Healing Gadgeteer w/ Pets

habanerosauce

I've had this toon for years, and I'm finally getting ready to give her a long-overdue respec. Unfortunately, this one is saddled with one of those annoying Character Concept restrictions- pets. I've heard repeatedly that pets are currently in a bad place, but I just have to fix her as well as I can, even if she's never going to win the meta game. I don't have any problems with pet AI, but I'm hyper aware of just how vulnerable they are to those epic AoEs from Mega Destroids, etc.

I run alerts with her most evenings, and usually fly out to MI to stomp down Mega Terak while waiting for them to pop. As everyone is probably well aware, most alerts don't really need much healing unless they're a hilarious $#!%show. She's surprisingly durable, but low on dps. I find her clicky play style to be really fun. I prefer to always keep her in Support role.

Here's my planned revision:

Tabitha Hunter Support
v3.11:30

Super Stats
Level 6: Intelligence (Primary)
Level 10: Endurance (Secondary)
Level 15: Presence (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Inventor (Int: 10, Ego: 10, Pre: 10, End: 8)
Level 6: Brilliant (Int: 8)
Level 9: Energetic (End: 8)
Level 12: Diplomatic (Int: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 15: Investigator (Int: 5, End: 5)
Level 18: Prodigy (Pre: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Command Training (Int: 3, Ego: 3, Pre: 3, Rec: 3)

Powers
Level 1: Sonic Blaster
Level 1: Experimental Blaster (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Medical Nanites (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 11: Concentration
Level 14: Orbital Cannon (Rank 2, Anvil of Dawn)
Level 17: Implosion Engine (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Unbreakable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Bionic Shielding (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Support Drones (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Toxic Nanites
Level 32: Attack Toys
Level 35: Munitions Bots
Level 38: Resurrection Serum
Adv. Points: 28/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Hover Disk
Level 35: Athletics

Specializations
Intelligence: Preparation (2/2)
Intelligence: Enlightened (3/3)
Intelligence: Revitalize (3/3)
Intelligence: Detect Vulnerability (2/3)
Commander: Evasive Action (2/2)
Commander: Multitasker (3/3)
Commander: Durable (3/3)
Commander: Relief (1/3)
Commander: Savage (1/3)
Overseer: Administer (3/3)
Overseer: Overseer Aura (3/3)
Overseer: Honor (2/2)
Overseer: Conservation (2/2)
Mastery: Commander Mastery (1/1)

If possible, I'd like to see her able to adequately heal endgame stuff like Cosmics, TA, etc.

My most pressing questions are regarding SSs. She's currently Int/Ego/Pre, but she has some MAJOR energy issues, so I'm looking at Int/End/Pre. I'm assuming doing that will make her damage output even lower. Although I'm ok with her current dps, going any lower would be problematic. Are my suspicions accurate?

I love most of her powers, and the only ones I'm amenable to changing are:

Experimental Blaster - It feels lackluster. Is there another techy gun blast that would put out more damage?

Medical Nanites - I've also heard bad things about this one. I suspect that it's probably keeping my pets alive, and may be why I find alerts are usually easy to heal. If the numbers crunch differently, I may be amenable to AoPM. I've used AoPM on other characters, and I definitely know its value.

Munitions Bots - I don't see this one changing, as it's an actual source of both much-needed damage and solo aggro, but there's a tiny chance that I could be talked out of it.

Ressurection Serum - I took it with fights like Gravitar in mind, but then decided I needed to respec before running that kind of content, and now wonder if another heal might be more useful in general.

I need someone to be brutally honest with me here: Would you be disappointed having this character heal you on the current endgame content? I've done endgame raiding in other MMOs, so I know that being The Weakest Link would not sit well with me. Am I faced with a difficult choice between Character Concept and the kind of content I aspire to run?

pantagruel01

habanerosauce wrote: »

If possible, I'd like to see her able to adequately heal endgame stuff like Cosmics, TA, etc.

Unfortunately, you'll need quite a lot more healing. Your healing comes from bionic shielding (only usable once every 15s), medical nanites (good at maintenance healing on a full team-up, but raw healing rate on any one target is underwhelming), and medic drones (low healing rate, gets blown up by large boss PBAoEs, and prone to rushing off to stand right next to the tank, thus getting hit by attacks targeted at the tank), and you're using concentration as a passive (doesn't scale off presence, so you either won't get much value out of it or your healing bonus from stats will be low).

This build would be useful at Kigatilik for keeping everyone topped out on health, but it isn't sufficient for a primary healer.

habanerosauce

That's exactly the kind of brutal honesty I'm looking for! I understand and accept where I stand a little better now.

That said, you immediately pointed out an oversight on my part: I'm not really married to Concentration either. Looking around in Hero Creator, I right away notice Compassion. Would that be a bit more efficacious in general, even considering that Pre is only a secondary SS?

And does anyone have a good heal to recommend in place of Resurrection Serum?

theravenforce

I'd consider dropping Orbital Canon for Iniquity and replacing Res Serum with a different revive power.

I recently retconned my own Healing 'Tech Pet Support' style character. The struggle can be real at times

habanerosauce

I'm definitely not dropping Orbital Canon, despite it's current flaws.

I've accepted that this is just an Alert-ish character. I've been thinking about rolling a new character using the Celestial framework, and that one I will build from the ground up with endgame in mind. I still appreciate any advice on making this one as good as possible.

Thanks guys!

flowcyto

I may get R3 PBR instead of Exp Blaster; its a cheap and decent base-dps power when fully maintained.

Concentration scales mostly w/ Ego or Int, but as a Support your main stat generally should be Presence, so Compassion just makes more sense anyways. The easiest way to boost dps is to get something like AoED or AoPM instead of Med Nanites as the slotted passive, but that does make you and allies a bit squishier too. I also prob would favor R1 Masterful Dodge over R3 Unbreakable.

You have some extra powers in there that don't pertain to increasing your pet array or to healing: Orbital Cannon, Implosion Engine, and Toxic Nanites. You also don't really have a spammable AoE attack for trash.

Tech healing options aren't great overall atm. As mentioned, I'd prob get a normal ally heal like Iniquity if you're serious about healing (strong single-target heal that has upto 100ft reach), and prob a good AoE heal- maybe Vala's Light if using MSA.

Here's an example of a pet build that doesn't need the pets out to cover one role (healing):

https://aesica.net/co/herocreator.htm?v=30&n=&d=16430nOMSPYT0630E0700074037G007C03MF00K503K40314057R037Q03Mb05KB009D017P000mTO0KPH1EqE600000000&e=

Super Stats
Level 6: Presence (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Witch (Con: 10, Int: 8, Pre: 10, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Shrug It Off (Con: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 9: Healthy Mind (Con: 5, Int: 5)
Level 12: Diplomatic (Int: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 15: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 18: Lasting Impression (Pre: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 21: Negotiator (Int: 5, Rec: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Sonic Blaster
Level 1: Pulse Beam Rifle (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 8: Medical Nanites (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Compassion
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Iniquity (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Electrical Current (Rank 2, Bad Wiring)
Level 23: Attack Toys (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Support Drones (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Vala's Light (Rank 2, Light Everlasting)
Level 32: Redemption
Level 35: Energy Shield (Rank 2)
Level 38: Munitions Bots
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Hover Disk

Specializations
Presence: Repurpose (3/3)
Presence: Selfless Ally (2/2)
Presence: Moment of Glory (3/3)
Presence: Force of Will (2/2)
Overseer: Administer (3/3)
Overseer: Ruthless (2/2)
Overseer: Impact (2/2)
Overseer: Honor (2/2)
Overseer: Conservation (1/2)
Commander: Evasive Action (1/2)
Commander: Rapid Response (2/2)
Commander: Create An Opening (2/2)
Commander: Multitasker (3/3)
Commander: Durable (1/3)
Commander: Savage (1/3)
Mastery: Presence Mastery (1/1)

One can change Med Nanites for a diff aura passive, depending on what you want to prioritize (though I would switch Overseer spec to Sentinel spec then, as Sentinel Aura can auto-proc Compassion in Med Nanite's absence).

Anyways, if you can't drop certain accessory powers for the concept, then yea.. I may just make a diff character that's more focused on cosmics, if that matters enough to you.

jaazaniah1

Curious why you put in Electric Current?

flowcyto

For spammable AoE (and it can stun trash, plus Elec stuff could possibly fit the theme of Tech). Could even just spam Current's stun for Wither + Sent Mastery for groups, if you want to build it that way.

circleofpsi

I'll be honest with you OP, I'll just wait until the Gadgeteer rework, I have around 2 toons who will heavily benefit from it but no dice

habanerosauce

Thanks Flowctyo & cryneting! You guys have all given me some good ideas.

I'm thinking about largely sticking with my original draft, with the possible additions of Compassion, Pulse Beam Rifle & Iniquity. I have a few respecs to burn, so we'll just have to see.

vonqball

If you switched up from ego blades to HW, you could add in aborb heat as a pbaoe heal. I've tried out a few melee healing builds, and that combo has been the most effective for me.