HotButteredSoul

Welcome, polarflare!!! And good for you for joining the clan.

BTW, the guide has surpassed 5000 reads and is now on fire! Congrats to my fellow dirt-movers for supporting the cause.

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Blapping: Why? Fire/* is the ranged AoE king.

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Your guide is quite complete but IMHO doesnt focus enough on what fire/fire/fire is all about: ranged damage.

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With all due respect, I think that view is somewhat myopic. While it is true that Fire/ is the ranged AoE king, it is also true that /Fire is the melee AoE king. Put them together and... well, you have a united pair of countries.

Fire/Fire blasters don't have to be played at range. That's entirely subjective. Many Triple-F's choose to specialize at range, others at melee, and others do both depending on what the situation calls for.

While I respect and support your decision to play at range, it is not for everyone.

Enjoy!

Definitely things to consider. I wholehearted agree with you, however: style is the main decision maker as far as power choices are concerned. I think your reasoning is great and would never ask you to change your style.

For readers of your guide, they might like to try some different things. Though fire's focus is damage, it does afford some flexibility as to how you do that damage.

Thanks again for the guide, Peg! You're awesome.

Hi Peg!

I hope you don't mind if I add some information from some tests I ran on test tonight (I9) with a level 50 Fire/Fire blaster. I tried all of the attacks out to see what damage they'd do. Some interesting results are below. None of the attacks were slotted for damage. Enjoy:

Brawl = 20.14 Smashing Damage = 0.36 DS

Fire Blast:
1) Flares - 39.96 Fire Damage + 16.77 Fire Damage = 56.73 = 1.02 DS

2) Fire Blast - 55.91 Fire Damage + 8.38 Fire Damage (1-4 times) = 1.0 DS + up to around another 0.5 DS

3) Fire Ball - 11.17 Smash + 39.13 Fire + 8.38 Fire (up to 3 times) = 0.9 DS + up to almost another 0.5 DS

4) Rain of Fire - Based on the number of hitpoints an enemy had left after the rain, 113.97 total fire damage = 2.0 DS

5) Fire Breath - 32.71 * 3 Fire Damage = 98.13 = 1.76 DS

6) Blaze - 118.69 Fire Damage + 12.59 * some Fire = 2.13 DS + up to around 1.0 DS

7) Blazing Bolt - 154.32 Fire + 12.57 * some Fire = 2.775 DS + up to around 1.0 DS

8) Inferno - 42.49 Smashing Damage + 102.88 Fire Damage + 77.16 Fire Damage + 15.42 * 9 Fire Damage when I tried it... results may very. = 6.5 DS

Fire Manipulation
1) Ring of Fire - 12.29 * 7 Fire = 86.03 = 1.55 DS

2) Fire Sword - 55.91 Lethal + 53.67 Fire = 109.58 = 2.0 DS

3) Combustion - 27.95 Fire + 5.58 * 10 Fire = 83.75 = 1.5 DS

4) Fire Sword Circle - 43.33 Lethal + 43.33 Fire + up to 3 * 5.58 Fire = 1.56 DS + up to 0.3 DS

5) Blazing Aura - 11.17 fire per tick = 0.2 DS per tick

6) Consume - 22.36 Fire = 0.4 DS

7) Burn - Based on the number of hitpoints an enemy had left after the burn - 168.97 Fire Damage = 3.0 DS

8) Hot Feet - 14.04 fire per tick = 0.25 DS per tick

Interesting stuff.

* Combustion does almost the same damage as Fire Sword Circle. It's a longer cast time and much of it's damage is DoT. However, Combustion is all fire damage, whereas FSC is lethal + fire, making it not only more resisted, but lethal defense will defend against FSC and not Combustion.

* If you're working with someone who can immobilize mobs, Burn + Rain of Fire will do excellent damage!

* Also, buffs do help Burn and Rain of Fire. I tried Aim + Build Up and my Burn did much more damage. From the 6/6/06 patch notes: [ QUOTE ]
Many Location based powers (Such as Rain of Fire and Blizzard) can now be affected by the casters Buffs (for example, using Build Up will now increase the damage of Blizzard).

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Hope this extra info helps!

Well I'm going to go and try a respec build with Blazing Aura, then. I had originally planned to take it at 26, but went with my single target disorient instead (again.. being Sonic/). Maybe I'll take it instead of Burn

I'd be interested in some numbers. Maybe later I'll post some here.

And no worries Peg. Discussions of alternatives would never be taken as criticism. Alternatives make life fun and interesting.

Speaking of which: Unicycle Peon (Lewis) mentioned he'd like to see guides incorporate SO slotting for those of us who don't embrace IOs. Would be useful to some if you're up for it.

Peg...

Ive seen your picture...
Your name in lights above it....

Er... ahem.. excuse me.

I have the pleasure of being the first to say: GREAT guide. One reason I love it: it embraces the idea of the AoE blapper. A character that requires guts, moxie, brazenness, and a fearless demeanor.

Some thoughts:
1) how much damage does blazing aura end up doing for you? Have you run hero stats on a few missions and checked the ratio on what powers do what % of your damage?

2) There is a great synergy between Ring of Fire and Burn. I bet Hot Feet + Burn is rather cool too... but I have yet to try that. Same goes for Char + Burn.

3) Combustion is a great choice for /Fire Manipulation blasters who don't go with the Fire/ primary and want more AoE non-cone based attacks. For instance, I have a 35 Sonic/Fire and I use Combustion on every mob. Obviously not a factor for the F³. But people who are interested in non-Fire/Fire builds will still check out this guide (if they're smart!! )

4) AoE blappers are fantastic on teams. Tanks, controllers, and defenders can make you a Goddess or God.

5) I have nothing against hover. I love it. However, due to my commitment to nimble dancing I went with hurdle/Combat Jumping/Acrobatics and have been incredibly satisfied.

Congrats on a wonderful guide.

ottercubdc - wonderful to have you in the club. I love your concept and hope to see you in-game! Enjoy the experience. You're special and don't be afraid to let others know

Ah... I think I understand. Do you mean:

Suppose my even level enemy has 20% damage resistance to smashing. I hit him with with Sonic Siphon and then attack. What happens?

Let's say your attack does X damage. Without using Sonic Siphon your attack would do 0.8 * X damage against your enemy. However, after Sonic Siphon your attack would do 0.8 * X * 1.225 = 0.98 X damage.

I have personally tested this. In fact, here is my data:

Level 50 Fire Tarantula has 20% Smashing Damage Resistance.
Level 50 unslotted Fossilize does 30.57 points of Smashing Damage.
Against Fire Tarantula, Fossilze does 0.8 * 30.57 = 24.46 Smashing Damage.
After Sonic Siphon, Fossilize does 0.98 * 30.57 = 29.96 Smashing Damge.

To formalize this somewhat:
Let enemy damage resistance, E, be a decimal value from 0.0 (0%) to 1.0 (100%).
Let damage resistance debuff, F, be a decimal value from 0.0 (0%) to 1.0 (100%).
Let gross damage of an attack, D, be any number >= 0.
O = Overall Damage

O = D * (1.0-E) * (1.0+F)

Hope that helps.

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I write this in hopes that someone can:

1) confirm or deny this information, and
2) fill in the details (if true)

I am, however, fairly certain this is accurate

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I personally confirmed the values of resistance debuffage for Sonic Siphon and Disruption Field. I tested it again mobs + and - to me and the modifiers were correct.

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Isn't it common for immobilizes to only negate KB/KD for the first ten seconds after it was applied? Do the immobilizes in Earth Control differ from others in that respect (I'm assuming not). Just a minor side-note.

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According to Red Tomax, Stone Prison prevents an enemy from being knocked around for 12 seconds.

Thus, you can lay down your Prison, wait a dozen tics, then pop an Earthquake.

Hey everybody... in lieu of a complete rundown of IOs for the time being, please check out Scrapulous' excellent guide: Planning Builds for IO Set Bonuses.

This should get you moving in the right direction on your trusty Earth/Sonic. Cheers.

Nitro! Welcome to Epics and I'm glad you're loving the ride. Give us some feedback on which set you liked best with Earth/Sonic once you feel up to it. Thanks!

Operator,

First of all, congratulations on reaching 50. I hope you enjoyed your journey as much as I did.

As far as an enhancement discussion, that is a great idea. I agree that with the introduction of IOs, we've reached a point where there are vast permutations of options for slotting your Earth-Shaker. My head joins yours in revolving like a globe.

Nevertheless, the ideas behind how to slot still apply. I look forward to some suggestions as to what IOs and HOs would benefit the Earth/Sonic.

Some I9 updates:

* Fixed an issue with Stone Cages which caused its cast time to be too long.

* Fixed an issue with several 'cage' powers which gave them longer than intended durations in PvP. Detention Field, Sonic Cage and Black Hole are affected by this change.

* Any toggle that affects only yourself and/or allies should not root you while activating, such as: Leadership, Shadow Fall, Dispersion Bubble, etc. Additionally, Shadowfall and Group Fly powers should no longer root.

* Sonic Resonance power, Disruption Field no longer generates agro when using the power.

I told you.. AR/Ice! Now go make one and see for yourself.

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ok first of all dont tell me how to talk. i cant talk how ever i want to. how about u worry about urself and ill worry about myself. how i type has nothing to do with you. why would u even bring that up.

for the others... thanks for ur opinions

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I highly recommend you try an Assault Rifle/Ice Manipulation Blaster. I can see that character fitting you to a 'T'. Repentant has written a fantastic guide on how to build such a character here. Ignore the sarcastic tone that implies this is a poor combo. It is arguably the best in the game.

Enjoy!

Fire/TA is a great Trickster. Thanks for writing the guide!!!

Major applause. Should be required reading.

I'm also a big fan of Stone Prison. Took it early and used it all the way up through 50 on a regular basis.

Ooops.

NM!

Thanks for the stats!

Thanks for reposting this, Muad_Dib!

I LOVE THIS GUIDE!

I know, I know... those of you who saw my CGT least/most popular posts aren't surprised.

I actually made a TA/Rad defender named the Atomic Amazon. She's an Amazon zombie brought back to life via the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.

Time to make a Dark/Sonic corruptor. Frankly, that's a combo with great synergy.

Also, everyone should take a gander at Repentant's Entirely Serious Guide to AR/Ice. Good stuff!

Dalcharis,

Thank you for making a sonic/sonic guide. The CoX community has been without one for too long, and I applaud your efforts. You deserve major kudos.

I have some contributions:

1) Sonic Repulsion has a nice usage in "Protect X" missions. It's really useful to bounce enemies away from the object they're trying to destroy.

2) According to City of Data the defender version of Liquefy is a -35.7% defense hit and a -35.7% to-hit drop. In addition, there is a -28% recharge component as well. The corrupter and controller versions do -25% defense and to-hit and -20% recharge. A great power if you've got a Sonic/Dark defender as it goes wonderfully with tentacles.

3) It would be worth mentioning the damage scales for the Sonic Blast attacks. I'm not home so I can't measure them at the moment.

4) I have a set of keybinds that I use with my Sonic Resonance toon. They're for shielding your team and quickly dishing out Clarity when needed. I wrote a little batch file to generate them all. The code is in this CoH forum post.

Great guide!

Who's starting the AR/Cold Super-Team Supergroup?

What server?

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I like TACTICS! and not the Tactics of "lets run in and beat on things and hope we survive". Therefore I purposely limit myself so I do not even think about that type of foolishness.

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What about these tactics:

1) Get buffs from defenders/controllers/purple inspirations
2) Let Tank get aggro and/or Controller lock down enemies
3) Run in and use melee AoE attacks with relative safety because they do more damage than ranged AoE attacks.

Works for me.

That said, I fully agree with your RoF tactics. Nice!