Kurugi

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Remember that blasters are ranged attackers

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I don't really agree with this statement. Some blaster setups just work better if you play as a blapper. For example, my old elec/elec blaster would've been terrible if I had tried to play him only at ranged, because elec doesn't have a strong third blast and /elec has such devastating melee attacks I wouldn't be utilizing him 100% if I didn't use them.

My energy/energy blaster however I am playing mostly at range.

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Electric / is not a good choice for a new blaster. It lacks that 3rd single target attack. But instead gets Tesla Cage.

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Heh, my first character ever was actually an electric/electric blaster, but yeah due to not having a third blast you pretty much have to play as a blapper to compete IMO.

I recently made an energy/energy blaster and I'm having..well a blast with him. So far I'm finding the key to playing one well is to be proactive with your knockbacks and know exactly where it's going to place the enemy. If you show your team you're not just some buffoon who stands in one spot mindlessly spamming blasts everywhere not caring where the mobs go then they usually don't get angry. I was on a team last night with at least 4 scrappers and never once got complaints.

Plus, of all the blaster sets I've played or tried out I gotta say energy's animations are the most satisfying for me

Fire also has the side effect of....more damage! So yeah it's all about toasting your enemy's (pun intended) with fire

I think I get what you're saying Wind. Angle one way to knock them all against the wall and then angle the other way to push them into the corner. The thing about Explosive Blast though, going by actual physics, since it's a targeted AoE won't the knockback from it be outwards from the center of the blast instead of knocking them all in the same direction?

I do have hover, and I know about hover + directly over enemy's head = knockdown, but I haven't really been using that technique much. I actually have more fun knocking enemy's around where I want them to go, and I'm finding if you actually put some thought into where you're placing them instead of just mindlessly blasting from the same spot not caring which way the mobs fly teams usually don't get too upset. I almost consider myself a pseudo controller, except instead of locking mobs down I knock them into [censored] while completely destroying them :P

I can't believe I never tried an energy blaster sooner. I guess I was a bit apprehensive about all the negativity towards knockback, but wow is it fun. I thought having to reposition yourself alot on teams so you don't knock mobs away from melee would be a pain but it actually adds an extra layer of depth to playing IMO.

One thing I like to do but that ends up backfiring on me more often than not is run to the back of a spawn and use my cone to try and knock as many back towards my group as I can. However, I find a lot of times when I try and make my way to the back I'll draw aggro from quite a few and that sometimes leads to my death (not to mention aggro I'd get after firing off my cone). Is there anyway to do this more efficiently or is this just not a smart way to play?

I'm also finding that I LOVE power thrust. It's nice to actually have a 1st tier secondary ability that I find useful. I usually try and group up spawns into a corner as best I can, and I find this power really nice when there's a straggler. I'll just run up behind him and knock him where I want him to go.

It's funny because I figured if I ever did make an energy blaster I'd have to make him a soloer since I've heard such grim things about energy in teams, but I'm finding I actually enjoy teaming with my energy blaster more than other blasters I have made. Haven't gotten any complaints about my knockback yet either, and my last group had at least 4 scrappers in it xD

Can't wait to lvl this guy more

I just hit 20. Planning to try CAK at 22 and see what my chain feels like using it instead of Thunder Kick. However with a recharge more than twice as long I feel I'll have a decent gap in there somewhere, which is why I was considering the other two.

I don't really see how CAK is so much better than AS though. According to Mid's CAK does 112.9 base while AS does 65.7, but in the span of 8 seconds (CAK's base recharge time) I can pull off 2 AS's which means with CAK I'm doing 112.9 damage every 8 seconds, but with AS I'm doing 131.4.

So my 'for sure' attacks for my MA/SR scrapper are Storm Kick, Crane Kick, Dragon's Tail, and Eagle's Claw. I'm a bit undecided on the last one though. It's down to Thunder Kick, CAK, or AS.

Thunder Kick I like because it's all-around fast. It fires off fast, it recharges fast making it a staple in an attack chain, and it does ok damage though nothing close to what Chuck Norris could put out with a roundhouse to the face. It can also sometimes disorient a foe which can be nice to help mitigate a little damage.

CAK looks to be the 3rd strongest attack in the set right behind Crane Kick. According to Mid's it has an activation time of 1.6 seconds which is about how long Crane Kick takes to fire off as well, which isn't too bad. It can also immobilize/-spd/-fly. I don't really care about immobs or -spd though I guess it could be helpful for runners, but I've found that flying enemies are quite a nuisance, so this attack would be helpful in the department. My only gripe with the power is its decently long recharge (8s) which makes me doubt whether I'd be able to keep up an attack chain with it in my build.

AS I'm considering but it kinda feels weird to consider it seeing as fly is not my travel power. Personally though I am leaning the most towards this attack. It hits a little harder than Thunder Kick while still retaining a pretty quick recharge (4s), and also has the -fly component of CAK that I like as well. It seems the best all-around choice for what I want, but like I said it feels weird choosing this power when it's the only power I take in the flight pool, though I guess it would be equivalent to taking Hasten from the speed pool even if you don't plan to use SS as a travel power. /shrug

Anyway, thanks for any suggestions :P

Hmm..so do you think if I hold out on my MA scrapper till the mid-20s or so I'll start to like him after I get stamina and dragon's tail and stuff like that?

Yeah, I made a BS/WP scrapper today and I think I'm actually liking him a bit more than my MA/SR, mainly due to not having any toggles yet that suck the life force out of me, and I'm finding BS's attacks to be a bit more interesting than MA's. Plus the secondary effects of BS (-def) I think are more beneficial/dependable than MA's (stuns).

The only thing I'll give to MA is I do like how fast Storm/Thunder kick activate. BS does feel a bit slower than MA, but at the same time it feels heavier, like each blow actually hurts instead of just chipping away at the mob.

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everything sucks against Vazhilok, they are a bit OP low lvl and I think its sad they they end so early in the game as they are probably the most interesting and versatile villain group in the game. They also have different AI with the zombies having low levels of perception and lose agro fast, pretty good representation of how zombies should be IMO.

Anyway, having ran the posi TF several times in the last week with a couple of different scrappers the best set vs Vahz is a AR/EM blaster with hurdle and combat jump

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I do have to admit, of the story arcs I've done so far (like 4), I found the Vahzilok Pollutant one to be the most interesting, and the one that really made me feel like I was helping to save the city, but yeah they were a pain to fight :P

I've got a 17 MA/SR scrapper that I'm thinking of well...scrapping. He just feels empty to me for some reason, and I'm thinking it's a lack of an AoE attack which you don't get in the set until like 26, but even then it's your only AoE in the entire set whereas most other scrapper sets get at least a PBAoE and a cone.

I was also planning to play him as mostly a solo character, but with the high endurance costs of MA's attacks as well as the cost of running SR's toggles it's a complete pain to run solo missions in the early levels. You either have to completely fill up on blue inspirations, or take a 2-3 minute break after every other spawn or so because you're going to run out of endurance faster than rest can recharge.

Personally I feel that MA should have been the Ice Blast of the scrapper sets, offering superior single target damage while foregoing more area damage, yet MA is merely competitive in ST damage while retaining a lack of area damage. That's probably the main reason it's feeling empty to me.

About the only thing that MA has going for it, and the only thing that would actually put it ahead of other scrapper sets in terms of ST damage is having access to your 2nd highest damaging attack (Crane Kick) at lvl 8, but that only puts you ahead in the lower levels. After 26 you pretty much fall to "on par".

Sorry to sound really negative. Maybe my views will change if/when I get MA up into the 20s and 30s when you get access to the rest of your attacks. I might try powering through to lvl 20 and see how much stamina helps my endurance management, since the endurance costs of my power set is what's really discouraging me atm.

Edit: I'd hate to scrap him though, since I really like my MA's costume and backstory and he was the first guy I made when I came back from my break and I was so sure he'd be my new main that I changed my handle to his name, so if I did scrap him it'd be weird to have his name by my handle all the time xD

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No one should power level. Ever. Period. Why cheat yourself of the feeling of satisfaction of EARNING your level 50 toon? I honestly can't understand why anyone would want to cheat themselves.

Power leveling? Farming? Why not just pay the folks who'll play your character for you?

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Or buy a character off of e-bay as some do. Not sure if they do this so much in CoH but it happens in other MMOs.

People who do that are more interested in the destination, but IMO the journey is what makes playing games fun. I mean, getting powerleveled or buying a character/account is like using a cheat to skip all the way to the end of a game...of course some people do that too without a second thought so I really shouldn't be surprised I guess.

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Granted. And it tends to irk me when I see builds put out these days. "What's a decent build for..." "Well, just purple it out this way!" OK, but that doesn't help me get from 20-30. If a build needs, or seems to need, IOs to be workable... there's something wrong with that build, IMHO.

<sidetrack> I really wish people would give "Standard SO" or "Standard IO" builds first, with what to expect, *then* go into "And if you want to go crazy, here's an IO-d out uberbuild." </sidetrack.>

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I agree. It seems, at least on the forums, that people just expect everyone to have lots of money. It's like that thread I made the other day you helped me with where I wasn't sure if I'd even afford SOs at 22 and now I've got enough inf that I decided to go ahead and go for common IOs instead.

But it is kinda funny when you ask for a build and your guy is only like lvl 20 or 30 or whatever and ppl are telling you to slot Numina's and LoTG's and all sorts of stuff and you're just like "uhhh.......".

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You have no control (well, little) over what you roll using AE tickets - but it's a nice way to get salvage. Yes, you could luck into the IO you wanted, as well - I've gotten several KB resists and Def/Res pieces for a few characters that could use them. You have a bit more control with Merits, though again some (purples, and I'm not sure but I want to say PVP recipes) are not available. Little more time, little more work, but you can pick what you want if you have the merits.

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So basically AE tickets are just like a raffle system. That's pretty....lame, lol.

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Heh, no worries. I don't know how WOW does things - I know, from friends, they have some sort of market or something. I'm assuming the dagger is bound to whoever gets it - which, frankly, I'd find *really* irritating (I know I would, since I find it irritating in Guild Wars as well - one of the reasons I rarely play it.) Still, alternate ways of getting equipment, drops, and useful items is, to me, a good thing.

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Yeah, I won't really go into it since I'm sure you don't really care. Suffice it to say that yes the best gear is bound to you and you can't do much with it if you don't want it or can't use it, but it does keep people coming back hoping what they need will drop.

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*nitpick*

Everything is not buyable from the market. The potential to get almost everything from the market is there, yes (including things that don't exist,) but to have everything buyable from the market in fact, the market would have to be "stocked" regularly. By comparison, all standard SOs are buyable without reservation - you just have to go to the vendor and buy them. They're available any time the game is up.

Everything is, however, available via playing. It may not be a playstyle you like (such as PVP enhancements,) but that option *is* there. All the stock on the market is from someone playing, after all. And I'd much rather have someplace I can put a drop (of any sort) that I can't or don't want to use which allows someone who DOES want it a chance of getting it, than to have some marked "unsellable," where my only option is trade or vendor.

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Fair enough. Still, whenever someone talks about about tweaking out a build or something they usually put it in terms of cost, so it's assumed that these things are going to be readily available.

I guess the merit system also adds a little extra fluff. You run some content, you get merits, you spend the merits on the more expensive things you're looking to get. I guess you could also use it as an extra means of earning inf if you hate farms (I hate farms). And then I guess now they have the AE tickets though I guess those are used more for salvage and stuff like that correct?

I guess I've just played WoW too long. I'm use to having to run a raid 20 times before I get my epic dagger that ups my DPS by 400. It would seem weird to me if I were ever able to just buy said dagger I guess is my point..

My apologies for mentioning WoW >_<

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Except that after PLing there's -nothing- to do.

How many times have you seen people on the forums complain about the lack of 'end Game' content? Exacerbate this with a lack of knowledge of the game itself and you've got a Newblet who really doesn't feel there's a point to the game.

If you're talking about PLing 3-10 levels then... I don't -really- care if newbs do it. If you're talking 12+ levels then yeah. They should NOT powerlevel.

-Rachel-

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When I first started playing CoH I played with my bro and some rl friends, and we mainly just did random radio missions with the occasional TF - I think we only did Synapse's (to which we were robbed of a Babbage fight due to a Rikti Raid bugging it out) and Sister Psyche's - and when we got to the upper 30's I believe we started doing the actual story driven missions in RWZ.

But I've quit the game a couple times, and both times was pretty much for the exact same reason: nothing to do at 50. I told my brother that it seems like the game is like "Congratulations, you reached 50! Now go make another character and do it all again!!".

Personally, and I know this is probably just copy paste from what other MMOs have done, but I think the main reason there isn't much of an endgame is because endgame in other MMOs is driven by items that can only be achieved via completing certain content. CoH lacks this due to everything being buyable from the market. I know this probably isn't an original idea, but I think they should introduce a line of enhancements that can't be bought. Kinda like when you finish a TF and you get a choice of rewards and you can choose enhancements and recipes etc. Make those recipes and enhancements unsellable, so people actually have to go through content in order to get the best stuff instead of just having to farm for days and days to get the influence to just buy what they need.

Yeah I know, it's pretty much the exact same mechanic that's in other MMOs like Everquest and WoW, but it works and it keeps people playing their high levels, and I think introducing something like that to CoH would make certain content more meaningful.

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Zzzzzt! You forgot a very important group of people whose opinion counts very much: the developers and suits at NCsoft and Paragon Studios.

If newbies PLing either 1) causes them to leave the game earlier than they would have otherwise, thus denying them of the long-term potential cash flow of their subscription fees, or 2) causes other players to leave the game, thus resulting in a net loss in fees, then it's just plain not going to happen.

"But... but... but..." Argue all you want, it wouldn't matter if you had ten thousand people lined up behind you agreeing with you. The devs and other managers who run this game aren't stupid. They didn't just fall off the MMORPG truck yesterday. They have their own facts that you're not privy to, their own market research to rely upon, and yeah, their own opinions and vision for what they feel would make the game the best it can be in the long run. If you think they're wrong, you're more than welcome to start your own game and make whatever ridiculous profits you envision a power leveling-friendly game will make.

And I'm not trying to tell you to shut up or anything. You're free to disagree as much as you want to. But it doesn't change a fundamental fact that I think that SOOOO many people miss here. Your $15 a month does not, in fact, make you a member of the board of directors. Does your opinion count? Within the confines of what the developers and managers of the game want, sure. Outside of it, not so much, actually.

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Actually I think the person you quoted is quite right. Your point would be valid if this discussion was on whether or not PLing should be something available in the game, but since PLing is already available in the game the discretion of whether or not to utilize it comes down to the individual player, not the developers.

Now, if the devs suddenly decide to take the option to PL out of the game (which would basically be the equivalent to completely taking the SK feature out of the game), then your argument is sound, but given the current circumstances the option of PLing is like I said solely up to the player.

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The zombies puke on a Necro MM is a cone. I would think that the puke in the NPC zombie baddies would be a cone too.

Thus solveing your SR is weak against zombies......

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I can dodge punches. I can even dodge bullets, but I can't avoid the regurgitation of the undead traveling at me at half the speed of smell (and believe me it does smell).

At least I know which enemy group to avoid now edit: at least until I get my aoe defenses.

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I think the Vahz big hitter, their close range zombie vomit, is a cone, and thus is an AoE, which SR has no defense against at that level range. I could be wrong though.

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You know, that's exactly what I was thinking too, because the only ones that were doing the vomit were the abominations, and that's what kept hitting the most I think. I kept thinking throughout the entire story arc "I bet that damn thing's a cone" lol.

I vote no since I actually had my first 50 PL'd.

/incoming life story

I had resumed playing back about 2 weeks before a double xp weekend. I had just joined an SG and when double xp weekend hit they convinced me (against my initial wishes) to join a farm and get PL'd. I hit 50 and had no idea what do to, where to go etc. I had leveled up to 45 on a different hero before but that was chiefly done through grinding radio missions so I was still oblivious to a majority of what the game had to offer and had no idea exactly what ppl did at 50 aside from boring [censored], repetitive farms (which ironically is the activity that got me to 50).

It was miserable, and I ended up not playing that hero anymore. So yeah, for your first guy don't get PL'd :P

I'm actually taking it nice and slow on my current project. Going through as many story arcs as I can solo with a little teaming now and then on the side.

Yeah I figured that had something to do with it as well but..idk I just seemed to hold up better against other groups like the Skulls and Outcasts etc. than I did against the Vahz.

Or any defense oriented set I suppose? I just finished that Vahzilok pollutant story arc and I noticed for some reason the mobs, particularly the abominations, would just chew through my defenses like nothing. I had to check several times just to make sure I had remembered to turn on my toggles..

Do they just have better accuracy than other mob groups, or -def attacks or something? I know every set has their "counter-group" and I think Vahzilok is SR's. >_>

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With resists and defense, my six MA/WP scrappers can only get taken down by a really hard-hitting EB or AV. Single target fights are NOT what MA/WP does.

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6? Obsess much? :S

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Woohoo! Another instant millionaire!

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Regis ain't got nothing on me now :P

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What do I do if I've filled up all my market slots with orders on SOs and none of them filled? I guess I just wait huh.. xD

Just asking because by the sounds of your posts Memphis you make it seem like I'm suppose to buy some out instantly :P

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Even though you PM'd me with final success, replying for the sake of anyone else...

If it doesn't fill within a minute, cancel and move on to the next group/level. You're scooping up the cheap ones. The only time you leave them sit is when you leave to sell the ones you get. And if one is bought, and there are more in that level (say, 33 Confuse) - see if you can get the others.

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Yeah I figured it out. In the span of about 30 minutes I've managed to go from about 300k inf to over 1 mil using this method. I would have had more but I got confused when I first started and thought I was buying natural SOs when in fact I was buying magic, so I lost a bit of money vendoring them at the natural store xD

But yeah that is an awesome method Memphis. Thanks again for sharing it with me

What do I do if I've filled up all my market slots with orders on SOs and none of them filled? I guess I just wait huh.. xD

Just asking because by the sounds of your posts Memphis you make it seem like I'm suppose to buy some out instantly :P