Demon_Son

Cuppa, the tone you've set for these forums is a major part of what makes the CoX games so special. Best wishes on your new endeavor.

My vote goes to scrapping the whole idea. It's nice the Devs are looking for a way to help Blasters. This just isn't it. Pretty much everyone has agreed that Blasters, as they are, lag behind the other ATs in effectiveness. In I5 you give us a HP boost and decrease the accuracy of some of the enemies. This is then completely negated by the removal of what little defense we had (suppression of the pool powers) and the overall decrease in the ability of Tanks to handle aggro and Defenders to buff. So we're no better off than we were before.

Thus, the only thing in I5 that the Devs can call a general improvement for Blasters is Defiance. Sorry, but a damage boost that practically never comes into effect and almost invariably ends in defeat when it does is not doing me any favors. If the AT is lacking -- as Statesman himself has admitted -- then for heaven's sake, just give us some help! Is it really so agonizing to give us some improvement without kicking us in the pants at the same time?

Seriously, I'd much rather the whole idea be dropped than have the Devs thinking they've actually helped us with this.

Herein lies the illogic of suppression in general. First travel powers and now stealth and its defense are negated at the exact time that you need them most. It's a bad idea on any number of levels. It was often debated in the blaster forums whether stealth was worth taking for it's defense. Now it definitely has no appeal. My travel power doesn't work in battle, and now I have pool powers that are only of use when I'm travelling. I feel like the pool power changes of I5 are just herding me into taking nothing but powers from my primary and secondary sets. Why bother with others if they have no real benefit? I'll certainly never take Stealth in it's proposed I5 form. Not to sound too DOOM-ish, but won't this make cookie-cutter builds all the more popular?

If these changes took place only in the arena, I might understand. But to have them in the game at large...I'm just sad to see all the potential variety in our builds sucked out of the game.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Do something -- Do ANYTHING, but get rid of suppression. It's the single worst concept introduced into the game.

Great concept, though I too think the bonus begins a bit late. A sensible blaster is already checking out possible escape routes at 40% health. And in my experience, once my health gets to 25% or below, I'm almost invariably doomed anyway. Unless, that is, I pop several green inspirations -- which eliminates the Defiance bonus. While I'm glad for any boost to my blasterness, and the hp boost will certainly help, I'm not terribly excited by what is basically a reverse Vengeance (i.e. a power that is only really useful when I'm going to be defeated anyway). A 500% boost to damage is meaningless when it only happens in such a miniscule window of health. If I'm at 5% health and I'm facing one more minion who's nearly defeated, then a 500% damage bonus is ridiculous overkill. If I'm at 5% health and I'm still facing multiple enemies, I'm going to the hospital regardless.

Could the power instead kick in at an earlier point (at 50 or even 60%) and then increase at a more gentle slope? I could forsake the huge bonuses at the end in exchange for some modest bonuses that happen at levels where I might actually find myself and still survive the battle.

I've been using Speed on Demand with my blaster, but now I have a Peacebringer and would like to use it with energy flight/combat flight. Does anyone know how to get SoD to work with these powers?

The relative lack of AoE effects is a mixed blessing for nrg blasters. At your level, only Energy Torrent would be available. Explosive Blast will be available at 28 and Nova at 32. So for the time being, hit-and-run is your only real option with larger groups of mobs.

Even when Explosive Blast becomes available, you'll find it doesn't do great damage. The chain I most commonly use it in is Power Boost - Build Up - Aim - Energy Torrent - Explosive Blast. Con or +1 minions will generally require one shot each after that to finish them off. It's good for a modestly-sized group of minions or a smaller group with a lieutenant.

For big groups (8 or more) you'll need to wait for Nova. Until then, just continue with the sneaky-stealthy blaster methods.

Regards to all

Here's the link from which I downloaded Gnarly's SoD bind:

Nilt's City of Heroes Resources

Hope this works

[ QUOTE ]
grasses and shrooms are highly HIGHLY vulnerable to knockback. As far as I can tell, rockheads are highly resistant, and crystals are about normal.

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Though keep in mind that crystal DE are resistant to energy damage, regardless of knockback.

Yay! Finally a good, succinct post on pulling.

Thanks Dwimble


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