Comicsluvr
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I have a triple Fire, a triple Ice, a triple Electric and a triple Energy. While I don't solo on Blasters as much as I used to I find them teamed to be WAY fun.
Triple Electric is fun. Almost a mini-Controller. Two ranged and one melee Hold, Sentinal to soak Alphas, Power Sink to power up after the nuke and Surge of Power looks wicked cool. Take the Devastation set on your first two Blasts and drop the procs into Elec Fence and the Holds. I find lots of my targets twitching...just waiting to get blasted.
My biggest complaint with my triple Ice is that Ice Patch's animation is so slow. Other than that he's a beast. Play is similar to the triple Electric above with several Holds to keep enemies at bay. Not as much melee (I don't take Frozen Fists...no room in the build) but the Slow effects are very helpful.
Triple Nrg is for people who like the fast-pace of combat and one of the two I don't mind wading right in with. Take Power Push and 4-slot it with Kinetic Crash for -KB for yourself. I do the same with Power Thrust and then grab the -KB proc from Steadfast. Nobody knocks my Nrg guy! Up close stack Stun with Total Focus followed by Energy Punch and Bone Smasher. Take Boost Range and have it running a lot for added fun of throwing 80' Power Bursts around.
My triple Fire is an ITF dream. At 50 his typical attack chain is Rain of Fire - Fireball - Combustion - Fire Sword Circle - Die - Rise of the Phoenix - Fireball, repeat as necessary. RotP make me feel immortal because I don't need my teammates to worry about me dying and falling behind. I'm like a fire grenade they throw in right after the melee-types rush the spawn.
I have to say that I haven't gotten any 'Natural' or Dark Blasters above the 20s yet and Time Bomb from Devices is horrid. Good luck though! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Arcanaville
If a tanker jumps into the middle of a wide spawn and attacks something, they will aggro the spawn itself: an alarm will go off and everything will want to attack the group. Most of them will attack the tanker because the tanker just happens to be the closest target (up to the aggro cap). Some of them will be taunted, but not damaged by the tanker. And some will be taunted and damaged by the tanker.
Yanking aggro from that last group will be essentially impossible. Yanking aggro from the second group will be almost impossible, but possible for things with taunt (like brutes or other tankers). Yanking aggro from the first group will be trivially easy, and involve basically shooting at them in any way.
Because of this, its entirely possible to see a critter shooting at a tanker, and then switch to another player when that player shoots at the critter. But whether this is correctly described as "stealing aggro" or not is a questionable matter. Its more correct to say that just because you see it shooting at the tanker, doesn't mean the tanker has established a lock on aggro on that critter yet.
Well this explains a lot. I always take the damage shields on Brutes and Tanks. I often slot them for extra Taunt which (correct me if I'm wrong) affects the duration but not the magnitude. This explains how my Tank can get aggro-stripped even with all the extra Taunt: Not ALL of the critters are locked. 5 likely are (attacked AND Taunted), some others might be (hit with an AoE but not Taunted) and the rest are just milling around waiting get distracted. -
Quote:While I agree with this to an extent, I firmly believe that ALL sets in an AT should have some fundamental building blocks that make the AT viable. After this 'benchmark' is achieved then the set's specific nuances (Slows, -Resists, etc) can be addressed.Originally Posted by Garent
This is exactly why I never liked the blaster standardization.
Blasters are supposed to do damage. Every Blaster Primary needs either Aim or Build Up.
In order to help balance the sets, all Blasters should have their first two ST attacks, one ranged AoE and one Cone. All of these attacks should start with the same range, Recharge, Damage and End cost. These numbers can change through the balancing stage but they should at least be close.
All Blasters need a crashless Nuke.
The enemy WILL eventually get into melee range so all Blasters need a way to deal with that. Either a melee attack that does relatively high damage or an attack that somehow mitigates damage like Power Thrust.
All Blasters need to have a niche that separates them from other Blasters and makes the sets feel different. However this nich should also help the Blaster in some way and not just be reskinned power effects. Slows are not very effective but -Recharge is. Mag 2 attacks are useless on Bosses unless they can be reliably stacked and so on.
I don't want all of the Blaster sets to be the same thing. But I DO want them to all have a minimum level of effectiveness. If the Devs figure out how to make a set fun and effective without Aim or BU (for instance) then that's fine. But before they pull Aim or BU they'd better make SURE that the set is just as viable to play as the others.
Otherwise we're right back to 'Archery is great for its crashless nuke but DP sucks because it has no Am' or whatever. -
With regard to your 'Damage output = Mez protection' idea Starsman, what about movement? As you stated above it's not just not being able to attack while mezzed but also being rooted to the spot that often deals Blasters in. I like your idea but I wonder if you intend to include any sort of 'move while mezzed' capability?
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Quote:Originally Posted by Alekhine
I have never had a problem in getting a blaster to 50. There were and still are plenty of ways to survive long before the incarnate system. Hmm, and slot up for mad defense? I guess that is popular. But, I can tell you my favorite blaster has negligible defensive numbers. Hop and pop, move and groove! Positioning goes a long way. If you want to be stationary and slug it out, perhaps blaster is the wrong AT choice.
Every time you fire an offensive Power, you get rooted for the span of the animation. Being 'stationary' while activating powers isn't a choice, it's required.
Scenario: I 'hop' out and 'pop' off my main attack at a Boss target who is accompanied by a Minion. After 2 attacks at the Boss he returns fire, along with his sidekick. If those attacks Mez then I'm done. Not every set can easily stack Boss-level Magnitude Holds.
Now if they took the Root component off of powers that's a whole different issue... -
Actually, the new Hybrid Incarnate slot seems to be a good idea for Blappers. One option for it is something that gives Mez protection in close range. However I suspect that once it goes Live and Blappers get it they'll realize that Mez is only one part of the 'Blaster Death' equation.
If the Blaster Secondaries were more geared towards melee I'd be more inclined to support it but that would put them at odds with the Primaries which are mostly ranged. I think this is part of the problem...Blasters have a very narrow identity ('We do LOTS of damage!') which is being marginalized by other ATs. This leaves Blasters searching for a niche to fill. -
Quote:Originally Posted by StratoNexus
OK. So you have now said the secondaries shouldn't be melee and they shouldn't be debuff or team buff. I am trying to get you to say what they should be.
Armor? More range damage? Control? Self buffs? A mix of those (or some of those)? Throwing all precedence out the window, design a blaster secondary you would like.
Keeping in mind I like blaster secondaries as melee a lot, I'll throw one out there as an off the wall idea. What are you picturing?
/Fire Manip
1) Ring of Fire - more range damage, modest control
2) Fire Shield - prevent some of the most ubiquitous damage
3) Char
4) Fire Sword Circle
5) Build Up
6) Flashfires
7) Warmth (Self only)
8) Burn (but you can place the patch up to 60 feet away)
9) Hot Feet
Ok...I'll bite. This is thrown together but I'd like to try this form of /Fire Manip:
1) Circle of Fire-Basically Burn with no -Immob and a small +Fear since Minions SHOULD be afraid of fire. Lasts 30 seconds...less damage than Burn. Basic 'Keep away' power.
2) Fire Form-Same as Fire Shield but with a small DoT damage shield because...well...you're HOT!
3) Wall of Flames-Similar to Circle of Fire but over a line castable at maybe 50' distance. Great for plugging up choke points.
4) Boom-Rapid overpressure PBAoE. Slight damage, Stun, hefty KB.
5) Build Up
6) Immolate-Similar to Circle of Flames but with a little more area and more damage. Targets get Fear if they get set on fire for DoT.
7) Scorch-Wall of Flames as a 60 degree cone 60' long. High instant damage followed by DoT
8) Torch-High DoT and Fear on a single target (I've never subscribed to Char as a Hold. Burning people don't stop...they panic).
9) Warmth (self only).
The order is likely all wrong but here's my thinking: NOBODY should be eager to charge a burning person. Rather than try to give a Blaster Immobs and Holds (which have to be stacked against Bosses anyhow) give them -Rech for Ice and Mind, Fear for Fire and Dark and so on. Make it stackable so that against Minions (who don't need to be mezzed) the Blaster just lays waste to everything. Against Lts and Bosses the Blaster has to concentrate his attacks and stack the effects. This prevents the AT from becoming an 'I WIN' button...the player has to work at it a bit. But with the effects stacked the Blaster's survivability goes way up.
And add a toggle to EB like the one from DP that switches KB to KD as the player wishes.
Nobody should be able to target clearly while on fire...or frozen...or surrounded by darkness... -
Quote:Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Looks at corruptors. Primary that deals ranged damage. Secondary that can mitigate damage and support ranged attacking.
Why do so many people want to turn blasters into corruptors? Play corruptors. I think it would be boring to make another corruptor AT (considering defenders also are ranged damage with a support/utility role).
If you don't like the blaster AT, but like the corruptor AT, that does not mean blasters should be turned into corruptors.
I left out Corruptors because
1) I'm old-school and forgot about GR and the fact that Corruptors can start as heroes now.
2) All of the Corr Secondaries are either target debuff or team buff sets. I don't expect the Blaster Secondary to debuff anything except enemy Health...through damage.
3) I don't expect the Blaster to be buffing the team unless they take the Leadership Pool.
I don't see Blasters as Corrs at all... -
I also applaud Arcana's post and agree with it. Blasters need something to help them...but not just blatant Mez protection. For one thing, it's dull. For another, most of the other squishy forms of countering Mez are active...they require the character to DO something. Mez protection is uninteresting and Blasters are nothing if not interesting.
So I'd like Arcana to break down some of the other ideas being thrown around on the boards lately and tell us whether she thinks they'd be worth the effort or not:
Stacking levels of Mez protection based on team size. I'm assuming that this would be inverted meaning that solo Blasters would have more and teamed Blasters would have less.
More powers unlocked if the character is mezzed. Change the base to the T2 Primary AND Secondary for mez up to Mag 2. At Mag 3 the T3s are unlocked and so on. This way if a Blaster REALLY gets hosed he can essentially fire anything he just can't move.
More damage coupled with one of the two ideas above. Some method of stacking damage bonuses based on team size maybe?
Any other thoughts? Sorry for putting all of this on Arcana but she seems to have the clearest thought process on this so far. If the above ideas are not viable I'd like to know why so we can move on or argue our personal favorites. -
After much thought I had an idea: Give Blasters a boost while solo that they don't get while teamed.
A team is supposed to help its members. If a team doesn't do that then it's a bad team. This is no fault on the AT at all. However it's solo that most Blasters have trouble IMHO.
Alter Defiance (yes...again) so that the FEWER members on the team the more damage a Blaster does and the more powers he can use while mezzed. At 5+ he gains no benefit (I think ALL Blasters need a damage boost but that's for another thread). At 4 on a team he gets +5% damage and can use T3 Powers while mezzed. 3 on the team means +10% damage and T4 can be used and so on. Solo he gets +20% damage and can use up to T6 Powers from both his Primary and Secondary.
The idea is that the more people on the team, the less any one member should NEED something like self-mez protection and such. The TEAM helps to provide it. But on smaller teams there is less chance of support from the team. Solo of course there is NO support available and the Blaster knows this. He tries harder...digs deeper for that extra something to help him overcome. -
I'm glad the OP made this thread. I think it's overdue. Just from the few posts already the Blaster fans are obviously not all on the same page.
1) Blasters should do ranged damage. I know the Blappers will cry but hear me out. They have THREE other ATs (Brutes, Scrappers and Stalkers) that do Melee damage (Tanks also but for them it's a Secondary). There are NO ATs dedicated to inflicting ranged damage on the enemy as a primary goal except Blasters. IMHO having the Blaster Secondary do largely Melee damage steps on the toes of the Melee-centric toons who have very limited ranged abilities if any.
2) Blasters should do better AoE than any other AT for the same reason as 1 above. There are several ATs that do good single-target damage. Blasters should do more AoE damage than anyone else...period.
3) Blasters need to have a solo mechanic similar to what Defenders have. In a team I think Blasters have less need to be the macho independent types. The idea of a team is to be a TEAM...to help and support each other. However when solo Blasters should have something that gives them a small edge because they understand that they're alone and vulnerable.
4) Raw damage is the only area left for Blasters. Everyone else is covering defenses, controls and fancy special effects (Sleep etc). All that's left for Blasters is pure, unrestricted damage.
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...apocalypse.jpg
I want Blasters that can do this... -
Need...more...slots!
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Twice have I suffered from Scrapperlock and emerged ultimately victorious. Most of the time I just die. Both of these were funny as hell to me though:
First one was right after Dual Blades had come out. I was on a DB/Invul Brute and somewhere in the 20s. I was invited to join a very cool-sounding SG and there was a team of SG members running together. Fighting Council, we got jumped by multiple mobs and everyone else died. Everyone told me to run but I refused, saying that "I would not leave while I had teammates down" or close to it. The dead at my feet fed me insps as I fought on and defeated the spawn. I was highly praised and promoted on the spot...right before I accidentally hit me self-destruct button and blew up. Oops...
Second time was on my Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster. I'd just gotten used to RotP and loved it. I loved it so much I slotted it and took to diving into spawns I had NO business tackling. While on a team with a timid Tank I'd leap in, AoE everything in sight, tell the Tank to stand on my head on Taunt like hell. Everyone closed in, I'd RotP and then start blasting again.
By the end of one story arc I'd gotten several Debt, Damage and Death badges and had a great time. Was voted 'Most likely to die for the team'.
Now if I can just figure out how to do all that and live I'll be dangerous lol! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
Blasters aren't the only AT to have to deal with mez however blasters are FAR more affected by mez than any other AT. In my own personal stable of toons comparing hours logged in to time spent mezzed my blasters were affected 2 to 3 times longer than any of my other squishy characters and 10 times longer than any of my mez protected characters. This doesn't even factor in how much of the mez duration was eliminated due to defeat. That is just the amount of time the blaster was alive and mezzed.
The blaster is the squishy that puts out the most damage, therefore the blaster is also the squishy that is going to draw the most agro, and consequently the most mezzing attacks.
It isn't possible to play smarter if too many of the opponents you face have mezzing powers (and the amount of mez in this game has reached ridiculous levels). You can't kill them fast enough to prevent being mezzed and then, even though you can still use your tier 1 and 2 primary (provided of course that the mobs don't out range you which many of them do especially in the upper levels) and your tier 1 secondary (with the same caveat though these powers aren't close to standardized AND they typically have even less range than 80 feet) and once you are mezzed you kill them even slower.
Not all blaster primary or secondary power sets have a mezzing power and most of the powers blasters do have access to, that provide soft control mitigation, stop working once the blaster is mezzed, double jeopardy here.
I still like my solution: As the mez Mag and Duration stack, the Blaster should have more of their powers available while under mez. If my Blaster gets hit with a Lt's Stun Mag 2 for 3 seconds I may not even notice. When the two Lts lay on Mag 6 for 20 seconds my Blaster should have up to his T6 to shoot back with. Two Bosses and all their ridiculous mez? Unlock my T9s and stand back.
Now if the Blaster Secondaries weren't so much trash we'd have a solution IMHO... -
Quote:Originally Posted by Oliin
From what I've been able to tell if you can do it from melee range that's fine, but if it's from range then all of a sudden ... tankmage.
I think the presence of VEATs in the game has pretty much thrown the whole 'tankmage' thing out the window personally. A good one can be softcapped, have Resistance, melee AND ranged attacks.
As far as I'm concerned Tankmages are a myth. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Mr_Kingkillaha
I also don't ever clear the map on my brute. I like to run up 900-1000 tickets, then I get to the ticket cap with as much of the mission completion bonus as possible. When the map gets cleared to the point where you have to search around for the next thing to punch, you are losing efficiency by continuing.
I agree. At the point where you have to even back-track over your own steps you're wasting time. -
I have an Ice/Stone tank named Glacier. Love him.
Make sure the Thugs/Storm MM team takes Burnout so they can get double Gangwar going.
I once ran an all-stalker team for a while. It was sweet. Everyone stalk up, pick a target (double-up on Lts and triple on Bosses) and GO! Once ran the GW Arc without a single foe surviving the AS except for Bosses. No one got out alive...zero residual presence... -
Defeated a whole spawn of Romans during the ITF by throwing them off a bridge. Wacky fun...
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Way to go and rave about how great your toon is OP. Now...do it with another toon that isn't /Mind. Seriously, you ask others for builds but you don't offer any of your own?
Jonny One-Power doesn't impress me. I'd be more impressed by tales of what your TEAM accomplished, not what you yourself did. The difference between brag and praise is the subject of the matter... -
Quote:Originally Posted by ORACLE
Shotgun.
I can see fun items like, knockdown, single target slugs, birdshot cones, change ammo, and etc....//All at melee range to 15ft radius for bigger AOEs.
I can see it now...shotgun/fire armor. Sign me up.
Okay back to reality.
Add in two actual melee powers:
1) Gunbutt (uses the animation from SoA)
2) Barrel Swipe (swing and a hit to the foe's head with the barrels)
3) Add in Dragon Breath Rounds (use Flamethrower from AR)
There you go...I'm all over this one. Hobo with a Shotgun all over again lol! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Codewalker
Teleport is only clunky if you try to use it by clicking on the icon, but it's hardly the only power that is clunky for clickers.
OR you try to use it in Grandville.
OR you try to round a nearby corner with it,
OR you try to port between two objects and get the red marker of doom
It's not the idea that I have to click twice to use the power. It's the fact that I often can't find a place to put the target before gravity kicks in or that the place I port to doesn't give me LOS to get to the NEXT target point.
For me, the fix on this is a no-brainer:
1) Leave the Hover option but make it breakable the second you hit any Movement key.
2) Make the distance variable with the scroll wheel as I said before.
3) Reduce the animation time and End cost.
There...done. The people who like Teleport now can play it exactly the way they do now with no changes to their play style except reduced animation and End costs (which I don't think they'll howl at). Those that want to be able to have more control over their Port distance and so on can take advantage of the changes.
Everyone is happy. -
Quote:Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
I don't get the hate for Electric Blast.
The tier 1 and 2 powers are among the best performers (tied with about 5 other sets), and ironically, for as much as Fire is touted as damage king, Flares and Fire Blast are actually WORSE than Charged/Lightning in terms of damage output (until you factor in the DoT)
If you look at the Mids' numbers for the sets, Electric is NOT as sub par on damage as everyone makes it out to be. In-game numbers back that up. If you actually take and use Voltaic Sentinel, I think you'd find that its damage is not as terrible as people claim.
IMO the only thing Electric Blast really needs is the ability to AIM Voltaic Sentinel at what you want it shooting at. As it currently stands, it is far too ADHD with its targeting. It's great when you're fighting one target, but it's all over the place if you're faced with a crowd.
Maybe bump up Short Circuit's damage a little bit too, and the set will be in good shape.
My biggest complaint with VS, and any other similar 60-second duration pets, is resummon. Not like Blasters don't have enough else to keep track of during a firefight but now they need an eye on their VS too?
Forget it. Make it less effective and make it perma but damageable like Singularity and I'll take it. Otherwise it's either a skip power for me or something I don't slot and throw into a mob to get them distracted. -
I'd like to download the Beta server but I run CoH through Steam and every time I try to get to the Launcher to download either the game blows past it or the option is grayed out.
Suggestions? Where else can I find a link to the Beta Server dowload please? -
Quote:Can we all say the name of our FAVORITE Cimmorran enemy? The Medic? I KNEW you could!Originally Posted by Delmain
And while said Medic is trying to heal within the enemy's melee range, that Longbow Warden Empathy/Psionic Blast over there is staying at a range from its enemies, healing its allies and blasting said Medic. Sooooo why can't we have a Medic that acts like the Longbow Warden???
Do any of us notice the Medic racing into close combat to heal his target? No? I didn't think so.
Works for them. Wonder why not for us? -
Quote:Originally Posted by Big_Soto
I am interested in joining a Superteam as well.
I have a question.... Would a Pure Elemental team be considered a Superteam? For example a Fire/Fire team with a Dom, Scrapper, Tanker, Brute, Blaster, Controller, and Defender.
I really wish VEATs and HEATs could begin in the same zone because an Epic AT team would be awesome 2 Arachnos Soldiers, 2 Peacebringers, 2 Widows, and 2 Warshades would be fun as hell.
A 'superteam', by definition, is any really good team. However over the years many have taken the phrase to mean a team that is scratch-built and has a common theme. I've been involved in several including:
1) All TA/ Defenders (various Secondaries)
2) All MMs (various flavors)
3) The all-gun ST (any Gun-related toon including Thug and Merc MMs, DP Blasters, Beam Rifle and Assault Rifle)
4) A Fire/Rad Controller ST
5) Several all-Tank or all-Scrapper STs
6) Several all-Controller STs (various flavors of sets)
7) One really fun all-Brute ST with Shields and weapons (axes, swords or maces)
However I'm always on the lookout for another fun idea for a superteam