Doctor_Kumquat
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:True enough. With the huge number of holds, stuns, slows, etc. available to an ice/em blaster (esp. considering you can power-boost them), the extra defense just lets you go show off and be silly for a while (like tanking archvillains while the rest of the team is occupied); it's hardly a requirement.Originally Posted by Diran
Seriously, you shouldn't have to. This just seems to enforce the idea you aren't using tactics. I know that style of play isn't for everyone, but it is a good way to play a blaster.
Second, with energy as your secondary you should be in and out of melee. You have three very strong melee attacks, two come out very fast and with buildup should come close to taking out a lt. You have great mitigation in your secondary. Power thrust is great for getting someone away and keeping them out of the battle of a couple seconds. Works great on bosses. You've got a melee stun, great for troublesome lts. TF is another stun and good damage.
One your ice side you've got two holds. Ice storm causes a fear affect and you should be able to take out a couple as they run away. The slows stack up well too.
Some extra defense helps, but you don't need it to succeed with your blaster. -
Quote:Here's an example build with 47% ranged defense; the AoE and melee def is still puny, and the +recharge is nothing to write home about, but it also should be fairly affordable. There's room for a healthy amount of personal customization, since everyone plays their blaster differently. This build allows for power-boosted Freeze Ray and Char (though no BFR), along with the full suite of /EM punches, with Super Speed, Hover, and/or Combat Jumping depending on the situation (hoverblasting versus hopping into melee to beat someone down).Originally Posted by GreenBone
I'd like to hear more about how an Ice/NRG Blaster might max out ranged defense with IOs. Anyone?
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg:50(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(7)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(7), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11), Mako-Dam%:50(11)
Level 2: Frost Breath -- Posi-Dam%:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(13), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(15), RechRdx-I:50(27)
Level 4: Ice Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg:50(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(21)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(21)
Level 8: Aim -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(23)
Level 10: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(23), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(29), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(31), Posi-Dam%:50(31), RechRdx-I:50(48)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I:50(A)
Level 16: Bone Smasher -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(31), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(33), Mako-Dam%:50(34)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(34), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(36)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(37)
Level 22: Energy Punch -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(37), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), Mako-Dam%:50(39)
Level 24: Freeze Ray -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(25), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(25), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(27), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(29)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(50)
Level 28: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel:50(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(42)
Level 30: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel:50(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(42)
Level 32: Blizzard -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(40), Dmg-I:50(40), Dmg-I:50(40), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:50(50)
Level 35: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(42)
Level 38: Total Focus -- Mako-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:50(43), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:50(43), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(45), Mako-Dam%:50(45)
Level 41: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(45), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(48), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(48)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(46), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(46)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 49: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(A), Zephyr-ResKB:50(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Defiance
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Set Bonus Totals: (slightly abridged)- 12% DamageBuff(All)
- 31.4% Defense(Energy)
- 31.4% Defense(Negative)
- 41.1% Defense(Ranged)
- 39% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 27.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 12% Speed
- 90.4 HP (7.5%) HitPoints
- Knockback (Mag -4)
- MezResist(Held) 13.2%
- MezResist(Immobilize) 13.2%
- 15% (0.25 End/sec) Recovery
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3x Membranes, if saving slots are a concern.
If you have tons of extra slots, then the 3x Undermined/3x Dampened set routine works nicely enough. Personally, I threw an extra range slot in there because I wanted to make sure I could fire it from out of aggro range (and ideally from behind corners), but it's far from necessary. -
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i wish we could get the current ice armor graphics as an aura. (For ice blasters, etc. on their costume)
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Ice blasters can just take Ice Mastery, and get the same look on their defensive toggle at L44. -
Whoa. Hold the phone. You are playing a Dark Armor character... and you skipped Dark Regeneration? How does that even work?
I mean, you're free to play your characters however you want, but I can't wrap my brain around that one. It's like playing without your mez protection toggle. -
Rularuu Watchers have something on the order of +100% tohit, with pure energy blasts that also further debuff your defense. It doesn't matter if you're an SR scrapper that just hit Elude, these things can still blast you out of the sky. You can go pick on a -5 and they'll still hit with unnerving regularity. Dark Armor has very low resistance to energy. Add it all up, and a large spawn of Watchers are a serious threat pretty much regardless what level they are. If it's any consolation, a Spines/Dark scrapper should rip through pretty much every OTHER type of Rularuu impressively.
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Best way to get purple recipes: Kill stuff. Kill a lot of stuff. Then go kill more stuff. When you're finished killing those things, go find even MORE stuff, and kill them too.
While killing the stuff, play the market to make millions and billions of inf to buy some on the side.
You'll probably get enough purple drops (or other stuff to convert to purple drops) ages before you get Leader. -
Fire/TA will be silly. I fully approve of this.
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Re: the notes
For those who haven't noticed them yet, all of the Ouroboros taskforces, along with the Pilgrim's starting arc and the ITF, contain non-mission-essential glowie crates with notes in them addressed to you from some mysterious agent, warning you about all sorts of mysterious things. The one in the ITF, as was asked earlier, is in a crate randomly placed around the edge of the courtyard where the final battle vs. Romulus takes place. -
The immobilize powers from most control sets have a -kb component to them. Gravity's immobilizes do not; its hold contains the -kb. You can immobilize someone and then fling them across the map at your leisure, or immobilize enemies on a knockdown patch like Freezing Rain where they will flop around but not run away. However, if you try and stack holds on a boss, you won't be able to throw them around to buy time until the hold recharges (like mind or */energy doms can do).
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Assuming we are only concerned with enemies dealing s/l damage, an Invuln tanker can cap out their s/l resistance (90%) while still IOing up to the defense softcap (9.1% chance of being hit by a +4 boss), for almost 110 times less damage taken than a defenseless squishy. With Dull Pain up, you are only 12% away from the HP cap of 3212.7, attainable through some sets or accolades. The only way to get more protection against a L54 s/l boss would be adding more regeneration/healing or reducing the number of attacks the enemies are allowed to make through crowd control or killing them faster.
In this vein, while you previously discounted DA as a contender because its mez auras only affected minions, if you pair it with Stone Melee then Fault can stack with Oppressive Gloom to stun all bosses within melee range of you, as permanently as you like, and Fault and Tremor can chain-knockdown most any group. These effects are not as easily factored into a simple equation as res/def/regen/healing, but pretty impressive in actual play. Dark Melee is quite note-worthy for Siphon Life, as well. -
Yes, dominators now have a much higher effective damage cap, and in a +damage-rich environment they will blow old-doms out of the water.
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I'll be there this evening, but when would we be meeting after the kickoff? Set days/times, or just whenever we want/can, or what?
It'll be nice to poke my head around Pinnacle a bit, given that my only other character on the server hasn't been logged on for... 1885 days. Grav/Energy, your day has come! -
Ah well, at least I'm still in the 600 club. Lost 65 badges but don't have to look at stuff like Living Legend hanging out with Leader and Empath over at the cool kids' table. Now to get my PvP on for Back to the Future/Disruptor/New Arena Goodies.
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Because the OP said fastest, the absolute fastest way to get between two points is a */Energy blaster with Boost Range and Teleport. Yes, Boost Range affects the distance covered by Teleport too. Slotted, you can go around 220 yards per click (possibly even MORE if you could use the +range pvp set bonuses), which means that you can go all the way across Firebase Zulu from the PI portal to the Hortha vine to the Cascades in under a minute. It's been really really really handy while playing tour guide in the Shard. You don't really need to be able to get around THAT fast though unless you're showing off, as long as you can do the job once you get to the destination. If you learn the geyser network, you can get around at impressive speeds regardless of your travel power (as my defender commonly showed, by winning races to Shard missions with nothing but combat jumping and hurdle). Flying will get you there, but it's the slow and lazy approach to Shard travel. For frequent runs of something like a speedy Justin Augustine TF though, I can't possibly someone better at the job than the /energy blaster.
There are many options for 'most effective' Shard toon depending on what specifically you want to do in there, but blasters can hold their own just fine (I'm rather fond of soloing invincible Kora Fruit missions while waiting for TFs to organize and such). -
Player99, his point was that all damage buffs (such as those from defiance, buffs like Fulcrum Shift, and enhancements) are added up and then multiplied by the base damage of the attack (not the enhanced damage). A 100 base damage attack will be slotted up to around 200 damage (195ish really, but shush), but a 30% damage buff from defiance will then raise it to 230 damage, not 260 damage. If you hit Build Up (and still had the 30% defiance boost) then the 100 base dmg attack would do 330 damage.
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All of the traditional tier 9 'godmode' defenses (not including self-rezzes, or the newer, lighter versions like Moment of Glory, One with the Shield, and Strength of Will) have a base recharge of 1000 seconds. This was set so that no matter how many recharge buffs a character has, the powers can never be made permanent. The recharge cap is 500%, so at maximum recharge they would have an up-time of 180/200 seconds.
As Zombie Man said, with three recharge enhancements and hasten, it can already be up about half the time. -
Very high recharge build, unload arrows as needed followed by Howl, Shriek, Scream, repeat (with Screech thrown in as needed, skip Shout or respec it out at higher levels). Win. TA likes procs, but avoid them in Flash Arrow so it stays aggro-free. Oil Slick Arrow needs to be ED-capped for damage and recharge, it melts faces. Most sets can be slotted multiple times, if you weren't aware. I might work up a Mids build later if I get bored.
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Bane: heavily toxic damage stalker-corruptor.
Widow: ruthlessly efficient scrapper with style.
Reasons to go Bane over Widow: KD/hold/stuns, pets, passive hp/res boost, heavy debuffing in Venom and Surveillance to boost team DPS, satisfying CRUNCH of an Executioner's Strike.
Reasons to go Widow over Bane: higher personal DPS, scaling resists, higher defense (Elude, Vengeance, and with high +recharge, perma Mind Link). -
Given the scenario, your target will now have 25% lethal resistance and -50% to all other damage types. The resistance debuff effectively multiplies your damage output by 50% across the board, whether that means going from 100% to 150% or from 50% to 75%.
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Breath of Fire (not Fire Breath) does imperceptibly more damage than Fire Sword, with double the animation time (1.33s vs. 1.67s). As long as you get 2 enemies in the cone, it's pretty much the same dps, but Breath of Fire comes with a 1.2x inherent accuracy bonus, only costs 50% more endurance than Fire Sword, and has an impressive range for a melee cone, with a 15 feet long, 30 degree arc.
The real question is whether you are a melee-cone fiend or not. It can hit up to 10 targets, and if you can bunch up the enemies effectively it is very easy to get more than two of them in the cone. At 3 enemies hit, it is noticeably more efficient than any ST attack in your arsenal, and only goes up from there. FSC is one hell of an AoE, but having another one to fire with it can be the difference between severely wounding the whole spawn and twoshotting most everything in it. If you don't have a knack for lining up the perfect cone in a split second, and/or you don't like the concept, then stick with your ST chain.
Also, while it'd be mostly irrelevant for your 'retire at 50' playstyle, I'm very tempted to throw some Centrioles in it once my fire/regen hits 47 and turn it into a seriously large cone. -
I landed a double-crit AS about two weeks ago, and hadn't heard that this was possible before that, but made a certain amount of sense. If you can naturally get a chance for a non-hidden attack to crit, even including an unhidden AS getting upgraded to full assassination damage, then it seems like it'd be possible for that chance to stack with the guaranteed crit from hidden status (especially if there are odd placate / lag induced effects going on).
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<Disclaimer: I have never played a high level /Dev blaster>
If you read the long description for Time Bomb, I remember that there is some line about how if the bomb takes enough damage it will blow up before the 15s count down, and will still fry anything within its radius. The bomb should ordinarily not draw much (any?) fire itself, but if you were standing nearby and it caught a big AoE volley, it'd blow. I'm not sure if the trip mines would activate it, but I could believe it. -
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Considering most people have roughly 100% damage buff from enhancements, each percent of damage resistance debuff is roughly equal to 2% of damage buff. Fulcrum Shift means you're nearly always running at your damage cap, so that's 300% damage buff, which roughly equals 150% of damage resistance debuff. I don't think any other Defender primary can exceed or even match that amount of damage boost.
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Minor note, but the defender dmg cap is 400% of base damage, or a maximum of 300% damage buff, including enhancements. Per your analogy, assuming ~95% damage enhancement in all attacks, going from 'normal' damage on your defender to fulcrum shifted, capped damage would be going from ~195% damage to 400% damage. This would be roughly the same effect as applying a 100% resistance debuff to the targets and no damage buffs, not 150% debuff. Kin is still really beefy, but not THAT much beefier than the resistance debuffers.
Although it's a fringe case, a Rad/* can provide as much or more effective damage enhancement for a battle as a kin/* if you allow for Fallout; Fallout + Enervating Field packs an 80% -res debuff, along with Accelerate Metabolism's 25% dmg buff (and/or Mutation's 50% dmg buff for the Fallout bait), which ties with straight 400% dmg. Cold defs can come very close at very high recharge; Sleet can be doublestacked, and the -res applies from both since they are treated as coming from separate sources (the two different pseudopets). Put an Achilles' Heel proc in it and throw Heat Loss on top and you're looking at a LOT of -res, along with the damage from the sleet itself and any dmg procs it may have. Trick Arrow can come close with stacked Disruption Arrows and proc'd Acid Arrow.
Needless to say, Kins have always been and will always be the go-to set for MOAR DAMAGE NAO, but they're not the only option. -
Nice necropost, Mac. I made my archer way back when specifically BECAUSE archery was thought of as 'gimp' and almost never seen once the new shiny wore off. (What better way to prove that Defiance 1.0 could be freakin' AWESOME than to use one of the most maligned sets to do it with?)
It's funny how things evolve sometimes. Just look at I15 Energy Assault...