Cyclone_Jack

Players Guide for an Ice/Ice Blaster (PvE) [I7]

This is a PvE guide for players wanting to use the Ice Primary and/or Ice Secondary skills for a Blaster. While the guide is primarily on Ice/Ice, I may mention skills from other Power Sets that could be used in conjunction with these Powers. While I do have numbers listed, this guide is meant to better explain how the different Powers work in-game.

What makes the Ice Blasts stand out from the other Blaster skills is the combination of fast, powerful single target attacks and various forms of crowd control, all of which slow your target(s). All of the single target Blast attacks have a 1 second animation, so you can plow through your attacks and take down larger foes in a short amount of time. The main Area of Effect (AoE) attack is quite fast as well. Then there are the two Holds, a 1 second and a 4 second, and two targeted AoEs that are fairly quick as well, both of which Slow and cause Fear. As you can tell, this is a quite diverse power set. It is a power set anyone can play, but it takes time to master.

The Ice Manipulation powers are a powerful and diverse mix. You get two fairly decent melee attacks, a Hold, an Immobilize, 2 major Slows, a Knockdown AoE, and an AoE Sleep. Yes, all this is for a Blaster, not a Controller. Though a Controller can admittedly control much better than you, these can compliment most of your Primary abilities and give you a decent amount of damage mitigation.

This guide uses the NDS (Normalized Damage Scale) system rather than the BI (Brawl Index) system*. The attributes listed after each skill are calculated using 1, 2 and 3 even level SOs. All Enhancement calculations have been formatted (not rounded) to the nearest hundredth for ease of display. The Accuracy is calculated for enemies that are +0, +1, and +2. If you see any mistakes, please let me know.

Credit of the NDS system and many of the hard to get numbers (DeBuffs, Slows, Pet Modifiers, RSS) goes to iakona. Accuracy (Base To Hit) and calculations go to Arcanaville. Base damage on the rains was obtained through _Castle_. gSOLO assisted with rains and other calculations.

*Conversion Formulas:
Since both the Blaster Ranged and Melee and the Pet Melee modifiers are 1.0, we can eliminate multiplying the NDS by 1.0 making the conversion formula for all NDS numbers listed:

NDS / 0.36 = Blaster BI

Enhancement Calculations were used with the following numbers:

Schedule A – 1 SO: 33.3%
Schedule A – 2 SO: 66.6%
Schedule A – 3 SO: 94.9%

Schedule B – 1 SO: 20.0%
Schedule B – 2 SO: 40.0%
Schedule B – 3 SO: 56.0%



Legend:

Acc: Accuracy
Act: Activation Time
AoE: Area of Effect Radius
Buf: Buff
Con: Cone Arc
Dam: Damage
Dbf: DeBuff
Dur: Duration
End: Endurance
Rng: Range
Rch: Recharge Time
Slo: Slow

C: Cold Damage
L: Lethal Damage
S: Smashing Damage

F: Fly
J: Jump
R: Run
S: Speed (Total)

Tested BI for Ice Manipulation:

Chilblain: 0.5554 x5 Cold = 2.777

Frozen Fists: 2.778 Smash + 1.777 Cold = 4.555

Frozen Sword: 2.7778 Lethal + 2.666 Cold = 5.444

Freezing Touch: 0.5276 x6 Cold = 3.165

Cyclone Jack

Thanks! Just a note, some of the numbers in the Secondaries may still be a bit off, but I'll have a fully updated Guide after I7 hits.

Cyclone Jack

I just found a Firebase Zulu Security Detail badge, but I cannot find the badge in my list of badges. Is this and I7 Badge, or was it introduced earlier?

EDIT: Found it! Achievement: Logged enough time into the Shard to be part of the security detail. Groovy. (Doesn't say how long)

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
Would it make a good backup power should you get caught in Melee range?

[/ QUOTE ]

It depends. If you have the slots for it, then it might not be a bad idea, but it also depends on what other tools you have, or plan to get. Ice Patch, for instance, will knockdown and/or slow most enemies that get within it's radius, so you can drop it between you and your enemies. Shiver will drastically slow anyone caught within its cone. Freeze Ray/Freezing Touch will halt enemies in their tracks (just remember you have to stack Holds to Hold a Boss). Enemies flee from Ice Storm, so you can cast that in a doorway, or on top of yourself, to keep meleers at bay.

So, it really depends on where you are in the game, and what tools you have at your disposal. I have Ice Sword on my character, but I am in melee most of the time. With Frozen Aura, Chilling Embrace, Chilblain and 4 Holds, I am 95% in control of the entire situation. (always leave 5% for those Carnie Bosses)

A note, my listed damage on Ice Sword is off. It is closer between 5.1 and 5.4 total (need to check my enemies and recalculate).

Cyclone Jack

Thanks! Just a note, some of the numbers in the Secondaries may still be a bit off, but I'll have a fully updated Guide after I7 hits, to take into account the BU/Aim in Rains and any other tidbits of info.

I wanted to get this out to get some feedback for the I7 Guide. And I wanted to make sure it wasn't 'too much' information

Cyclone Jack

Various Strategies:

Some notes about level ranges and enemy factions:

01-05: Nothing much to note here. Just get used to the basics of running and blasting. Chilblain can be of use if you are waiting for skills to recharge, just drop it on an enemy and duck around a corner. If you get a melee attack, now is the time to start getting it into your attack chain, as it can be a bit trickier in the later levels if you aren’t used to it.

05-10: Here you should be getting into Lieutenants and/or Bosses, depending on your grouping or difficulty slider. You should probably get Freeze Ray in this level range as it will greatly reduce your incoming damage. Try to get into the habit of locking down Lieutenants, and helping Controllers lock down the Boss, if need be. Try to keep those Circle of Thorns Mages locked down when they get low on health, no sense in letting them blow themselves (and maybe you) up.

10-15: Endurance may start to become an issue here. I would suggest slotting Accuracy and Endurance DOs (as a priority over Damage) in your main attacks from here until SOs become available. It may take an extra shot to take down an enemy, but if you are out of Endurance, you won’t be taking anything down, and no sense in wasting shots by missing.

15-20: If you play your cards right, you should get Bitter Ice Blast in this level range. You’ll really start to have some Endurance issues here. IMO, this is the toughest level range for the Ice Blaster (it was for me at least). Keep those Tsoo Sorcerers locked down with Freeze Ray. Ink Men are annoying, but more so when they keep getting healed. Sorcerers can still Teleport if Immobilized.

20-25: This is when the fun begins. Targets of priority: Banished Pantheon Shamans, Sky Raider Engineers, Tsoo Sorcerers, and anything Freakshow. Freakshow have a resistance to both Smashing and Cold, so they can be annoying. Freakshow Tanks are your bane, watch out for them. You may get Ice Patch in this range, if you do, learn to use it around corners and try and pull your mob into it. SOs are now available, so its time to get some Damage slotted up. If you got Stamina, then you may not need as many End Redux in your attacks as before and can get a bit more Damage slotted in there.

25-30: Bitter Freeze Ray and Shiver become available here. BFR will allow you to two-shot Hold Bosses now, and you should be getting a good number of SOs now, so you can up your difficulty slider if you wish. Welcome to the Devouring Earth. You will, unfortunately, see these from here until the end of the game, and in just about every zone as well from here on out. Watch those Mushrooms, as they have an AoE Sleep with what seems a very good accuracy; time to really stock up on those Break Frees. Go for the Shrooms and any ‘summon’ they drop.

30-35: Big Blizzard is now available, but needs some slots before it really starts to shine (so don’t be discouraged with it right out of the box). Rikti and Crey start making a big appearance here. Rikti Drones can see through Stealth, and have a high Defense. Some Rikti can also Bubble…Bubbled Drones call for Aim. Crey Minions can Stun, so keep your Break Frees available. The Crey Bosses can really put you in a hurt locker, so keep your distance, while the Lieutenants have Sleep grenades. Hold those Paragon Protectors once they get to 25% health or they will go into Moment of Glory or Elude and make your life difficult. Watch for Snipers in Crey’s Folly and Founder’s Falls.

35-40: Freezing Touch can now be added to your arsenal. That makes three Holds; life is good. Here comes the Steam-Powered Marching Band known as Nemesis. Nemesis spider droids are resistant to Knockdown, but will still get slowed by Ice Patch.

40-45: Time to choose an Ancillary Power Pool, if you wish. It is possible to now have four Holds. This is the beginning of my favorite part of this game: Carnies, Malta, Knives and Rularuu become new flavors for Ice to cream (yeah, that was bad). You MUST do the Eden Trial, you will thank me later. Starting here, AVs (or Elite Bosses, depending on your difficulty slider) start to become readily available in missions, so watch out. It is possible to crank it up to Invincible if you wish, just steer away from AV missions if possible.

45-50: No new enemies here, except more AVs. Continue filling you’re your Ancillaries or other skills. World Wide Red and The Saga of Lanaru would be my favorite Arcs in this range, good challenge. You are now available to go in Hamidon Raids as well, jus remind the Raid Leader that you have multiple Holds and will be available for both the Hold and Damage portions of the Raid.



Banished Pantheon: The Shamans are your priority targets. Freeze them and take them out as fast as possible. From there, you can work on the Boss or Minions. The Masks seem fairly weak but can be hard to click on, while the Totems can be tough so keep that Ice Patch going. The Minions are fairly weak.

Carnies: Bosses are priority. The Minions are generally weak, just watch out for Strongmen. Strongmen are resistant to Slow and run right through Shiver. I use Chilblain on them quite often. The Lieutenants aren’t too bad, but again, watch out for the Strongmen. The Bosses can be a royal pain in the keester. Dark Ring Mistresses will debuff your Accuracy and End Recovery through the floor, so use some Defense Inspirations beforehand and try to have a few Accuracy Inspirations. Master Illusionists take some getting used to. It’s all in the timing, literally as they phase in and out. Once you get the timing on their phasing, run in and try to get two Holds on them. If she summons four Illusionists, run. If there is a Phantasm or Dark Servant, drop them as soon as you can, while keeping the MI Held. From here on, just keep the timing on her phasing down and try to get a Hold stacked on her right before she phases out. If she gets loose, try and Holds her as soon as possible.

Circle of Thorns: Bosses are priority. The early Bosses are much more difficult than the later Bosses, just because you don’t have much defense against them. Ruin Mages and Madness Mages are the ones to watch for. Death Mages have a damage aura, so keep that in mind. Earth Casters have Quicksand, so try and get them Held quickly. The only other issues with the CoT are the Possessed Scientists. Before you ever attack Scientists, make sure you know which are Lieutenants and which are Minions as there is a difference. A group of Scientist Lieutenants will lay waste to an unprepared Blaster like human stepping on an ant.

Clockwork: Overall, the Clockwork aren’t too bad. The Lieutenants have a Hold/Sleep so try and watch out for them. The Bosses can be annoying, especially when they die. If you do not have an AoE, be prepared to waste some endurance on these Gears. Start using Chilblain to keep the fliers on the ground.

Contaminated: If you take out 100 in the Tutorial, you will get a badge.

Council: If it isn’t a Minion, it’s annoying. Try and keep Bosses Held once they get to 35% health as some tend to change into fully healed Warwolves, and Warwolves are no fun (they are resistance to Slows). Lieutenants have a nasty Roundhouse kick that does a good amount of damage, so try and keep some distance. Vampyrs can try your patience as well, what with Life Drain and all. At least the robots aren’t too bad. Galaxy’s have an Immobilize, so be prepared there.

Coven: I do not have a good enough experience with these to comment.

Crey: Lieutenants and Bosses are priority over Minions, as usual. Always keep an eye on Paragon Protector’s health, once they get low they will often go into Elude or some other highly evasive mode making it quite difficult to finish off. The Bosses will drop Total Focus on you if you allow them to get into range, which will do some massive damage and often put you in a daze long enough for them to finish you off without breaking a sweat. Always keep a few Break Frees available when fighting groups of Security Guards, as their attacks can Stun. Watch for Snipers.

Devouring Earth: Shrooms are priority, after that go for Bosses, Bees and Eminators. IMO, DE are overly abundant and get old very quickly. Not due to their attacks, but who really wants to fight giant plants for half the game. Watch the Lieutenants as they will sometimes break into two Underlings (I want a pet Rubble). Bees are a bane to the melee classes, so if you are teamed try and take these out quickly.

Family: Bosses are priority. Consigliere are Gravity Controllers and thus have Holds. Hold them before they Hold you. Other than that, keep Muscle at bay with Chilblain or Ice Patch.

Fir Bolg: I do not have a good experience with these to comment.

Freakshow: Tanks are priority, then Flying Lieutenants. Chilblain the Fliers to keep them grounded. Freaks are resistant to both Smashing and Cold, so they can take a bit longer to drop. Add in the fact that some can self-res and you have an End sink. Blues and Greens are of use against Freaks. Tanks and Slammers can Stun, so you might want to keep some Break Frees available as well.

Hellions: Bosses are priority. Hellions are pretty easy in general, as they are an early level range enemy faction. Watch your health against the Damned, as the Damage over Time (DoT) ticks all add up and can catch you off guard.

Hydra: Bosses are priority. If you are lucky and can get a good group to Spawn hunt in Perez, you should go up in levels quickly. Back before there was the Hollows, Spawn hunting was the way to go. They do DoT, so keep an eye on your health.

Knives of Artemis: I love these ladies. Shiver will be one of your best friends against the Knives as a Shivered enemy will show a ‘cold aura’ on them. Basically, it will make them easier to see once they turn on Cloaking Device. The Knives have both Caltrops and Sleep Darts, both of which can be annoying. Watch out for the Bosses, their Broadsword can really make an impression on your health bar.

Malta Group: Operation Engineers are priority, followed by Sappers. If you are in a group, Sappers are priority. If there are two Hercules Titans, try and keep one Held preventing the two from joining into a Zeus (unless you are like me, and like fighting the Zeus Titans). Gunslinger Bosses are a test in patience as well, as they like to Teleport around and use Freeze Ray on you. Show them that Ice Blasters are the masters of Freeze Ray and put them in their place. Auto-Turrets can see through Stealth. Keep plenty of Break Frees on you when fighting the Malta Group as the Minions can use Taser and the Lieutenants have Stun Grenades of Doom. The Malta Group is my favorite enemy faction.

Minions of Igneous: Bosses are priority. If you are fighting these in a mission, you are OK. If you are trying to hunt these in the Hollows, get help. They are resistant to Slows.

Nemesis: Fake Nemesis are priority, followed by War Hulks. If possible, leave Lieutenants for last as when they die they cast Vengeance upon themselves (a skill Blasters need). Try and keep Fake Nemesis Held to keep them from using their Bubbles. Keep War Hulks at range and defeat them at range, as when they explode they do AoE damage. The spider droids also explode when they die and are resistant to knockdown (they are only slowed by Ice Patch and will never fall down). Nemesis is another group we need to see less of in the end game, IMO.

Outcasts: Bosses are priority, specifically Lead Bricks. Keep Chilblain on the Fliers to keep them grounded. Other than that, Outcasts aren’t too difficult.

Prisoners: Bosses are priority. As a matter of fact, Bosses are the only real threat. Too bad they give no real experience. Try to avoid Prisoners as they are not cost effective.

Rikti: Mesmerists and Mentalists are priority, followed by Guardians and Communications Officers. Try and keep the Rikti at bay as their melee attacks hurt. Drones can be annoying and may require a liberally use of Aim and Accuracy Inspirations, especially if they have been Bubbled. Always check Mentalists as they begin to come in both Lieutenant and Boss flavors. Keep those Bosses Held as they will chain Sleep/Hold you to death. Break Frees are you big friends here.

Shadow Shard Reflections: These are a mix of Council, Circle of Thorns, Crey, Rikti and more. Each group is random and will require a different tactic. You will need to prioritize on the fly.

Skulls: Bosses are priority. Skulls, as with Hellions, are a fairly simple enemy faction. Keep your distance from the Bone Daddy as he will pummel you into the ground. They also debuff your accuracy, so some inspirations may be of use.

Sky Raiders: Raider Engineers are priority. Hold the Engineers before they can drop their Force Field Generators. A liberal use of Chilblain will keep the Fliers grounded, and some extra Holds on the Porters will keep them from Teleporting all over the place. Sky Skiffs can be nasty, so be careful and bring a few Inspirations along.

Soldiers of Rularuu: Ah, the faction that levels the field for everyone. If solo, Overseers are priority, followed by Wisp Overlords. If grouped, Noble Brutes (the Lieutenants) are priority, as they have an AoE Build Up, followed by Wisp Overlords. Natterlings have a Hold, Wisp Overlords have Detention Field (which can save you at times), and Overseers have a Hold. Basically, the Rularuu are nasty fun and they will have you making use of all your skills. Do not bother using Defense Inspirations against the Eyeballs as they will still hit you. The Rularuu are my second favorite enemy faction.

The Lost: Pariahs and Anathemas are priority. Both Pariahs and Anathemas have mezes, so try and Hold them before they get to you. After them, get the Headmen. The rest are cake.

Trolls: Bosses and Lieutenants are priority. Try and Hold the Calibans and Gardvords before they turn on their defensive powers or else they become highly resistant to mezes. The Minions are nothing to write home about.

Tsoo: Sorcerers and Ink Men are priority. With the Sorcerers Teleporting around and Healing everyone and throwing up Hurricane, coupled with the mass mezing of the Ink Men, the Tsoo can be very difficult. The Bosses are no pushover either, but if you can make sure the Sorcerer is out of the picture, it can be much easier. The Ninja have Caltrops and are just an annoyance.

Vahzilok: Eidolons and Mortificators are priority. Watch the Embalmed as they go Boom! Vahz have lots of DoT and Slows, and should be approached with caution most of the time. The Eidolons can lock you down with Holds and Immobilizes and debuff your Accuracy and Defense as well. At their level range they can be very nasty, so keep a tray full of Inspirations on you.

Void Hunters: If you are teaming with a Kheldion, Void Hunters will be an occurrence. If you see these, make these priorities over anything else as they can rip through Kheldians like butter.

Warriors: Bosses are priority. Warriors aren’t too bad, as long as you keep them all at range. Once they get into melee, you’re going to be run over by the pain train. Elites will make quick work of any unprepared Blaster, and even prepared Blasters can have some trouble with them.



This is work in progress. If you see any errors, please let me know so I can update them. I have not used all of the APPs enough to full ycomment on them yet. Thanks!

Cyclone Jack

Ice Manipulation

Chilblain
Level 1

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 0.56 Cold x5
Endurance: 7.8
Activation: 1.17
Recharge: 4
Range: 50
Immob:

You get this skill automatically, which isn’t really a bad thing. Granted it’s not a hold, but it will keep those pesky Lieutenants out of melee range, and with two applications will keep Bosses put as well. It does a little damage over time, comparable to Ice Bolt. It recharges fairly quickly and can easily stack on Bosses and ArchVillains (AVs) because of this. And finally, it had –Speed and –Recharge that stack with all your other similar skills like Chilling Embrace and Shiver.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and 1 Immobilize. Chilblain recharges fairly fast and is quite cheap to get off. The extra Immobilize comes into play when stacking the effects and when fighting AVs.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 0.74 Cold x5 / 0.93 Cold x5 / 1.08 Cold x5
Endurance: 5.58 / 4.68 / 4
Recharge: 3 / 2.4 / 2.05
Range: 60 / 70 / 78
Immob:
Slow:

During AV fights, I generally put this on auto-fire (Ctrl-click). It will quickly stop AVs in their tracks (unless they are immune to Immobilize) and immediately start to slow their attack rate.

Frozen Fists
Level 2

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 1.78 Cold, 0.56 Smash
Endurance: 8.53
Activation: 1.33
Recharge: 8
Range: 5

Frozen Fists is a decent melee attack that has damage comparable to Ice Blast. It has a 1 second animation, so you can run in, attack, and get out. Since Ice has many Holds, it’s a nice attack to pull off on a frozen enemy as well. That being said, not everybody is melee friendly with a Blaster, so this skill is usually passed up.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. It has a quick recharge, similar to Ice Bolt, so a Recharge isn’t really needed.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 2.37 Cold, 0.74 Smash / 2.96 cold, 0.93 Smash / 3.47 Cold, 1.08 Smash
Endurance: 6.4 / 5.12 / 4.37
Recharge: 6 / 4.8 / 4.1
Slow:

Ice Sword
Level 4

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 2.28 Cold, 1.39 Lethal
Endurance: 10.19
Activation: 1.83
Recharge: 10
Range: 5

Ice Sword is a very respectable attack that does damage somewhere between Ice Blast and BIB. It has a 2 second animation; 1 second for the attack, and 1 second follow-up. Again, this is a melee attack, but a powerful one. This is the only non-Rain attack in your arsenal that is not Smashing/Ice but rather Lethal/Ice.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. Since it uses a bit more End than Frozen Fists, an End Redux could be useful, depending on how often you attack. A Recharge might shave a second off the recharge as well.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 3.04 Cold, 1.85 Lethal / 3.79 Cold, 2.31 Lethal / 4.44 Cold, 2.71 Lethal
Endurance: 7.65 / 6.12 / 5.23
Recharge: 7.5 / 6 / 5.13
Slow:

Chilling Embrace
Level 10

Endurance: 0.30 per tick
Activation: 0.73
Recharge: 2
Area: 10 Feet

This can be a very useful skill. It has a fantastic –Speed and –Recharge but, unfortunately, requires you to be in melee range…which isn’t always where you want to be. But, since you cannot always stay out of melee, those that get in melee will probably only get off that one attack by the time they are defeated. If you use you other melee skills, then this is a must as it keeps them from attacking and keeps you from having to chase them all the time.

This is also a good skill to have in a group where all you need to do is run by the group of foes and your Tanker and Scrapper friends will thank you for it because they will no longer need to chase down the affected enemies, nor will they take near the number of attacks by the affected enemies. Once you get Shiver, though, this skill isn’t used that often, the one exception being AVs that are locked into position. Let the Tank take agro, lock them in place with Chilblain and turn on Chilling Embrace.

Chilling Embrace is a Toggle and drains End while activated. I recommend 3 slotting it with End Redux until SOs become available, and then I would replace 2 End Redux with 2 Slows.

Endurance: 0.22 per tick / 0.18 per tick / 0.15 per tick
Recharge: 1.5 / 1.2 / 1.03
Slow:

Build Up
Level 16

Endurance: 5.2
Activation: 1.17
Recharge: 90
Duration: 10

This is a fairly good skill to have. It increases your Dam quite a bit (100%) and boosts your Acc slightly as well (62.5%). It only lasts for 10 seconds (including the animation time) and has a long recharge. Build Up is used in front of most alpha strikes, especially Bosses, and throughout an AV fight.

I recommend one Recharge, but I would say up to 3 would be good if you don’t have Hasten.

Endurance: 3.9 / 3.12 / 2.67
Recharge: 67.52 / 54.02 / 46.17
To Hit Buff: 75% / 87.5% / 97.5%

Ice Patch
Level 20

Endurance: 10.4
Activation: 2.03
Recharge: 35
Area: 20 Feet
Duration: 20

Ice Patch is very useful and can be used in a variety of ways. It creates a small patch of ice on the ground directly around the caster and is only slightly bigger than melee range. What use could this possibly have, especially since you wish to stay out of melee range to begin with? It keeps enemies on the ground, slipping and sliding and not attacking you. This is great to place on the ground between the enemy and yourself, just before attacking. When the enemies wander into the Ice Patch, they will slip and fall and allow you to blast away at them as they attempt to get back up, only to fall down again.

In a group, it is best to wait for the melee players to get agro, then jump in the middle and drop your Ice Patch. If used with Chilling Embrace, the super slow, slipping enemies may never get another attack off by the time the Scrappers and Tanks lay waste to them. You can also run up behind an engaged/ held Boss and drop it right underneath them.

I recommend up to 3 Recharge. With 2 Recharge, Ice Patch will have a 1 Second gap between its duration and its recharge.

Endurance: 7.8 / 6.24 / 5.34
Recharge: 26.26 / 21.01 / 17.96

Shiver
Level 28

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Endurance: 10.4
Activation: 2.17
Recharge: 12
Range: 60
Cone: 60 Degree

This is what it’s all about. Shiver, flat out, rocks. Shiver has a very large Cone with the same range as your Ice Blast. This means that if it is in front of you, it is a viable target. Shiver drastically slows the movement and recharge rate of all affected foes. This is probably one of your best defenses as enemies will attack much slower, and move at a very, very slow rate as well.

When there is a tight group of enemies, Shiver will keep them all nice and grouped for you to get all of your AoE attacks off. The Slow stacks with other –Speed skills, but honestly, Shiver can hit the –Speed cap with only a few Slow Enhancements. The –Recharge is a fixed rate that cannot be increased with Enhancements but it stacks with other –Recharge skills like Chilling Embrace and Chilblain.

Be forewarned, Shiver has a giant Cone. If you are in a situation where large mobs are near each other you can easily agro that mob. Shiver will quite often hit enemies that are not even on your screen.

I recommend up to 2 Acc and up to 3 Slow Enhancements. It recharges fast enough that a Recharge many not be overly useful, but an End Redux could help out if you use it often. The second Acc is to not only make sure that you hit, but to break through the Force Fields and other defenses seen later in the game.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Endurance: 7.8 / 6.24 / 5.34
Recharge: 9 / 7.2 / 6.16
Range: 72 / 84 / 94
Slow:

Freezing Touch
Level 35

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 0.78 Cold x6
Endurance: 10.19
Activation: 1
Recharge: 10
Range: 5
Hold:

Freezing Touch is yet another Hold for the Ice/Ice Blaster. This hold is pretty identical to Freeze Ray, except you need to be in melee range. It has the standard 1 second animation, and has a 4 second recharge. You can never go wrong with another Hold.

I recommend up to 2 Acc and up to 3 Holds. Again, another standard slot-out is 2 Acc, 2 Hold, and 2 Recharge. The extra Acc is just to make sure you hit on higher level/defense enemies and the Hold Duration is to allow it to last longer on higher level foes. An easy one-two stack with Freeze Ray and Freezing Touch allows for instant ‘Boss on Ice’ action.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 1.04 Cold x6 / 1.03 Cold x6 / 1.52 Cold x6
Endurance: 7.65 / 6.12 / 10.19
Recharge: 7.5 / 6 / 5.13
Hold:

Frozen Aura
Level 38

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Endurance: 13
Activation: 2.1
Recharge: 20
Area: 10 Feet
Sleep: 30

This is one of those ‘love em or hate em’ skills. By default it has a low accuracy. It is a PBAoE Sleep that only affects non-robotic minions. Sleeps, as we know, are basically a hold until the target takes damage. Sleeps also last much longer than Holds. Being a single target blaster, this can be quite useful. You can hop into a mob, Sleep most all of the minions, and then use your Holds to lock down the Lieutenants and or Boss. Then, one by one starting your attack with a Hold, take out each foe. Note: Ice Patch will awaken enemies from Sleep.

I recommend 2 Acc and up to 3 Sleeps. The 2 Acc is to allow it to hit a majority of the time. You may still get that annoying minion that happens to escape, but that is the case with most AoEs. The Sleeps will increase the duration that the enemies are slept. With 3 Sleeps, one can defeat between 5 - 8 minions without needing to recast Frozen Aura. Frozen Aura recharges fast enough as is that a Recharge wouldn’t get much use unless you wanted to Sleep a Boss (stacking 2 Sleeps). Then again, you can Hold the boss in mere seconds using your Holds, so why bother. Frozen Aura does however use its fair share of Endurance, so you may wish to drop an End Redux in there.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Endurance: 9.75 / 7.8 / 6.67
Recharge: 15 / 12 / 10.26
Sleep: 39.99 / 49.98 / 58.48

Ice Blast

Ice Bolt
Level 1

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 2.23 Cold, 0.56 Smash
Endurance: 5.2
Recharge: 4
Range: 80

I see many people skipping this power, but with the quick recharge and decent damage slotted out, not to mention the least of the endurance hogs, it is a good skill to have. Remember, the Ice Blaster has 3 single target attacks and this is one of them. It’s better to defeat an enemy with low health using this quick recharge skill than one of your heavier attacks and have to wait for the recharge…and this happens throughout the game.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. The remaining two slots can be slotted with Recharge Redux, End Redux, or Range (or a combination of) if you feel the need. If I were to slot Ice Bolt up, I would add 1 Recharge and 1 End Redux. Getting 1 second off the recharge is helpful and dropping a bit off the Endurance cost can be helpful, especially if you plan on running a few toggles later.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 2.96 Cold, 0.74 Smash / 3.7 Cold, 0.93 Smash / 4.33 Cold, 1.08 Smash
Endurance: 3.9 / 3.12 / 2.67
Recharge: 3 / 2.4 / 2.05
Range: 96 / 112 / 125
Slow:

To start, I would only 2 or 3 slot this skill until your other single target attacks (Ice Blast and Bitter Ice Blast) are slotted out. It doesn’t do as much damage as your other attacks, but is still quite useful and you’ll be using it for the games entirety.

Ice Blast
Level 1

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 2.78 Cold / 1.78 Smash
Endurance: 8.5
Activation: 1.17
Recharge: 8
Range: 80

Ice Blast is a powerful attack for the Ice Blaster. It has a longer recharge and uses a bit more endurance than Ice Bolt, but does quite a bit more damage. This is the primary attack of the Ice Blaster for most of the game.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. The remaining two slots can be slotted with Recharge Redux, End Redux, or Range (or a combination of) if you feel the need. I would recommend slotting a Recharge, which will save you 2 seconds on the recharge, and an End Redux which will save you 2 End per Blast.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 3.7 Cold, 2.37 Smash / 4.63 Cold, 2.96 Smash / 5.41 Cold, 3.47 Smash
Endurance: 6.4 / 5.12 / 4.37
Recharge: 6 / 4.8 / 4.1
Range: 96 / 112 / 125
Slow:

I would make this skill a high priority to slot out as this is one of your greatest used skills throughout the game.

Frost Breath
Level 2

Accuracy: 82.5%, 75.5%, 68.5%
Damage: 1.94 Cold x 2
Endurance: 15
Activation: 1
Recharge: 16
Range: 40
Cone: 40 degree

This is a good AoE attack. Properly slotted up, you can take out a good chunk of an even cons health, which then makes it very easy to finish them off with your other attacks. While primarily being a single target blaster, this AoE is very useful both solo and in groups. It can be a good attack on as little as two enemies and can make fighting a larger group a bit easier; you could even use this attack on a single target in a pinch, if you have the End to spare.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. Depending on how often you use this skill, End Redux and Recharge could be good to slot in. If you want to stay a bit further back from the action then Range is always an option. The slotting on this skill really depends on how you use it and how often you use it.

Accuracy: 107.5%, 100.4%, 93.5% / 132.5%, 125.4%, 118.4% / 153.7%, 146.6%, 139.7%
Damage: 2.59 x2 / 3.24 x2 / 3.79 x2
Endurance: 11.39 / 9.11 / 7.79
Activation: 2.67
Recharge: 12 / 9.6 / 8.21
Range: 48 / 56 / 62

Depending on how you wish to play your Blaster, it is possible to skip this power completely. It’s nice to have an AoE, but it is also possible to function without them. If you do take Frost Breath, you may with to think about getting the Electric APP for Static Discharge, as the two cones in a one-two chain can be very nice. AoEs do gather more agro as you are hitting multiple enemies. Make sure you remember this when grouping.

Aim
Level 6

Endurance: 5.2
Activation: 1.17
Recharge: 90
Duration: 10

This is a fairly good skill to have. It increases your Acc quite a bit (100%) and boosts your Dam slightly as well (62.5%). It only lasts for 10 seconds (including the animation time) and has a long recharge. Aim is very useful when fighting Sky Raiders and Rikti as they both get Force Fields; a Rikti Probe with a Fore Field is something to be reckoned with.

I recommend one Recharge, but I would say up to 3 would be good if you don’t have Hasten.

Endurance: 3.9 / 3.12 / 2.67
Recharge: 67.52 / 54.02 / 46.17
To Hit Buff: 120% / 140% / 156%

Freeze Ray
Level 8

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 0.28 Cold
Endurance: 6.86
Activation: 1
Recharge: 10
Range: 60
Hold: 8

This is a staple skill to have, especially for the single target Blaster. It easily removes a Minion or Lieutenant from the battle, and when stacked it can take a Boss out as well. Since the Ice Blaster is primarily a single target attack character, the various holds that are available make things much more manageable. By freezing a tough or annoying enemy, it allows the single target Blaster to easily remove multiple threats. One thing to remember with Freeze Ray, it does not have a –Recharge effect, which can be useful when going for that Carnie Badge.

I recommend up to 2 Acc and up to 3 Hold Durations. The final slot(s) can be used for a Recharge. Another standard slotting is 2 Acc, 2 Hold and 2 Recharge. The Holds combined with the Recharge will allow you to keep a Boss held, once the second application is in effect. The 2 Acc is for high level and/or high defense enemies and Bosses. Of all your attacks, your Holds are the powers you never want to miss.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 0.37 Cold / 0.46 Cold / 0.54 Cold
Endurance: 5.15 / 4.12 / 3.52
Recharge: 7.5 / 6 / 5.13
Range: 72 / 84 / 94
Hold: 10.66 / 13.33 / 15.59

This is a fairly high priority on slotting. I would get at least 4 slots in as early as possible (1 Acc, 2 Hold, 1Rech), then the other two when you can fit it in.

Ice Storm
Level 12

Accuracy:
Damage: 0.05 Cold, 0.05 Lethal x72
Endurance: 15.6
Activation: 2.03
Recharge: 60
Range: 60
Area: 40 Feet
Duration: 15

This is a somewhat decent AoE attack. It does Damage over Time (DoT) and slows all foes (both movement and recharge) within the area. But, it also causes foes to flee the AoE, which defeats the purpose of it dealing damage. It has a great Acc bonus by default. The innate flee effect that it has can be useful at times when things are going awry or when there are just too many enemies to deal with. The flee effect also keeps you safe from those pesky melee attackers as they are too busy running around. Another good strategy is to use this in a doorway, keeping all enemies inside. Fortunately, as an Ice Blaster, you get 2 Holds which will allow you to keep a few of the enemies within the area. This skill also works great with Blizzard, the Slow stacks and the damage it does combined with Blizzard is very impressive. Ice Storm is a targeted AoE, and thus can be cast from around a corner, limiting the initial agro you get.

I recommend up to 3 Dam and up to 3 Slows. Depending on how often you wish to use Ice Storm, you can drop a Dam or Slow for a Recharge and even an End Redux if you feel it necessary. 3 Slows will hit the Slow cap on evens.

Damage: 0.07 Cold, 0.07 Lethal x72 / 0.08 Cold, 0.08 Lethal x72 / 0.1 Cold, 0.1 Lethal x72
Endurance: 11.7 / 9.36 / 8
Recharge: 45.01 / 36.01 / 30.78
Range: 72 / 84 / 94
Slow:

Bitter Ice Blast
Level 18

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 3.56 Cold, 2.78 Smash
Endurance: 13
Activation: 1.07
Recharge: 12
Range: 50

This is what it is all about. Bitter Ice Blast (BIB) does great amounts of damage, though it uses a bit more End than Ice Blast and takes much longer to recharge. BIB is a must get on any Ice Blaster. BIB also has a shorter Range than Ice Bolt and Ice Blast so you’ll need to get in a bit closer to the chaos for this skill, but not uncomfortably close.

I recommend at least 1 Acc and up to 3 Dam. The remaining two slots can be used with Recharge, End Redux, Range, or To Hit DeBuffs

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 4.74 Cold, 3.7 Smash / 5.92 Cold, 4.63 Smash / 6.93 cold, 5.41 Smash
Endurance: 9.75 / 7.80 / 6.67
Recharge: 9 / 7.2 / 6.16
Range: 60 / 70 / 78
Slow:
DeBuff:

This is a high priority skill when it comes to slotting.

Bitter Freeze Ray
Level 26

Accuracy: 75%, 68%, 61%
Damage: 3.67 Cold
Endurance: 15.18
Activation: 3.7
Recharge: 20
Range: 80
Hold: 8

While Freeze Ray is a staple skill to the Ice Blaster, Bitter Freeze Ray (BFR) is not for everyone. BFR has a long recharge and has a 4 second casting animation. While this is not bad, it is not something the Ice Blaster really has time to do during combat. It only does moderate damage, but it does Hold. Now, taking all this into consideration, using BFR in conjunction with Freeze Ray can put a Boss on ice in 2 seconds flat. Once the BFR is cast, Freeze Ray’s 1 second animation and fairly quick missile can stop a Boss (or two Lts.) in a blink of an eye. This is very powerful. I haven’t played many Controllers, but I do not think any other AT in the game can halt a Boss as quickly or as efficiently (except perhaps Touch of Fear or Total Focus).

I recommend up to 2 Acc and up to 3 Holds. As with Freeze Ray, 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Recharge can also be useful here. You may opt to drop the Recharge for an End Redux or two, if you only use it as an opening attack.

Accuracy: 100%, 92.9%, 86% / 125%, 117.9%, 110.9% / 146.2%, 139.1%, 132.2%
Damage: 4.89 Cold / 6.11 Cold / 7.15 Cold
Endurance: 11.39 / 9.11 / 7.79
Recharge: 15 / 12 / 10.26
Range: 96 / 112 / 125
Hold: 10.66 / 13.33 / 15.59
Slow:

It is possible to skip BFR. Some people can get by only on Freeze Ray. Also, if you take Ice or Electric Secondary, you get access to two melee-range Holds, and the Fire and Electric Ancillary Power Pools have another fast ranged Hold available to them.

Blizzard
Level 32

Accuracy:
Damage: 0.42 Cold, 0.42 Lethal x42
Endurance: 20.8
Activation: 2.03
Recharge: 360
Range: 60
Area: 30
Duration:

Blizzard, by itself, is a situational skill. It drains all of your Endurance, does damage over time, and causes all enemies within the AoE to flee, though the foes caught in Blizzard are constantly Knocked Down and Slowed. Blizzard can take a little finesse to use its fullest potential. That being said, Blizzard used in conjunction with a few other skills can be devastating!

This is a skill that really benefits from other skills to make best use of it, since enemies (by default) flee the area of effect. I mentioned using Ice Storm earlier as it basically speeds up the process and helps do a bit more damage to Bosses in the long run and the Slow effect stacks. The various Holds that an Ice Blaster has are also very useful to keep the tougher enemies in the area longer. Freezing a Boss in place is exceptionally useful as they will more than likely flee the area way before it has run its course.

Enter the Secondary Skills. Anything that causes –speed, Shiver and Caltrops in particular, are good compliments for this skill. Immobilize skills, such as Chilblain, Fire/Electric Cage and Web Grenade, are useful as can be Disorients and any other skills that keep the fleeing enemies inside the radius of Blizzard.

I recommend up to 3 Dam, 3 Slows or 3 Recharge, depending on how you want to play the skill. If you are using powers like Ice Storm or Shiver to help slow the enemies, then the Recharge could be beneficial as Blizzard has a long recharge. If you want Blizzard to be used all by itself, then the Slows would be a better choice. Slotting End Redux is near pointless, as Blizzard drains all your remaining Endurance.

Accuracy:
Damage: 0.56 Cold, 0.56 Lethal x12 / 0.69 Cold, 0.69 Lethal x12 / 0.81 Cold, 0.81 Lethal x12
Endurance: 15.6 / 12.48 / 10.67
Recharge: 270.07 / 216.09 / 184.68
Range: 72 / 84 / 94
Slow:
DeBuff:

Knowing that Blizzard uses up all of your End it is wise to keep a few CaBs available. I would also down a Luck or two before casting as all of your Toggles will drop. When casting Blizzard, I recommend casting as many –Speed powers you have before Blizzard. This will slow the enemies and keep them in the radius of Blizzard much longer. You can also use your holds before casting Blizzard as well. As soon as your End is used up from Blizzard, down a CaB or two and get ready to use your attacks and Holds on the remaining enemies.

Players Guide for an Ice/Ice Blaster v.6.5

This is a guide for players wanting to use the Ice Primary and/or Ice Secondary skills for a Blaster. While the guide is primarily on Ice/Ice, I may mention skills from other Power Sets that could be used in conjunction with these Powers. While I do have numbers listed, this guide is meant to better explain how the different Powers work in-game. This is a PvE Guide.

What makes the Ice Blasts stand out from the other Blaster skills is the combination of fast, powerful single target attacks and various forms of crowd control. All of the single target Blaster attacks have a 1 second animation, so you can plow through your attacks and take down larger foes in a short amount of time. The main Area of Effect (AoE) attack is quite fast as well. Then there are the two Holds, a 1 second and a 4 second, and two targeted AoEs that are fairly quick as well, both of which Slow and cause Fear. As you can tell, this is a quite diverse power set. It is a power set anyone can play, but it takes time to master.

The Manipulation powers are a powerful and diverse mix. You get two fairly powerful melee attacks, a Hold, an Immobilize, 2 Slows, a Knockdown AoE, and a Sleep. Yes, all this is for a Blaster, not a Controller. Though a Controller can admittedly control much better than you, these can compliment most of your Primary abilities.

The attributes listed in each skill are calculated using 1, 2 and 3 even level SOs. The Accuracy is calculated for +0, +1, and +2s. The Damage listed is the Brawl Index. Many of these numbers came from various Hero Builder programs, as I do not have the time to gather all of the numbers myself. If you see any mistakes, please let me know.

There is a type-o in the notes. You somehow misspelled Chum. I know it's an easy word to miss-type, so we forgive you. Please update the notes. Thanks!

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
So we are once again back to, Do we do anything that the other AT's can't?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. Blasters are 1st to get the Debt Badges, 1st to get the Mez Badges, we get frequent fliers miles for Hospital Teleportations, and I think they are implimenting another new Badge for Blasters. Everytime you type healwwwaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss sssssssss right before death it gets you a little closer to the Badge. I think it's set up like the old Rikti Monkey Badge, you need around 9,000 to get it. I think most Blasters should have this before SOs.

The cool thing, once you get the L3 Debt Badge, L3 Mez Badge, and the WASD Badge, you get a special Blaster Accolade. Every time you die Statesman appears on your screen, points at you and yells "Cry more noob!" Then laughs as he fades away and you appear in the Hospital...again. It's meant to improve 'morale' of the Blaster community.

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
If that logic held true, they would for example have to balance bib with some kind of penalty.

[/ QUOTE ]

No Snipe.

I would assume that BFR has a long animation because it Holds and does Damage from a good Range and stacks with the 1 second animation Hold that lacks damage and the range of BFR.

As for issues, I cannont see any issues with Ice/Ice Blasters, especially after I7s reported fix to Rains. The only problem I have is the increased resistance to Knockdown and Slow effects when fighting higher level enemies, but that is in place for balance, so I can live with it.

I think Fire/ and /Fire have a few issues and could easily be resolved by giving Fire's DoT some sort of limited DeBuff, like -Acc as an example. This would, of course, need to be applied on a per power basis, not a sweeping change as the devs are used to doing. EDIT: Oh yeah. Flares. OMG something needs to be done with this skill. Half the animation or buff the damage, do something!!

AR/ and /Dev need some mad lovin, and I think RLs OP sums up much of the issues there.

I think Elec's End Drain needs to be buffed up big time to make it a viable tactic in both PvE and PvP. If a player can get out of a mez with a Break Free, then a player can recover from End Drain with a CaB. Heck, give CaBs a buff vs End Drain in PvP, similar to how Break Frees work.

Energy I think is working fine. As with Ice, both are good viable forces to be reconned with.

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
We also need to add more Contacts from levels 35-40.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to be rude, but... Aren't you still working on this _same_exact_issue_ in CoH...that has been out a year and a half?

Cyclone Jack

I was finally one-shotted! Ok, technically it was still two shots, but the second shot would have one-shotted me if the first did not go off. Granted, this was solo against a L52 Psychic Babbage, but still, his Psychic Wail did 1650 + 850 + 850. Preceded by Psychic Scream that did around 550, that's three times my total max HP. Needless to say, I was a really, really dead Blaster. I did scratch his armor good, though. He'll remember me.

Why did I attempt to solo a L52 Psychic Babbage? Well...you never know until you try...

As for PvP, my Blaster has yet to be one-shotted, though I did tear up an unsuspecting Mastermind in seconds. He/she was my bounty, and I did ambush them. It wasn't really fun, and I'm sure they weren't happy. But I was using the Bounty to buy L2 Insps...so I could go back to Mr. Babbage.... I'm sure if they knew the reasoning, they'd approve.

Cyclone Jack

No! Now I won't be able to recognize your posts! What is a Blaster to do!? Just for that, I'm bringing my CoV avatar of Fernandeath over here.

<--- Behold, the greatest end boss ever created for a fighting game! (That game being Waku Waku 7)

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
I'll pop in here so you guys have a new target.

The original Task Force Datamine took 3 months to finish. That was to go over 2 months worth of data.

We now have 18 months worth of data. We looked for a more effecient solution, but our estimates still come out at 2 years to datamine and get you your badges.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, in two years, I expect my Badges!

Cyclone Jack

Let me start off by saying, I have an Ice/Ice Tank, and he's fun. I have no real problems with him on Live or Test. Now that that is over with...

No offense to anyone...but now I know why the Devs would rather Not give out numbers. This forum has turned into a [censored] math debate. Are we playing a game, or taking a [censored] test? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for having fun, but to debate over +/- 1% is re-damned-diculous. If you were to show me, in-game, that you Always fell to a group of 5 +1 Carnie Minions, then I could see your point. If you could prove that you Always fell to a pair of +0 Banished Pantheon Bosses, I could see your point. If you can prove to me that you Always fall to a group of 10 +4 Malta Lieutenants, then good, you should be able to do that. To argue over a single percentile of a chance of being hit is just asinine. I don't play City of Heroes to practice differential equasions, I play to kick villainous [censored].

As for Chilling Embrace, (possible) cool beans.

Cyclone Jack

[ QUOTE ]
Here's what we'll do: Wet Ice will no longer accept Def Enhancements. We'll increase the base def somewhat. Def Enhancements that are currently slotted will continue to have an effect, but players won't be able to slot new Def Enhancements into it.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I am now happy to move these slots into an attack, I am somewhat disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I think this may actually work for the better. I do have one issue, though. There needs to be a choice on the players part as to how they are going to slot what skills. If a skill gets no benefit over the 1 slot, then something needs to be done. Even Rest gets a benefit for slotting it up. Not many people do it, but I'm sure it would be much improved with some Recharge, Health and End Recovery in it.

Cyclone Jack

Overall, I don't mind the Stealth changes. I would like, though, to possibly see one of two things.

One, Instead of having Stealth 'turn off', for the duration it is suppressed, half it's Stealth aspect (the translucency).

Two, decrease the amount of time Stealth (translucency) is suppressed. Waiting 10 seconds after you defeat the last enemy is just annoying.

I could care less about the +Def Stealth gives. But loosing the 'Stealth' aspect cramps on my style. I like to jump all around and blast from midair (while jumping over a mob) and all over the place. This will now require me to basically stay in place (or move backwards) as to not agro any other nearby mobs.

Cyclone Jack

With new badges comes a greater resposibility. Rework the Badge Tab in the UI when looking at a players Profile, it be Very ugly atm. The new Badges are very nice looking, and I am wondering if there are plans to redo some of the older badges to this newer style.

Also, if not done, where is my Defeat 100 Kronos Titans Badge?

Cyclone Jack

Trick Arrow. I have a few issues here, but I would need to play with one in a team setting at higher levels. It seems very similar to a Blaster Secondary/Controller type set. I think the only thing that sets it apart from a Blaster set is the -Resistance attributes. As it stands, with reading the descriptions and comparing the skills with other Defender sets, it does not compare up. There are too many holes in it to be Defender-ish. Again, if the numbers add up with the -Resistance and -Recharge, it may turn out to be a set that I like. As it stands, I cannot see why I would invite one into my team.

Oil Slick is, in concept as I have yet to see it, the single coolest skill in the game, as it is the 1st skill to be directly affected by another skill. Devs, this is brilliant and this is where the game needs to be going. Extra pie (or beer) to whomever thought this skill up.

Cyclone Jack

Sonic Blast. I like it. It fits what I expected Sonic attacks to look like. The animations may not be the best in the world, but it fits very well with the set. How many ways can one really scream? My only concern is the stackable effect of the -Resistance might end up being too powerful. Also, the Cone Sleep sounds more like a Secondary attack for Blasters rather than a Primary.

Cyclone Jack

The concept of these chnges are great. I saw the stores, but were never able to sell to them. Also, the geyser paths/locations were not visible. I hear the Mole Point got it's graphics back too!

So, while I am in favor for these changes, I would like to see them.

As for the added Portals, I think that will help bring in a few more people into the Shard, which is a good thing. I hate being the only person in The Chantry. Then again...it's just me and Faathim, we Rule the place!

Cyclone Jack

With my Ice/Ice, I noticed that it was at times hard to keep onesself in the sweet spot for super-uber damage. My Fire/Fire Blaster was loving it. It took a little while to adapt, but running from small group to small group annihilating 5th Council and Crey was great!

What I like about it is the risk vs reward aspect. You risk death, but you may be rewarded life. It will require good tactics and team help to keep a Blaster in the <40% HP range. To stay there by oneself solo, can mean an easy trip to the hospital.

EDIT I forgot to add, I was unable to test the Rains for Ice Blasters. I'm assuming since neither of these skills can be buffed in any way, they are not affected by Defiance. It might be time to start looking at these skills, same with /Dev 'pet' skills.

Cyclone Jack