Some newb questions - sorry :)

[Kinkee]

Got some questions about my level 62 NT.

1) Seeing as Rakomarak's table is down, what's the next 'decent' nuke after Ol'Faithful (for single target).
2) Should layers be re-cast in a fight ?
3) How often to blind in a fight ?

While I can kite away all day, I like a change from time to time. Alien missions in particular just kick my ass on the NT but I can solo them fine on many other classes. I suspect I am not using all of the 'tools' correctly.

[nanobots]

http://auno.org/

og

http://www.xyphos.com/
all nanos are listed Here

[Psikie]

Keep your layers refreshed as soon as you take actual health damage recast layers. Cast layers before next nuke if you have to.

Keep your blind up on target also make sure you have window named "show target nano window" that counts as part of your defense by lowering target AAO.

[Nanofat]

I think the answer to the Blind / Absorb question depends a great deal on what your fighting and your setup.

If your target is a mob which hits for multiple damage types; a refresh is obviously more valuable to you, especially shadowlands creatures which hit for the whole rainbow of damage types.
If your target hits for a single damage type; and quickly - its usually not a good idea to spend the time refreshing your absorb if your a deck NT. You'll just get killed in 15 hits instead of 10, and your target is not likely to die watching you in recharge.
Refreshing absorbs should always be done after battles; sometimes repeatedly to mitigate lasting DoT effects.
There are also situations where you might be able to largly mitigate a mob's damage with spamming absorbs; allowing you to stim yourself some health/nano and recover, however this sort of scenario can be rare if your on the bleeding edge seeking XP; its more likely to occur if your trying to murder something lower-level than you which still has somewhat of a reasonably nasty bite.

If your target is higher level than you; your blinds will probably be next-to-pointless, the -AAO having little effect on its ability to murder you. This also depends on your gear; if you don't compliment a blind's -AAO with your own +AAD and evades; chances are even on same-level monsters - it won't help.

Considering NT's dark blue evades, the price of getting your hands on AAD/Evade buffing items - and our general role in solo/teams, i wouldn't expect many NTs to be able to make significant personal use of their blinds for outside of TL5+, except for their wonderfully annoying screen effect in PvP at all TLs.

That isn't to say they're pointless; other more evade-driven profession can greatly benefit from you throwing your blinds around, and the raw %chance of them helping at all; obviously increases with the number of mobs; hence AoE blinds for those many-adds moments, might help keep your tank alive.

[Delerium]

Learn to use layers, blinds and roots to their best effect. Always refresh layers between fights, if you're DoT'ed it's usually a good idea to refresh them as soon as they run out and you start taking damage. While blinds might not always save you from a hit they reduce damage so it's still a good idea to keep them refreshed.

Learning to use roots is the alpha-omega skill as a lowbie NT. Most mobs same-higher level will beat you senseless in close combat unless you really go the extra few miles with your evades/aad. Use roots and your range advantage to avoid hits and as a safe time to refresh layers.

[Psikie]

I think the answer to the Blind / Absorb question depends a great deal on what your fighting and your setup.

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I agree with this also. I was very heavy evade/aad in fact the only things I had implants or symbs for were MC/run speed/aad/evades untill around lvl 180. The other slots I pretty much ignored. I figured if I didnt get hit I didnt need hp or ac. Layers gave me time for 1 extra hit to give me time to NS, calm, or root target.

Obviously if you are lvl 120 fighting ely hecks or borgs those evades dont mean jack if you try to stand toe to toe. After 210 and when you get APF blind is when you can really see a huge difference in evades/aad.

[jarnoxe]

It depends on build and gear. My current NT project (I also have higher level froob NTs) is a bit higher level but not much, has never kited, and regularly stands up to and kills orange and red mobs solo. Does not have NS, and uses a pair of electronicums instead of a gauntlet. Not-maxed evades and seldom bothers with blinds.

It is very possible to kill stuff fast enough by timing weapons and nukes together, always starting with a full absorb. When possible (aka no aggro yet), start the fight with a slow-casting powerful nuke like Unstable Hadron String. If the mob has tons of life, and fairly low damage, then refreshing the absorb might be worth it. But if the mob will do more damage than the shield absorbs in casting/recharge time, it is counterproductive. Note rooting is good for kiter, calms rule for most other purposes.

I generally go to Burning Quartet after Old Faithful.

[Awikun]

As for blind/layers question the key element is your nano init and def/agg slider.
Depending how much time it takes to cast and how much damage you will/may take from mob at the same time?

In general at low levels layers are only worth casting after each fight and not during fight.
When your nano init is low it is worth to cast area blind on multiple mobs rather than single target blind.

For Alien missions your best strategy is first of all to keep mobs rooted/snared and use range to your advantage. In your set up use all items that add/increase range then most of the time nuke enemies from max range and recast snare/root whenever they free. It also helps to start attack with nuke that has additional effect of reducing nano resistance so your snare/root have better chance to land.