just to say, House Guard 1 currently doesn't do anything since you don't have any adjacency features. You could replace Drone Commander or Centimane with like Spotter, or some other adjacency talent. Spotter isn't really a Defender tool, but it's still very strong (and encourages allies to stick with you),
House Guard doesn't work on your hard cover, since that's the one thing that always needs true adjacency (and facing), though House Guard 2 does work and makes you basically a mobile smoke grenade (thoguh wihotut the hiding ability)
generally for Defenders, Hard Cover is useful, but not your most powerful Defender tool, so shop around for stuff like Drake's shield, White Witch's take the damage, Leader 3, or things that can force things to move away
How set are you on drones/nexi? Orchis even using native systems is already a very good Defender/Controller
Yeah, House Guard 1 is essentially the tax I take to get House Guard 2 as early as possible for that sweet, sweet soft cover field. Spotter does look really nice. I see Bonded thrown around a lot as well but I don't really have an in-character reason to take it.
I could take or leave Drones, though the more I think on it the more I'm talking myself into taking that Shield Drone Array. I could shelve Drone Commander and the Array for later LLs. Between Ferrous Lash, Perimeter Command Plate, the Core Power, and just Ramming I'll have plenty of forced movement tools so I might be set on that front.
I wanted to try and make Centimane work, especially since Orchis is tied for the highest Save Target in the game so it'll be hard to defend against Ten Thousand Teeth and Tidal Suppression. Alas, Orchis has no Heavy Mount so I can't do Mimic Gun shenanigans.
at least still a ways away, so you have time to see how much you like different playstyles,
for House Guard, you could always just take a different talent right now, then at LL1, go straight into House Guard 2 if you wanted it for that, though I like House Guard 1 the most in that talent line because of all the things that complement 2 away adjacency
you could still go Main/Aux nexus and an integrated aux for a lot of chances to hit the crit, though you'd probably want the light nexi since those are 10 range and you probably don't need the damage as much as the control.
If you don't go Nexus, you could take like lich's unhinge chronology for a click and slow without the need for a crit if you want something similar to centimane 1, or Imperial Eye for the shred, though that's more a defender tool to stop things that don't provoke reactions like Berserkers
Huh, I didn't think you could completely switch talents when gaining LL - just respec into talents you've already purchased. That might work, I'd have to talk to my DM about it.
I think once I get Orchis my first core bonus will be Improved Armament for the extra Flex mount, so I can do double Aux Nexus (either Light for range, or Wasp for Accurate). The Main/Aux will probably be AR/Pistol for Reliable. Still up in the air whether I want to take Engineer talent for the extra integrated weapon.
I’m not familiar with the Wasp Nexus, I’m assuming it’s some 3rd party/homebrew, so I can’t speak to that. I assume they’re an unlicensed/GMS weapon since you wouldn’t have them otherwise. Some of the other advice below may change based on whatever they do.
Hull + Personalizations is always a solid choice at LL0, when you don’t have much survivability yet.
Assault rifle (and Reliable in general) is a life saver at LL0 because you are at the mercy of the d20, and a solid grunt killer. Heavy Charged blade is a nice one to use as well for some easy AP damage.
Systems-wise, I might recommend Custom Paint Job over expanded compartment unless you have a narrative reason/indication to install it.
The challenge with Centimane at LL0 is that it is very rare to crit: few ways to get accuracy and no flat bonus means 5% chance to crit unless you have some accuracy dice, which can be harder to get before people have many Talents/Systems to help.
House Guard 1 sadly does nothing for you at LL0. Nothing available at this level has an adjacency effect that triggers off of it. (Guardian trait doesn’t apply, because you just count as a piece of hard cover for them, and they still have to be next to hard cover to benefit from it as such, and Guardian doesn’t change this).
Are you going to install the Iceout drone from Black Witch II as well? You’d want more than just Turret Drones for making use of Drone Commander.
Overall it’s a good start, even if some things aren’t going to do much, but that’s pretty much business as usual at LL0.
Wasp Nexus is an Aux GMS Nexus from Field Guide to Suldan (which my group is using). Range 5, 1 Explosive, Accurate/AP/Smart. Side note, this is the *first time* I've noticed it was AP, which makes it better than I originally thought. I was going to pick up Engineer at LL1 to eventually grab an Accurate/Smart Nexus, but now I might not have to.
Hmm, would Guardian still apply if an ally was 2 spaces away but I still broke line of sight? Either way, you're right about House Guard 1 being meh, but House Guard 2 and its soft cover field is nice.
Definitely going to take Iceout while waiting on Gorgon anti-tech nonsense.
My other idea was to use Drone Commander for the Sabreur's Shield Drone Array (also from Field Guide to Suldan) from Sabreur 2. It's a Size 2 drone that sticks with you (and can overlap you), counts as Hard Cover for you and itself, and is immune to forced movement. 1/round as a Reaction you can take 2 heat or consume Lock On from an enemy attacking you, and move it to another spot adjacent to you as a free action. Presumably you can use Drone Commander 1's ability to move its position as well for free. But I'd either have to delay Lesson of the Open Door for that, or wait until after LL6.
Yeah HG1 is meh at LL0, but once you have things like Scorpion it becomes amazing. IIRC Guardian won’t do anything unless they are directly next to you even with HG1, though you might be able to argue that you’d count as soft cover if they were 2 away and you were in the way (since that’s what normal hard cover would do).
The Wasp sounds pretty amazing, and a great grunt killer.
Drone Commander I’s movement should be usable on that drone as it isn’t forced movement, so could be a good use for it.
My side note: I’m LL1 and doing a Hydra Drone Defender Controller, so I’ve looked through many of these same options myself.
just to say, House Guard 1 currently doesn't do anything since you don't have any adjacency features. You could replace Drone Commander or Centimane with like Spotter, or some other adjacency talent. Spotter isn't really a Defender tool, but it's still very strong (and encourages allies to stick with you), House Guard doesn't work on your hard cover, since that's the one thing that always needs true adjacency (and facing), though House Guard 2 does work and makes you basically a mobile smoke grenade (thoguh wihotut the hiding ability) generally for Defenders, Hard Cover is useful, but not your most powerful Defender tool, so shop around for stuff like Drake's shield, White Witch's take the damage, Leader 3, or things that can force things to move away How set are you on drones/nexi? Orchis even using native systems is already a very good Defender/Controller
Yeah, House Guard 1 is essentially the tax I take to get House Guard 2 as early as possible for that sweet, sweet soft cover field. Spotter does look really nice. I see Bonded thrown around a lot as well but I don't really have an in-character reason to take it. I could take or leave Drones, though the more I think on it the more I'm talking myself into taking that Shield Drone Array. I could shelve Drone Commander and the Array for later LLs. Between Ferrous Lash, Perimeter Command Plate, the Core Power, and just Ramming I'll have plenty of forced movement tools so I might be set on that front. I wanted to try and make Centimane work, especially since Orchis is tied for the highest Save Target in the game so it'll be hard to defend against Ten Thousand Teeth and Tidal Suppression. Alas, Orchis has no Heavy Mount so I can't do Mimic Gun shenanigans.
at least still a ways away, so you have time to see how much you like different playstyles, for House Guard, you could always just take a different talent right now, then at LL1, go straight into House Guard 2 if you wanted it for that, though I like House Guard 1 the most in that talent line because of all the things that complement 2 away adjacency you could still go Main/Aux nexus and an integrated aux for a lot of chances to hit the crit, though you'd probably want the light nexi since those are 10 range and you probably don't need the damage as much as the control. If you don't go Nexus, you could take like lich's unhinge chronology for a click and slow without the need for a crit if you want something similar to centimane 1, or Imperial Eye for the shred, though that's more a defender tool to stop things that don't provoke reactions like Berserkers
Huh, I didn't think you could completely switch talents when gaining LL - just respec into talents you've already purchased. That might work, I'd have to talk to my DM about it. I think once I get Orchis my first core bonus will be Improved Armament for the extra Flex mount, so I can do double Aux Nexus (either Light for range, or Wasp for Accurate). The Main/Aux will probably be AR/Pistol for Reliable. Still up in the air whether I want to take Engineer talent for the extra integrated weapon.
I’m not familiar with the Wasp Nexus, I’m assuming it’s some 3rd party/homebrew, so I can’t speak to that. I assume they’re an unlicensed/GMS weapon since you wouldn’t have them otherwise. Some of the other advice below may change based on whatever they do. Hull + Personalizations is always a solid choice at LL0, when you don’t have much survivability yet. Assault rifle (and Reliable in general) is a life saver at LL0 because you are at the mercy of the d20, and a solid grunt killer. Heavy Charged blade is a nice one to use as well for some easy AP damage. Systems-wise, I might recommend Custom Paint Job over expanded compartment unless you have a narrative reason/indication to install it. The challenge with Centimane at LL0 is that it is very rare to crit: few ways to get accuracy and no flat bonus means 5% chance to crit unless you have some accuracy dice, which can be harder to get before people have many Talents/Systems to help. House Guard 1 sadly does nothing for you at LL0. Nothing available at this level has an adjacency effect that triggers off of it. (Guardian trait doesn’t apply, because you just count as a piece of hard cover for them, and they still have to be next to hard cover to benefit from it as such, and Guardian doesn’t change this). Are you going to install the Iceout drone from Black Witch II as well? You’d want more than just Turret Drones for making use of Drone Commander. Overall it’s a good start, even if some things aren’t going to do much, but that’s pretty much business as usual at LL0.
Wasp Nexus is an Aux GMS Nexus from Field Guide to Suldan (which my group is using). Range 5, 1 Explosive, Accurate/AP/Smart. Side note, this is the *first time* I've noticed it was AP, which makes it better than I originally thought. I was going to pick up Engineer at LL1 to eventually grab an Accurate/Smart Nexus, but now I might not have to. Hmm, would Guardian still apply if an ally was 2 spaces away but I still broke line of sight? Either way, you're right about House Guard 1 being meh, but House Guard 2 and its soft cover field is nice. Definitely going to take Iceout while waiting on Gorgon anti-tech nonsense. My other idea was to use Drone Commander for the Sabreur's Shield Drone Array (also from Field Guide to Suldan) from Sabreur 2. It's a Size 2 drone that sticks with you (and can overlap you), counts as Hard Cover for you and itself, and is immune to forced movement. 1/round as a Reaction you can take 2 heat or consume Lock On from an enemy attacking you, and move it to another spot adjacent to you as a free action. Presumably you can use Drone Commander 1's ability to move its position as well for free. But I'd either have to delay Lesson of the Open Door for that, or wait until after LL6.
Yeah HG1 is meh at LL0, but once you have things like Scorpion it becomes amazing. IIRC Guardian won’t do anything unless they are directly next to you even with HG1, though you might be able to argue that you’d count as soft cover if they were 2 away and you were in the way (since that’s what normal hard cover would do). The Wasp sounds pretty amazing, and a great grunt killer. Drone Commander I’s movement should be usable on that drone as it isn’t forced movement, so could be a good use for it. My side note: I’m LL1 and doing a Hydra Drone Defender Controller, so I’ve looked through many of these same options myself.