RaikenX

I rather LIKE the animation...but hey...to each his own.

Another option, which is one i'm trying on my ninjaz/thermal mm is to pop in extra slots into sprint. My ninja runners are all using swift and hurdle from the FITNESS pool (not health...but close ). Normally i add 2 slots to swift, hurdle, AND sprint (which really isn't that big of a deal to me as i'm not going for min/maxing and soft-capping via IO's and all that jazz. Anyhoo...my lastest experiment is working rather well with just the 2 extra slots in swift. A 3 slotted hurdle will also give you a good vertical boost in jumping and a VERY good jumping speed...usually FASTER than what you can achieve running! Something to think about. After all...that run speed is good...till you jump and slow down tremendously (yes...it is noticable). Then again...i normally don't pick health unless it's on a toon that has +regen to stack with it (again...i don't trick out stuff with IO's very much).

Hmm...just remembered another story. Used to run on a regular 3 man team of an Ill/Emp troller, AR/Dev blaster, and me, a TA/Archery defender. The 3 of us together were a collective case of scrapperlock...so much so that the scrapper that USED to run with us left out of sheer boredom. He never really had anything to kill because between my debuffs+rain of arrows and the blaster's full auto little ever survived.

ANYHOO...41 eventually rolled around (we only played every tuesday night for a couple of hours...so it took a while) and i got epic (read:ancilliary)...Power Mastery. Main reason: PBU...something to stack with my debuffs and Aim for MORE Pointy Sticks of DOOOOMMM from the Heavens goodness. That lasted for a time...until one night. Our controller was MIA and it was just me and the blaster. We never knew until that night just how essential to our survival he had been. (Although i later learned that the blaster was an essential part as well...as was i when we were forced to play without the blaster one night and they without me another night.) To say we were having a tough time of it was an understatement. Then inspiration struck me...RESPEC!! Changed Power Mastery out for Psychic Mastery and Mass Hypnosis becoming epic once more (read: oh yeah!)

Normally...i avoid sleeps like the plague...but in this instance...i opted. Turned out to work quite well. With enough recharge...it usually came back fast enough to be used most every fight. I got scrapafenderlocked into MH+Various debuffing arrows+Aim+Rain of Arrows finishing out with Oil Slick Arrow (when it was charged) and lighting that sucker up. Worked...BEEEEEAUTIFULLY! Until another fateful day came bearing new gifts.

DEFIANCE 2.0!!! One of the greatest boons to blasters everywhere...and soon to be the bane of my Defender's existance (aside from warwolves and their constant forcefeeding of rocks down my throat...oh, and IGNORE SLOWS...but that's a whole other ball of...well...rocks...and fur). One of the Praetorian arcs...robot things (specters, i think...energy blast bots).

Mob one: MH+Disruption Arrow+ ...BLAST BLAST BLAST! WTH?? FLY AWAY!

.....oookaaaayyy...that was wierd.....maybe i just had a really bad shot of sleep there.

Mob one, take 2: MH+Glue Arrow+....BLAST BLAST BLAST BLAST OMGOMGOMGWTFFFFFFFF <Dead>

A Wakie and a rez hangover later...

I'm so gonna freakin shishkabob these things into the middle of my next BBQ...

Mob whatever i don't even care at this point...something's gonna die...

Heck with sleep...EMP ARROW and HOLY HELL I'M GETTING MURPHEY'D THAT'S NOT RIGHT THESE SUCKERS SHOULD BE <long fall to digital terra firma> .........ow

Ok...i know...i just KNOW those things SHOULD have been HELD! There is just NO WAY that arrow missed ALL of those things. That's when it struck me. These things are basically blasters...and.......blasters have...........AW SUNNUVA...THEY HAVE TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK...............so i'm a slow learner sometimes.....sue me.

I'll add in one of mine. Was running on a team doing a level 40'ish bank mission when one of the team got clobbered. For whatever reason, the rest of the team kept going ahead full steam to the bank, leaving our poor fallen member to fare it alone in the PPD jail on a full 8 man team. So, being the kind of person I am, I seperated from the team and bee-lined it to the jailhouse to rock and do some damage. A few minutes later, our jailed teammate and i met at the elevator doors downstairs and cleaned house on everything that stood in our way. Poor cops and Longbow never stood a chance. And this was AFTER i had already cleared out everything in the police station on my way to the holding cells by myself.

Wait for it...

....wwwaaaiiiit for it.....

Did I forget to mention...this was all done on an Electric Melee/Electric Armor...







..... STALKER!!!

Admittedly...as much of a fan of fly that i am...particularly on my squishy, ranged toons, ie blasters and defenders...i've really started to use ninja run as a replacement. With the normal slotting that i've been doing on a few of my toons (+2 slots in swift, sprint, and hurdle...which isn't much more than what i would do with teleport), most of them have turned out running just about as fast or faster than capped flight speed with an even faster jump. There are a few exceptions to this though. My Kin/Sonic defender has only the base slot in each..but with siphon speed and inertial redux...he doesn't need any extras. Both his run and jump speeds can be capped (thus far...he's lvl 23 right now) with a little self buffing/speed stealing. My El/El stalker has another +2 slots in lightning reflexes and is hitting speeds of 72 mph running and 73 jumping. My current experiment is my new ninjaz/thermalz mm, with +2 slots in sprint and hurdle...and he's already doing remarkably well at lvl 12. He's at like 38-39 mph running with sprint toggled on and 51 mph jumping with just 2 DO's in sprint and hurdle.

I hate to say it but...I might not be dipping too much into travel pools at all anymore with the advent of NR...unless it's for concept. I can actually get around just about as fast or faster than with fly...and if i have a tall obstacle i have to navigate...GVE Jump Pack or a temp flight. Plus...it's just a damn fun power! Yay martial arts pack! And best of all...it saves me power choices.

That said...there will be toons that will still have/take fly. IE my lvl 50 TA/Archery defender. He's geared towards perma hover/fly. He stayed airborne most of his carreer and shall forever remain that way. And i may still make other toons along this line.

Now...if and when (mostly if) fly ever got a top speed buff...I'd be one of the happy folkz in the "Yay! It's about time!" bandwagon. The only real times that I got really sick of the slower speeds of fly is when i had to fly 1+ miles across a zone (i'm looking at you IP and Nerva) to get to a freaking mission door/contact. O...MG! HATED fly then. It's definitely times like that i wished fly was faster.

WOW what a threadjack!

From Ninja Run, to Pirate Run, to Batman's D&D alignment. That poor train of thought is so far off it's tracks now it has NO idea where to go next...LOL!

Actually...did some further investigation into the different numbers situation with ninja run.

IT'S JUST PLAIN INCONSISTANT!!

I've got one blaster at lvl 50 who's run speed on NR is 20.05mph...a 28 blaster who's NR speed is 20.25mph, and a lvl 9 blaster who's speed is 17.something. Now...thing is...i don't think it's level based cuz i have a lvl 30 scrapper that has the same 17.something ninja run speed as the lvl 9 blaster.

So...I don't think that the AT system actually DOES have anything to do with it...or if there's even a system at all, at this point. Still trying to figure it out.

Not sure if this got mentioned...too lazy to thumb through the whole thread...but...

As an experiment i did the following.

On most toons...3 slot for run speed in swift and sprint (your choice of which one) + ninja run puts you faster than a 3 slotted Fly. My lvl 28 blaster flew at like 47...49 mpp...somewhere in that range. As a test i did the above and he ran @ 58 MPH...and Jump Speed was maxed out! ....Yeah...I respecced.

On toons with a +speed power (super reflexes, electric armor) if you do the same as above PLUS 3 slot for run speed on Quickness (I think that's the SR Power)/Lightning Reflexes...you top out MUCH fasters...like just a wee bit shy of capped run speed faster. Did this on my Elec/Elec Stalker...72 mph running and 73 MPH jumping (CAPPED for lvl 42).

NOW...For you Kinetic's people. I tried this on a lvl 13 Kin Corruptor...no swift...no hurdle...

As a side note in regards to spending slots. For most toons, ie those that are not super reflexes or electric armor, 3 slotting swift, sprint, and hurdle only costs one more slot than if you were to six slot teleport. Which all in all to me...not that bad at all for a power that can get me around faster than flight. 8 slots for the afore mentioned powersets. For me...worth every slot...and still had plenty of slotting for my other powers that needed them. But, as they say, what's good for the goose may not be good for the gander. YMMV.

Sprint+NR+Siphon Speed...71 MPH!!! Double Stack of Siphoning...CAPPED RUN SPEED!!!!!! If i figure right...if he had swift...one application of SP would put him at the cap. Not sure how this would go in higher levels however.

Also...NR's run and jump speeds DO scale slightly as you level up. So it's not constant.


If you are willing to put in some loving to this power...it can turn out to be a very viable travel power on it's own. I've tested this power even in vertically challenging zones like Grandville...Minimal problems getting around there, even if you can't jump as high as SJ. And if you have the GvE Edition Jump Pack........what problems (tho i haven't used it at all yet save for once...as a test.)

I really could go on but....i must get to BED...lol.

I've actually not had any problems with blapping on a perma-hover toon...which is a normal tactic for many of my blasters.

As far as the KB situation goes...you do still get knocked back a smidge...but not nearly as bad as if you were ground-bound, and recover much faster (you still do just the little backflip animation and keep on trucking). So for me...perfectly viable. And with the base speed increase + a few flight speeds...keeps me moving right along with no troubles.

Since i tend to stick to one travel pool...my hovers also have fly...which i use for long hallways in missions.

YMMV

Of the travel powers i usually take on blasters...it's usually SJ or Fly.

I'll start on the pre-req's first...

CJ does offer pretty good combat mobility straight out of the gate...and gets a bit better when you add it hurdle for added distance and height. It also has the immobilization protection, although you are still often stuck to the ground as many immobillys also stick you to the ground (-fly, -jump)...which can still get you into some trouble.

Hover, as mentioned, gives the same defense bonus as CJ (read: minor) and doesn't give you the same degree of mobility. On the other hand, it does give you a different DEGREE of mobility. Many moons ago...hover was sssslllllooooowwwww. It's still not the fastest thing around..but it's now at least fast enough to manuever around a bit in combat. With some love (which all my flyers give it) it can be boosted to REALLY close to normal running speed with swift (sprint NOT turned on)...which is fast enough to pretty much keep turned on full time, with the occasional switch over to fly for those longer hallways. For me...3 flight speeds in hover and 1 in swift and i never touch the ground unless i nuke or something.

I won't really even go into the Fly/Super Jump thing. We all know that flight is the slowest travel, but with some love it's not TOO horrible (however...temporary flight powers like raptor pack...will always be TONS slower than the actual travel power). But...you make a good scout in outdoor missions...lol. (find that glowie)

In some cases, and don't know about yours...don't think it applies to you though, you'd have to think about what powersets you have. If you've got a power that you need to be on the ground for...jumping is probably the way to go...at least if you're like me with flight...i tend to stay airborne.

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I believe the detective you get is based on your origin, I could be wrong though.

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No it appears to be random, as I have run a team of 2 of the same character and gotten 2 different guys (I dual box, so a team of 2 Fire/Kins or whatever, exact same build).

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but were they the same origin, though? The powersets and builds are different than your origin (natural, mutant, etc.)

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Unlike consume...power sink is auto-hit in PVE. Very nice little feature that one is.

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Getting my Psi/MM blaster to 50 was very close to the most fun, if not the most fun, I've had playing this game.

Fully IO'd out, she's a beast.

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I would have to agree.

Walking into a group of enemies after hitting Psychic Focus, then firing off Drain Psyche, Psychic Shockwave and then Psychic Wail is almost as blissful as using Build Up and Aim and Blizzard.

I also love Psy Focus then Tornado, followed by Psy Scream, nothing but dead enemies all around.

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Hmm...i usually tack on PSW at the end of 'nado and scream...but hey...i enjoy overkill. LOL.

Concentration+PF+PSW+PsyWail=GLORIOUS!! True...most of the minions are half dead by the time Psy Wail kicks off...but hey...i'm just being thorough. Hehe

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One issue that you pointed out and wasn't addressed is mob resist/defense.

As sad as I am ot say this...if you're looking for a damage type that isn't resisted by any enemy in the game...you're pretty much going to find yourself boned. It just ain't gonna happen. Every damage type in the game is resisted by SOMEBODY. Smashing/Lethal is typically the most resisted, IME.

Some sets don't suffer QUITE as much as others, in this regard. AR and Archery have multiple damage types in their arsenal. A bit of smashing, lethal, and fire as i recall. Ice is a mix of lethal and ice. Energy (and i think sonic?) is a mix of smashing/energy. So in these cases...if the mobs are resistant to one type...they're usually not to the other. That helps some.

Psy is not as resisted in lower levels as some are...but the things that are resistant to it are usually REAL resistant. Robots, zombies, and the like. And late game this gets pretty bad with malta bots, carnies, and others.

So...really...you're just gonna have to grit your teeth from time to time, depending on what you're fighting on any given mission. Resisted damage types are unavoidable, i'm sorry to say. Even Fire and Ice are resisted by some mobs (hellions, behemoths, hellfrosts). Sorry...there's no way around this little snag.

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Pogo Stick power activate!

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A perfect compliment to a "toy summoning" power set.

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Minions: GI Joe (random Joes a la Thugs MM)
LT's: Transformers Optimus Prime and Megatron (the CLASSIC ones)
Boss: HE-MAN!!!!

Attack my toys of doom!! &lt;boing boing boing&gt;

wow...this again...lol.

i'll echo the statements mentioned earlier....there aren't healers in the game...blah blah blah...

To the credit of many of the players of CoX...they're learning that "healers" are NOT a requirement around here. Helpful as the are, can't deny it, they're far from the end-all/be-all here. My favorite defender i ever played was a Trick Arrow/Archery defender. No heals what-so-ever.

Pretty much the only time he really ever got an invite outside of his normal team was during the double xp weekends. He did manage to squeeze into a team a few times outside of those times...and usually because someone thought i was a "healor". when they found out i was TA/A...if i didn't get kicked from the team immediatly...the team at least initally thought "omg...trick arrow? SUCKAGE!!!". At least until they found themselves wiping the floor with stuff cuz i was debuffing the crap outta the badguys. They usually changed their tune soon after. Then i was getting stuff like "holy crap! that was awesome!" and "trick arrow rocks!" ...and so on.

My personal fav defenders are sonics and FF'ers. Kins are sweet for the obvious reasons, too. darkies are awesome debuffers with the added splash of heals. Same goes for Radiation. but i'll also take a well built empath...backed by a player than actually KNOWS how to play it! Well built and well played are often 2 different things.

And for the record...for anyone that thinks otherwise that might read this...TURNING HEALING AURA ON AUTO FIRE DOES NOT A GOOD EMPATH MAKE!!

"Rocking the Aura" full time does nothing but ANNOY THE PISS OUTTA ME! Unless crap is hitting the fan THAT BADLY...click it only when it's needed. Try using the rest of the set too!

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1. Snipes suck. It has the lowest DPA, freezes you in place for close to five seconds, is interruptable and really provides nothing. Well, it can serve as a set mule, there's some awesome and cheap sets for them.

2. You want Snap Shot, you won't have an attack chain without it. It's also a good attack.

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I have to disagree with #1 but totally agree with #2 here.

I use the snipes on my blasters. While i don't use them in my normal attack chains...i DO use them as openers/big hitters on stuff i'd rather not have live long...ie SAPPERS. Or, i might use then to tag that runner that took off in that direction ~~> My Psy/Mental blaster regularly one-shots even con and +1 minions with BU+Psy lance and LT's are usually hurtin pretty bad that an extra shot or 2 and they're out of the fight. Stack with aim for even better results. Worth the price of admission to me.

As for #2...I'll echo the statement: You'll want it....definitely. As a blaster...you've got jack for mez protection...so you'll get slammed with those a lot. Having 3 attacks is better than none (T1&T2 from primary and T1 from secondary). This will do you service.

I can't say much on the IO end of things as i've never really dedicated myself to really slotting out my toons with the sets...and not one of my 50's has a single purple set.

LRM...three words. AEWSOME...FREAKING....POWER!!

I went for almost 5 years and never tried the power myself, until fairly recently after seeing a friend use it. So..i second builded it into one my my 50's just to see the potential for myself. With just aim (he's a elec/dev blaster...wierd i know, but it worked) he could ALMOST wipe out every even con minion in a group. If he had access to build up...they WOULD have been toast. This thing is practically a mini-nuke snipe. It's THAT GOOD! My psy/mm blaster is almost level 47 and already has body armor and surveilance. Guess what he's picking up when he dings. Hehehehe. And no frankengun for him...WEAPON CUSTOMIZATION! LOL

And speaking of weapon customization...might i recommend getting your hands on the Talsorian Bow from rikki war zone when you can. I think it was like 100 V-Merits. It's just too cool, imo.

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I've found my psy/mm blaster to be loads of fun to play...one of my favorite toons. On anything that isn't psy resistant...he's been a holy terror. Stuff usually doesn't live long around him. Downside...against stuff that IS psy resistant...ugh. Almost makes me feel like a defender trying to kill stuff...almost. General rule of thumb IMO...if it has a mind (and is not a psychic itself)...it's gonna get hurt. If it's a brainless construct (robots, zombie, and the like)...not so much.

Carnies are gonna be a bit of bad news. Most of them have some psy resistance. Mistresses and illusionists are big time resistant.

CoT ghosts. Muahahahaaaa. You're gonna eat these things up. I've learned that they are either psy vulnerable or that they just don't resist it like they do most every other damage type. Either way they fall FAST to a psy blaster in my experience.

All in all, I was happy to finally see the psy blast set be ported over to the blasters. True they did re-arrange things so that certain atttacks wound up in a secondary, causing you to take said secondary to have access to all the attacks defenders can get...but that's hardly an issue as the /mm set is pretty darn good too.