Monday 15 November 2004

Pic of the day: Behind a successful tanker or scrapper stands a defender or controller, the people who make heroes more heroic.

CoH Defenders revisited

We are half way through November, but I am not half way through my novel. The obvious response to this is to play City of Heroes all evening instead of writing. (That, and blue entries are the fastest to write in proportion to length.)

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This weekend and onward I have been trying out various defender types to team with my scrapper. My impression is still that force field is the best defense. The force field is passive, so the defender does not need to babysit the other player (or more commonly the other players, as a team can be up to eight characters). Also the force field defender comes with his own personal force field which makes him almost invulnerable. He cannot take any action with the outside world as long as his personal force field is active, but then again he doesn't need to: The force fields he has cast on other players last for several minutes.

Darkness defenders seem to be best suited for a team with blasters They heal by drawing energy from an enemy at a distance, but the healing occurs in a limited circle around themselves. They also get a protective power that works in a circle around them, which makes themselves and their teammates harder to see and harder to hit even if seen. They can also reduce the accuracy of enemies at a distance, both with their healing and while doing damage, and can inflict a cloud of darkness on the whole group of enemies at the same time.

Kinetic defenders seem to go particularly well along with scrappers and tankers. They also heal by hitting an enemy at a distance, but their healing happens in a circle around the target. This means the defender can stand at a safe distance and heal the tanker or scrapper (or even a team of tankers and scrappers, as long as they stay close together). Kinetic defenders have several powers that make their teammates stronger instead of a weakening the enemies. This fits my way of thinking, so this type of defender is one of my favorites.

One type of defender I have not seriously played before is the Storm defender. To me they seem the most aggressive of defenders. Several of their powers, especially their higher-level powers, deal indirect damage to the enemies. The most extreme of them is the thunderstorm that pelts the enemies with lightning, but there is also a tornado throwing them around, stuff like that. Generally, enemies resent being attacked, and the Storm defender has no self-heal and no force field. So basically he needs a defender himself to survive long enough for the enemy to be defeated. If you already have another defender, it makes more sense to get a real damage dealer, typically a blaster, instead of a half-baked defender like the Storm. Or that was what I thought.

It turns out however that they have a nifty power that comes available already at level 6 or so. The steamy mist works to hide the Defender and anyone close to him, and even if they are seen the mist will still make them harder to hit and even absorb some damage. (That's some mist!) It can be strengthened with enhancements that increase this protection, although the sneakiness cannot be increased, sadly. The healing O2 boost also protect the healed hero from various status effects such as sleep and disorientation, which makes it quite useful if you don't have too many people to heal at the same time. I found it acceptable for duoing, but more challenging than the other types I have tried.

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And since my arm still hurts after the physiotherapy, I'll stop already. (I sure could use a "defender" in real life sometimes!) Have a nice one!