Supporting Others - Even if you aren't a Support role

[Kaiser Tarantula]

Lately, I've been looking over the powers in CO, and I've noticed... there are a lot of subtle ways you can support allies even if you're not really a support class, especially those allies that have energy unlocks.  In the interest of encouraging good teamwork (something that's sorely lacking in CO, which is a big part of why Archetypes are seen as weak because they can't do everything themselves), I'm going to give a ton of examples..

NOTE: I didn't mention stuns, holds, sleeps, snares and other forms of crowd control. The means of using these to support your allies should be pretty obvious to anyone who understands how MMORPGs work.  There are powers and advantages that leverage these effects, but again, capitalizing on crowd control should also be second nature.


Might
You have a surprising number of ways to synergize with others.  Clobber can apply Disorient, which will be desired by users of Cleave (Heavy Weapons), Eruption (Heavy Weapons), Skullcrusher (Heavy Weapons), and Telepathic Reveberation (Telepathy).  Your fellow Earth-using Bricks will appreciate Beatdown, as it can apply Stagger.  Stagger, in turn is utilized by their Onslaught, Upheaval, Cave In, Tremor, Fissure, Fault Line, and Land Slide powers.  Iron Lariat with the Kyoketsu Shoge advantage can inflict Bleeding, which is utilized by a bevy of powers - Reaper's Embrace (Single Blade), Form of the Swordsman (Single Blade), Dragon's Bite (Single Blade), Bite w/Furor Venenum advantage (Bestial Supernatural), Massacre w/Blood Mess advantage (Bestial Supernatural), Aspect of the Bestial (Bestial Supernatural), Devour Essence w/Phlebotomist advantage (Infernal Supernatural), and Venomous Breath w/Paralytic Bile advantage (Supernatural sets).  Demolish reduces the enemy's resistance to physical damage, and with the Below the Belt advantage, it provides additional resistance reduction for Crushing Damage.  This is not only your primary damage type, but also the primary damage type of many of your fellow Bricks.  Havoc Stomp w/Cry Havoc advantage inflicts Fear, which is used by a number of powers - Spirit Reverberation (Darkness), Shadow Blast w/Psychotic Break advantage (Darkness), Shadow Embrace w/Fatal Allure advantage (Darkness), Lifedrain w/Vampiric Sympathy advantage (Darkness), Void Horror (Darkness), Ebon Ruin w/Nyctophobia advantage (Darkness), Frenzy w/Fear Sense advantage (Bestial Supernatural), and Gunslinger w/Trick Shot advantage (Munitions).

Heavy Weapons
You have a lot of powers that either apply Disorient, or with advantage apply Clinging Flames.  If you have allies with Telepathic Reverberation or Thermal Reverberation, you can help them regain energy more easily.  Bludgeon, Arc of Ruin, Decimate, and Brimstone all apply Disorient, while Eruption and Brimstone both apply Clinging Flames with advantage.

Fire Projector
You can't help your allies much, but an ally capable of applying Clinging Flames can benefit if you hurl a Fireball with advantage onto their target once they do.  Frag Grenade (Munitions), Eruption (Heavy Weapons), and Brimstone (Heavy Weapons) can all benefit from this if they have the right advantages.  Your Fire Snake can reduce the elemental resistance of enemies near it, so try to throw it out against a tough foe in the middle of a mob, especially if you've got buddies armed with ice, fire, or toxic powers.

Wind Projector
Nobody like repels or knockback, but allies with Cleave (Heavy Weapons), Eruption (Heavy Weapons), Skullcrusher (Heavy Weapons), and Telepathic Reveberation (Telepathy) will appreciate your ability to cause Disorient with Wind Lash, Wind Breath, Gust, and Updraft.  Similarly, Gust, Wind Breath, and Typhoon are prized by Earth set players, as they're among the few powers outside their set that can inflict Stagger, which is utilized by Onslaught, Upheaval, Cave In, Tremor, Fissure, Fault Line, and Land Slide.

Gadgeteering
Pulse Beam Rifle w/Infinite Improbability Engine advantage can provide a number of status ailments, among which are Fear, Disorient, and Bleeding.  In the interest of space, I'm not going to repeat all the powers that leverage these three status ailments.  Suffice it to say that if you've got allies that use Heavy Weapons, Telepathy, Darkness, and Supernatural powers, they might enjoy watching the wacky outcome of your rifle.  Sonic Boom Generator can inflict Disorient as well, which once again is desired by those using Cleave (Heavy Weapons), Eruption (Heavy Weapons), Skullcrusher (Heavy Weapons), and Telepathic Reveberation (Telepathy).

Munitions
Submachinegun Burst w/Aggression advantage can inflict Bleeding, which can be utilized by those with Reaper's Embrace (Single Blade), Form of the Swordsman (Single Blade), Dragon's Bite (Single Blade), Bite w/Furor Venenum advantage (Bestial Supernatural), Massacre w/Blood Mess advantage (Bestial Supernatural), Aspect of the Bestial (Bestial Supernatural), Devour Essence w/Phlebotomist advantage (Infernal Supernatural), and Venomous Breath w/Paralytic Bile advantage (Supernatural sets).  Gatling Gun w/Listen to Reason advantage can apply , utilized by [url=http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Spirit_Reverberation]Spirit Reverberation (Darkness), Shadow Blast w/Psychotic Break advantage (Darkness), Shadow Embrace w/Fatal Allure advantage (Darkness), Lifedrain w/Vampiric Sympathy advantage (Darkness), Void Horror (Darkness), Ebon Ruin w/Nyctophobia advantage (Darkness), Frenzy w/Fear Sense advantage (Bestial Supernatural), and Gunslinger w/Trick Shot advantage (Munitions).  Finally, Frag Grenade w/Incendiary Grenade advantage applies Clinging Flames, which can be taken advantage of by Fire Strike w/Wildfire Advantage (Fire Projector),  Thermal Reverberation (Fire Projector), Fireball w/Unstable Accelerant advantage (Fire Projector) and Energy Storm (Energy Projector sets).

Telepathy
Ego Blast, Summon Nightmare, and Ego Sleep all inflict Disorient, which can be leveraged by Cleave (Heavy Weapons), Eruption (Heavy Weapons), Skullcrusher (Heavy Weapons), and your own Telepathic Reveberation.

Darkness
Many of your own powers inflict and leverage Fear, but allies with Frenzy w/Fear Sense advantage (Bestial Supernatural), and Gunslinger w/Trick Shot advantage (Munitions) can benefit from it too.  Shadow Bolt, Shadow Blast, Grasping Shadows, Shadow Embrace, and Void Shift w/Emerging Nightmares advantage can all be used to apply Fear to foes.

(Real-life interruption forced me to submit this post early.  I'll finish up the other sets when opportunity permits.)

[Xev]

Good stuff! Also, don't forget to stock all your toons with a team shield and heal!

Ok maybe not "all"...

Seriously tho, I have this combo on Xev and Lee and it can be a party saver. I fire them off for the team more times than myself. I know, I could be putting Eruptions in those slots... but that's a whole other conversation.


(Edit: More directly to your point..)
Lee fires off his disorients all the time even if he isn't getting smacked, too. Xev, he's all team spirt. Luckshot will use his stuns when he sees people in trouble and Senge tries to just kill everything fast or sometimes toss in a pyre to knock bad guys off their feet. Meaty has the whole crowd with lil spirally purple lines over their heads when he isn't knocking baddies into the air.

Teamwork ftw!