whatever we are doing.

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02/27/07 17:55

Solarix

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

When I first started the game, i made a dark/dark defender, now lvl 50. i thought at first, why would i get an attack with no damage?!?! so i mainly had her as a blastender, with a very good heal that blasters cant get (twilight grasp). i would recommend a dark blast secondary, the first 3 powers are good damage, and VERY long range. also, tenebrous tentacles with night fall used on those immobilized baddies is very effective, quick DoT. as for primary, i would go with FF, as someone said before, because it requires very minimum slotting but can still be very effective.

just my two cents :)

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02/27/07 19:54

Blue_Flagg

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RE: Blander...is it possible?

After playing a Blaster solo to 50 (and only taking the better part of a year and a half to do so...YEASH). The Ken/Eng defender is a blaster on crack. You recive some very nice buffs, (both with siphon power punching up your attacks and speed boost boosting your attack rate). You have a pretty decent heal that can get you out of sticky situations.

I cant give any solid numbers, but I will say that leveling with the ken/eng has been MUCH easier then my fire/ice/fire blaster.

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07/08/07 17:23

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