Adding on to what Micro said, and in addendum to my own post about def debuff powers on the heroside of the game.
It bears mentioning that what I quoted were unslotted def debuff numbers. Def debuff takes Schedule A enhancements,
meaning that if we run up into the ED limits as we normally try to do in slotting...as an example, Infrigidate goes
from the base -31.3% def debuff I listed to like -51.4% def debuff.
Now, I grant you, while all the powers I listed do -def, you wouldn't want to slot all of 'em for -def...for
many of those powers do -def in addition to other debuffs.
But debuffs look to be the thing to take spiders down. I note that increasingly a lot of regular 'crunchy' powersets have resistance to certain
debuffs. The dark and electric armors resist endurance drain, for instance. Most regular defense sets heavily resist defense...welp, there's nothing of the
sort here.
I'm not sure I like this as a balancing equation, though, if this was the dev's thinking. Aside from Radiation Infection, all the def debuff powers I
listed...I think they all need to-hit checks themselves...eh, well, pros and cons to that really. Toggle debuffs have their own weaknesses in PvP.
However, it's nice to know a Rad can autohit anchor a Fortunata and make over 51% of their preciously hoarded defense just evaporate. Bonus points if it's a defender with Rad Blast for the follow up, or an Earth controller to smother you beneath a
crushing stony embrace. 'specially considering Rad Blast and Earth Control have traditionally been laughed at in PvP.
Now.
I've done arena matches with a full team of 8 defenders. Most of 'em with leadership toggles.
Crushed. Everything. Flat.
That, I think, is the answer to the VEAT team in PvP. A defender team. Possibly some controllers to taste. Stack leadership toggles as well - bearing in mind that leadership buffs do cap, I suspect (though I don't
have numbers to back it up) that at the extreme end the defenders would have bonuses that are, in effect just as good.
Remember, what VEATs do, anyone else can do - to lesser effect, perhaps, but...
One or two empaths with clear mind - status protection and increased perception, though Tactics would do for the +per as well (need some way to help spot the
bad guys from hide). Forcefielders would help with mez protection also, though keeping people within the big bubble is insanely difficult in PvP. Aside from
that though, the stacked debuffs (Rad, Dark, Storm, Cold, etc) and other mutual buffs (too many to list) a defender
team would bring to the table should have extreme effect.
That's a team solution. As for solo PvP?
One of the most common and successful solo hunter PvP builds villainside was the Ice/Cold corruptor. Less popular lately, but I fought several back when I did
zone stuff...in fact this was one reason why villain PvPers were initially unhappy when I12 was launched - damn devs are giving Defenders our best PvP sets!
-- Acyl
It bears mentioning that what I quoted were unslotted def debuff numbers. Def debuff takes Schedule A enhancements,
meaning that if we run up into the ED limits as we normally try to do in slotting...as an example, Infrigidate goes
from the base -31.3% def debuff I listed to like -51.4% def debuff.
Now, I grant you, while all the powers I listed do -def, you wouldn't want to slot all of 'em for -def...for
many of those powers do -def in addition to other debuffs.
But debuffs look to be the thing to take spiders down. I note that increasingly a lot of regular 'crunchy' powersets have resistance to certain
debuffs. The dark and electric armors resist endurance drain, for instance. Most regular defense sets heavily resist defense...welp, there's nothing of the
sort here.
I'm not sure I like this as a balancing equation, though, if this was the dev's thinking. Aside from Radiation Infection, all the def debuff powers I
listed...I think they all need to-hit checks themselves...eh, well, pros and cons to that really. Toggle debuffs have their own weaknesses in PvP.
However, it's nice to know a Rad can autohit anchor a Fortunata and make over 51% of their preciously hoarded defense just evaporate. Bonus points if it's a defender with Rad Blast for the follow up, or an Earth controller to smother you beneath a
crushing stony embrace. 'specially considering Rad Blast and Earth Control have traditionally been laughed at in PvP.
Now.
I've done arena matches with a full team of 8 defenders. Most of 'em with leadership toggles.
Crushed. Everything. Flat.
That, I think, is the answer to the VEAT team in PvP. A defender team. Possibly some controllers to taste. Stack leadership toggles as well - bearing in mind that leadership buffs do cap, I suspect (though I don't
have numbers to back it up) that at the extreme end the defenders would have bonuses that are, in effect just as good.
Remember, what VEATs do, anyone else can do - to lesser effect, perhaps, but...
One or two empaths with clear mind - status protection and increased perception, though Tactics would do for the +per as well (need some way to help spot the
bad guys from hide). Forcefielders would help with mez protection also, though keeping people within the big bubble is insanely difficult in PvP. Aside from
that though, the stacked debuffs (Rad, Dark, Storm, Cold, etc) and other mutual buffs (too many to list) a defender
team would bring to the table should have extreme effect.
That's a team solution. As for solo PvP?
One of the most common and successful solo hunter PvP builds villainside was the Ice/Cold corruptor. Less popular lately, but I fought several back when I did
zone stuff...in fact this was one reason why villain PvPers were initially unhappy when I12 was launched - damn devs are giving Defenders our best PvP sets!
-- Acyl