Supports can't die! Stay alive!

acrosscat

So I've taken the plunge of lapsing my Gold membership into Silver... and then to reimagine my first long-standing character, a simple Radiant AT, into a proper Freeform tanky-enough healing and debuffing support.

What I've been going for is shooting for some choice Radiant powers, and then removing the shoddy ones in favour of instead using more useful abilities like additional shields and even more additional shields, and a self-rez.

I'm not sure if Overdrive or even any energy unlock is really necessary, though, between the energy returns from Compassion, giving every single healing tick from Sentinel Aura or Sigils of Radiant Sanctuary (especially in non-Gravitar fights) or a bundled group getting healed by Arcane Renewal me some delicious energy to cast with.

So to you I leave you my build for critique and revising.

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Crow!

Archetype: Freeform

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

Talents:
Level 1: The Radiant
Level 6: Shrug It Off
Level 9: Accurate
Level 12: Diplomatic
Level 15: Showmanship
Level 18: Ascetic
Level 21: Academics
Obviously, these are stat boosts to the three Primary and Secondary Superstats. The last three boosts boost the Superstats and Ego for what little extra damage I can squeeze in.

Powers:
Level 1: Eldritch Bolts
It and Radiance seem pretty interchangable. But for umph and look, I kinda prefer these.
Level 1: Rebuke
100 ft range single target quickheal. Nice OH SH- button on longer ranged folks really really wanting to run away rather than stay put and block.
Level 6: Seraphim (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Passive, also boosting both healing and my dimensional magic.
Level 8: Vengeance (Redemption Denied)
Multi target stun for some manner of mob control.
Level 11: Compassion
The big one in this build, fueling my heals.
Level 14: Binding of Aratron (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Single target hold and better source of damage than Rebuke. Perhaps switch out with Skarn's Bane for ST Dimensional damage? And get a shield someplace instead?
Level 17: Sigils of Radiant Sanctuary (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Nice area heal for sustained fights in the same area. And thus sustaining my energy.
Level 20: Overdrive
Subject for deletion or replacement. Stacks nicely with maintained Skarn's Bane, Binding of Aratron, and Arcane Vitality
Level 23: Arcane Vitality (Rank 2)
Multi target heal at range. Pretty great to maintain around a group around a boss. Like Gravitar.
Level 26: Protection Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
More energy return. And probably allowing me to better keep my fellow doods alive.
Level 29: Skarn's Bane (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Debuff and damage. I'll take that. Should I drop Binding of Aratron for this and get some manner of shield instead?
Level 32: Divine Renewal (Rank 2)
The party-revive. Set to rank 2 because I'm likely to follow up with some manner of shielding or further healing. Or should I rank 3 it for a full-heal rez?
Level 35: Mindful Reinforcement (Rank 2, Rank 3)
More shields, more healing.
Level 38: Rebirth (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Obligatory self-rez, set to fully heal myself and get the hell out of dodge.

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Scarab Tunneling

Specializations:
Presence: Selfless Ally (2/2)
Presence: Dominion (2/2)
Presence: Grandeur (1/3)
Presence: Moment of Glory (3/3)
Presence: Force of Will (2/2)
Sentry: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Sentry: Precise (3/3)
Sentry: Sentry Aura (3/3)
Sentry: Stalling Tactics (1/3)
Sentinel: Caregiver (3/3)
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura (3/3)
Sentinel: Rejuvenated (2/3)
Sentinel: Genesis (2/2)
Mastery: Sentry Mastery (1/1)

kelbornx

I highly recommend taking a look at Man.of.Light's "Light" build. It's an AoRP "super healer". I have my own variant of the build in my sig, but he explains what it's all about. You're on the right track though.

I definitely prefer Radiance over Eldritch bolts. It may not look as good, but you don't have to target an enemy to gain energy. Radiance is just more versatile.

acrosscat

kelbornx wrote: »

I highly recommend taking a look at Man.of.Light's "Light" build. It's an AoRP "super healer". I have my own variant of the build in my sig, but he explains what it's all about. You're on the right track though.

I definitely prefer Radiance over Eldritch bolts. It may not look as good, but you don't have to target an enemy to gain energy. Radiance is just more versatile.

Thanks!

Actually, I did take MoL's Light dude in mind for this build, but since this is more a support than a tank, I can just spam bubbles and either Rebuke or Arcane Vitality on myself for quick healing rather than wait for Conviction to come off cooldown. So once I've got my free respec and power removal in I can run a few choice encounters against mobs in the PH to see which powers have more maintains and such to them so I can decide between Skarn's Bane and Bindings of Aratron.

I'll probably replace the Sigils of Radiant Power with those Sigils of Ebon Ruin, once I've got the numbers, because slowing and -def on mobs seems way more useful than stacking passive healing over time combined with a +def on players. Still, those sigils will not see a whole lot of use in a Gravitar fight, given how easily they perish when she centers that smaller bubble around herself.

I take it I want to run this character in a Support build then, rather than Hybrid or Tank?

polishlightning

One power that I think that is very underrated for a healer is Lifedrain. I have it on my support character David Bowie, he runs AoPM and with 8 stacks of Compassion I heal for regular pulses of 500 HP, or 1000 HP/sec on myself. That's not counting crits. With the advantage, Vampiric Sympathy, half that gets put to each of 5 group members within 15 feet of me, and that number is doubled if the target is feared.

He's mostly used for Gravitar, so I can stick tight with melee characters.

acrosscat

polishlightning wrote: »

One power that I think that is very underrated for a healer is Lifedrain. I have it on my support character David Bowie, he runs AoPM and with 8 stacks of Compassion I heal for regular pulses of 500 HP, or 1000 HP/sec on myself. That's not counting crits. With the advantage, Vampiric Sympathy, half that gets put to each of 5 group members within 15 feet of me, and that number is doubled if the target is feared.

He's mostly used for Gravitar, so I can stick tight with melee characters.

Ah, this build isn't meant to really stay right next to melee dudes, but I'll keep it in mind for a heal-spammy shreddy tank some other time to build. I have a perfect character concept for that in mind.

However, I did consider replacing Bindings of Aratron for Devour Essence (yes, Ao'Phuckoth's favourite attack) with the R2 and rooting advantage, giving a targeted self-heal and damage source with some rooting to go.

Suppose Aura of Primal Majesty may also win out on Seraphim, given how versatile having boosted stats is. Though Aura of Radiant Protection means more defenses. I really have a hard time to decide between Seraphim, AoPM and AoRP - why do those passives all have to be so damn useful

kelbornx

Yeah, the build is a Support... it's just built tanky so that you can a) basically ignore any aggro you pull and b) have more fuel for Iniquity. It's by no means a tank build, or hybrid.

If you choose to take Protector spec, Exhausting Strikes is an excellent debuff. Especially if your Ebon Sigils die (and stacks well with them too). I went with Sentinel in my build for Sentinel Aura and Caregiver.

The cooldown on Conviction with SS INT will be something like 3 seconds, if that. And if you take BCR... and Sentinel Aura... yeah, more than enough constant healing to cover the cost of Iniquity.

If you don't like Iniquity (which I get, it's a pretty odd skill.... costing health and unable to crit), Empathic Healing has much higher HPS than Rebuke. Doesn't have as much visual flair, but it would also be very good with Overdrive. Keep in mind though that the tooltip on Overdrive is wrong, and it scales the most with REC.

I tried a different build before, using more Celestial heals (like Conduit with Illumination, and Rebuke) and ended up scrapping the character and modifying Man.of.Light's Gem Star build to basically be the new Light build, before that build was even posted. You honestly don't need an AoE heal at all. Just bubble everyone and top people off with Iniquity/Rebuke. If your group is taking that much damage that you need to heal all of them continuously, then something is very wrong, and usually the cause is player stupidity. Remember that the more targets you heal with Arcane Vitality, the less it heals per target. It's also a 50ft, 45 deg. cone... so if the group spreads out...

I've never liked AoPM on a dedicated healer support. Boosted stats is great, but boosting specifically what you want the build to do, imo, is better. Seraphim is good, but with the diminishing returns that FF characters get on bonuses... PRE, Compassion, Caregiver/Precise, and Bonus Healing from items will be more than enough. AoRP reduces the damage that your team receives, and so you'll need to heal them less often. I was the main healer in several guilds through various MMOs, and I definitely prefer Preventative Healing to Reactive Healing . It makes things a lot simpler, and less you have to worry about.

selphea

The main argument against AoRP is the blocking bug, where having 2 AoRP users close to each other will disable blocking. In situations where characters will be subject to high bursts, it might as well be Aura of Radiant Suicide. That's pretty much why I stopped using that passive.

Sadly, the next most defensive aura is the awfully generic AoPM. I'd like to rep other passives but for Mecha-Arisa I felt there really wasn't much choice.

That said, Seraphim and double bubbles are very nice, but in Support mode and especially with primary Pre and Compassion, healing strength goes into diminishing returns. Compare the bubble strength you get between AoPM and Seraphim to decide if the extra bubble/healing strength is worth it.

Also, I have never seen Overdrive proc off my Arcane Vitality or Empathic Healing. So the only thing it works with in your build is Skarn's Bane. But that's pretty much your only offensive power, so IMO it's still worth the slot. Note that Overdrive scales with Rec though, contrary to what the tooltip tells you.

acrosscat

A blocking bug? Sheesh. That's just gonna be fun if you want to stack more defenses.

Ah, and a question! What gear should I be shooting/slotting for? Straight-up Heroic/Legion's Gear of Defense? of Growth?

Anyway, I have prepared a new build with a damage/selfheal and basically just running all the available bubbles for reinforcement, Iniquity and Radiance and Lifedrain for (self-)healing, and Skarn's Bane for debuff and damage. Don't mind the passive being noted last. I'd like to be able to remove it for (relatively) cheap in favour of either Seraphim or Aura of Primal Majesty should I run into bugged Gravitar or Shadow Destroyer runs.

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Crow!

Archetype: Freeform

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

Talents:
Level 1: The Radiant
Level 6: Shrug It Off
Level 9: Accurate
Level 12: Diplomatic
Level 15: Showmanship
Level 18: Ascetic
Level 21: Academics

Powers:
Level 1: Radiance
Level 1: Vengeance (Redemption Denied)
Level 6: Compassion
Level 8: Iniquity (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Sigils of Ebon Weakness (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Force Shield
Level 17: Divine Renewal (Rank 2)
Level 20: Protection Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Overdrive
Level 26: Lifedrain (Rank 2)
Level 29: Skarn's Bane (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Rebirth (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Mindful Reinforcement (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Aura of Radiant Protection (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Scarab Tunneling

Specializations:
Presence: Selfless Ally (2/2)
Presence: Dominion (2/2)
Presence: Grandeur (1/3)
Presence: Moment of Glory (3/3)
Presence: Force of Will (2/2)
Sentry: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Sentry: Precise (3/3)
Sentry: Sentry Aura (3/3)
Sentry: Stalling Tactics (1/3)
Sentinel: Caregiver (3/3)
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura (3/3)
Sentinel: Rejuvenated (2/3)
Sentinel: Genesis (2/2)
Mastery: Sentry Mastery (1/1)

EDIT: Question included!

kelbornx

Selfless Ally is the only good thing in PRE Spec, but even then it's only good if you're actually taking damage... which would mean lots of AoE or you have a bad tank. Dominion is wasted because you have no Holds. Grandeur is a filler point, and not a very good one at that. You're not an Offenseive Support, so you shouldn't be DPSing anyway. Moment of Glory doesn't affect Iniquity or your 2 shields. So that's just for damage and Lifedrain. Force of Will is about the same as Armored in CON Spec. Unyielding and Resilieint gives you Hold and Knock resist, which is invaluable. Tough gives you more HP, which is another defensive layer for you to ignore aggro that you pull, and fuel Iniquity. The only real filler in CON would be Fuel My Fire, but even that is more useful than anything you took in PRE.

You have three "active damage" abilities, which honestly you don't need. You only need Skarn's Bane. If you want more damage, go for a pet, summon, or other DoT. Pyromancer's Blades, Summon Shadows, Command Animals, Hex of Suffering. "Passive Damage" that just does it's thing while you can go about bubbling and healing people.

I don't know why you seem to hate Conviction and BCR, but they're instant cast self heals that free you up to do other things. You don't need Lifedrain when you can just keep BCR running and pop Conviction every time you take spike damage. A lot more time (and energy) efficient than stopping to Lifedrain every time you take a hit.

Keep in mind that Protection Field lasts 20 seconds, and Mindful Reinforcement lasts 8 seconds. PF is far more energy efficient in that regard, and it gives you energy whenever the target takes damage. MR is good for the heal part, but much costlier to keep up.

As for gear: +heal in Offense. You don't need crit because your shields and Iniquity can't crit. I like +health in Defense. More buffer and fuel for Iniquity. Don't need Dodge/Avoidance since you shouldn't be taking consistent damage. Never hurts to have a backup piece handy though. Up to you for Utility. Energy isn't an issue, nor are cooldowns.

acrosscat

Scathing! Just what I needed :biggrin: Revision is live.

It wasn't so much a hate for BCR/Conviction, but more me wondering why I couldn't do damage along with some healing, but you're right, this did have me more critically re-assess my skills and advantage selection. And I found out that boosting Rebirth only boosted the defenses you got while you were raised. Ergo, I could nix those points into Conviction. Rank 3'd, brah.

Both shields stay though. Want to have a nice fire'n'forget heal and shield when I see a far-off target getting hammered by Force Cascades and I need to refresh heals elsewhere.

I have also switched out to a Con PSS, per your suggestions, Kelbornx.

Finally, I'll happily take those slotting suggestions to heart. However, which variations of Heroic/Legion should I be shooting for?

kelbornx

I'd definitely go with Healing Primary Offense, and a Vigilante's Rejuvenating Belt. Greater Health or Freedom Primary Defense. Don't really need anything else. Utility can be whatever, as the build doesn't particularly need much CDR or Cost Discount. Pretty much the same as what you want to slot for. I'm tempted to grab a Topography piece on my toon for ****s and giggles.

falchoin

Personally I'd have stuck with PRE as the primary SS. The Selfless Ally is great for offsetting the cost if Iniquity. Given you're using advantaged Vengeance you can stack 20% resist debuff to the primary target with Sentinel's Wither (yes it does work, just no icon) and PRE's Vulerability spec options. With the exception of possibly Gravitar you won't likely find yourself needing to stay pure support. As such, I personally prefer crit in builds even if Iniquity and bubbles don't benefit.

I'd also recommend using Sentinel Mastery instead of Sentry Mastery. Vengeance w/ adv does apply the Sentinel Mastery debuff in an AoE.