I have been asked by a few friends to put something on the boards about an electric/electric blaster build. I have been running an electric/electric blaster for over 6.5 years. His name is GE MAN and he is on Triumph. I won't go into specifcs because each player will want to add their own personal touch to this build if they decide to try it. However, it is a build one should consider if they like to cause headaches to pvp toons, run side by side with tankers and scrappers as well as tank on farms with a modest sized team. Large teams require an actual melee toon capable of holding aggro. This build also carries the signature ranged attacks to keep baddies at bay from a distance.
The electric/electric build is basically a sappers build. This build's power/strength comes from its ability to drain a single enemy or an entire group of all of their end. The idea here is simply if they have no end then they can't attack you. Thus your two most important powers are short circuit and power sink. With this in mind the all electric build's powers should be chosen to support both power sink and short circuit.
When a pvp toon is spotted and I am in the mood for a good fight, I use the following starategy. I begin with my ranged attacks: aim, build up, snipe and any ranged attacks with holds or a chance to hold. Here I use super speed (ss) and fly to play keep away from a pvp adversary. Once he is held I use (ss) to get up close and personal. I spam all of the following: short circuit, power sink, disorient, and the two holds I have. After my opponent is drained of his end and locked down by my two holds, I add my damage powers into the rotation to dispatch him. This is very effective.
It may take up to ten minutes to kill an experienced pvp toon that is well decked out but eventually he will usually die. You must be patient with this build it is not a heavy hitting build. It wears opponents down to a point where they can be killed.
If I am attacked by a pvp toon and it is usually without warning and usually from behind it's not a big deal. You must react quickly. This is the key. Pop a few large break frees and large blues and large greens to get your strength up and gain control of your toon. Then pop short circuit and power sink followed by disorient and any holds you have. Keep spamming those until your adversary is drained of his end and finally hoplessly held. Then add heavy damage attacks to the power rotation and the opponent swill usually die. I am not recommending the electric/electric blaster as a pvp build just explaining how effective it can be if confronted by pvp opponents.
Prior to pvp enhancements when I was gang banged by pvp toons I could usually take two or three of them out before they got my blaster. I hardly ever pvp so I don't have a lot of recent experience to pass along regarding fighting pvp players who are loaded with pvp enhancement sets.
I did try some new powers on a second build. The bubble set's personal force field was interesting. A pvp toon challanged me in Recluse Victory and could not make any initial contact at all with my blaster when my blaster's personal force field up. I had fun running and walking past him without being scratched. After a few minutes I felt it was safe to get in his face and duke it out with him. I stood toe to toe with him and again was not even scratched. Then I unloaded everything I had. But I was not familiar with that new bubble set that I was trying out. I couldn't fire a single shot. He pressed his attack as I tried hoplessly to get off a shot. Finally, he broke through my defense and I was face planted. I mistakenly attributed the victory to him. Later I found out that using the personal force field prevented me from attacking him. Yes I shot myself in the foot. I mention this to suggest using that power (personal force field) in your build. Apparantly, pvp toons have a difficult time breaking through that personal force field. Remember to drop your force field prior to attacking. By the way the personal force field is like phase shift but significantly better. It not only makes you extremely hard to be hit but also has a very fast recharge. Just for the record I still use charged armor and that sets hold power rather then the bubble set for my main build.
When I am farming solo or tanking (for a modest sized group) in missions w/o an AV, I use the same plan of attack. I always target the purple bosses first. I put them on follow and use ss to get up close and personal. Then I use the same power rotation as previously mentioned. If the group is large then after I pop one end drain on a toon I target another toon farther away in the group and pop the other end drain to get them all.
There is no way I can tank an AV.
Note: If there are two large groups very close together, I pull one group away from the other by using aim and snipe. This takes a little longer but the survival rate of team mates is a lot greater.
Fianally, the electric/electric build is a sapper build. Your main attacks are end drains, power sink and short circuit. Select powers that support the end drain powers especially holds and something like a group disorient is also suggested. A single target disorient is equal to a team wipe out. You want an aoe disorient. The holds are single targets that are used on bosses. You also need to consider the slotting of powers and the types of enhancements you elect to take. Those considerations are very important as well. I run with the best. I fight with a lot of purple sets, large inspirations, temporary buffs and usually pack backup radio and shives among other things.
Well that is the basic strategy of an electric/electric blaster. Its an interesting build and I am sure you'll like it if you try it.
Happy Hunting,
GE MAN (Triumph)
