Snakebit

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That sounds horrific. Glad I waited for CoH, before getting into the MMO shtick.

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That is precisely what I thought when I read it.

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I thought it sounded exciting until it was fully explained. Then it sounded like it was slightly more fun than eating broken glass mixed with tar.

I could afford a 300$ lifetime, I just couldn't (wouldn't even try) to justify spending that sum. A monthly fee of 20$ or less is what I'm willing to spend in one transaction, even if I'm saving 20$ a month next year.

Scrapperlock in the blaster forums!

I guess the best question here is what are you going for , single target or AOE.

--I was looking for a mix. I only Pve. The two rains and frost breath seem to me to be a nice way to eliminate minions fast. The lt's/bosses and heroes I've fought so far are weakened enough that a couple applications of BiB/blast etc get the spawn cleared.


I wouldnt 1 slot my stamina, not unless you want to see 30 seconds of action befor all your toggles drop.
--When I get hurricane slotted up, I should be able to toggle off steamy mist and snow storm once I get the spawn either inside the rains or scattered around enough to keep them having to move a lot to attack. Either way works for me. I'm more worried about getting mezzed and having the toggles drop than having them drop from lack of endurance.

-tornado does minimal damage and not worth slotting up for it

I took tornado for the damage (793 total). Immob'd targets are tornado food.


I would stay away from gale as well not sure what mag knockback it is.

-Mag 3. I use it for positioning, threat mitigation, and on bosses combined with air sup as a ghetto hold. I want a second slot sooner but don't have room. The out of box accuracy is crap.

Most of the AOE's of ice are not worth slottiing for damage, 3 damages on a power that maxes out doing ticks of 1's gives you ticks of 2's , better off slotting for end reduct and slow.

--If you can keep the mobs in the rains, it seems (according to Mids and my experiance with ice blasting storm defending) that the total damage from the rains is very acceptable. especially with the -30% dmg resist of freezing rain. Sum damage of both rains is 279, over half of which is cold, throw in a LOT of scourge, and it adds up.

Snowstorm is also and END hog, 1 end reduct in it is not enough.

-- The build was too tight for more slots early enough to make them useful for the life of the toon. Solo, I only leave it running long enough to gather a spawn from around a corner into rains, or I'm using it to cover an escape. I rarely have it running long enough to impact my endurance, and I almost always shut it down after I'm down to half a blue bar. Teaming it rarely matters because the anchor is usually dead in seconds anyway.


Thanks for your comments!

Heh, I agree, good idea.

I'd like to see a more complicated xp reward system for AE. I think it help end the exploitative farming, and remove the restrictions placed on the writer in terms of what powers to give his customs.

Instead of having the custom critters give the standard xp reward, they should give a reward that varies based on the powers that they have.

You should be able to create a custom critter that only buffs or debuffs, or has no melee or no ranged attack, but the xp given for defeating a mob should be tuned to that. Instead of the system in place for assigning powers, the writer should be able to assign powers on power by power basis. The more powers a mob has, the more xp it gives. Assigning the easy/medium/hard categories would give a baseline of xp, and the particular individual powers selected would be multipliers.

Like a Hard Boss would give (base boss xp+10%hard). No melee attacks on him? XP x .01=reward xp. No attacks at all?
XPx0.001=reward xp. (I think you should get a reward for a boss that has massive buff/debuff but no damage potential, just not an exploitable amount.)

I'd like to see a more complicated xp reward system for AE.

Instead of having the custom critters give the standard xp reward, they should give a reward that varies based on the powers that they have.

You should be able to create a custom critter that only buffs or debuffs, or has no melee or no ranged attack, but the xp given for defeating a mob should be tuned to that. Instead of the system in place for assigning powers, the writer should be able to assign powers on power by power basis. The more powers a mob has, the more xp it gives. Assigning the easy/medium/hard categories would give a baseline of xp, and the particular individual powers selected would be multipliers.

Like a Hard Boss would give (base boss xp+10%hard). No melee attacks on him? XP x .01=reward xp. No attacks at all?
XPx0.001=reward xp. (I think you should get a reward for a boss that has massive buff/debuff but no damage potential, just not an exploitable amount.)

I agree it's situational, but my situations are usually "let's START this spawn with RotP". I slot it for recharge, 1 endmod, 1 heal, and 1 damage. I have fire shield, but I almost never run it, so I have the slots. And since I have the slots, and I like the animation, and I like the effect, I find it to be a great power to use all.the.time.

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Bet I can melt AV like ice with this build.

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Yes, the amount of time it takes for most AV's to drop when a fire fire blaster is on the team is imo markedly different than a team without. Except that AV on the Statesman task force with the anti melee blaster pbaoes.

It's great being on an ITF and people start blabbering like mad about the cyst rooms and how to work them. I just run in, Rotp, BU AIM Nuke cab consume AoE chain and that ends all the talk.

Here's the build I play the most. I haven't bothered with sets.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Iluminata: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Acc(A), Dmg(19), Dmg(37), Dmg(37)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Acc(A)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(36), EndRdx(45)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- Acc(A), Dmg(5), Dmg(5), Dmg(15), RechRdx(19), EndRdx(43)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(7), RechRdx(7)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(9), Dmg(13), RechRdx(15), EndRdx(46)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Acc(A), Dmg(11), Dmg(11), Dmg(13), RechRdx(27), EndRdx(40)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump(A), Jump(36), Jump(40)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Aim -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(17), RechRdx(17)
Level 18: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Blaze -- Acc(A), Dmg(23), Dmg(23), Dmg(27), RechRdx(34), EndRdx(46)
Level 24: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(25), RechRdx(25)
Level 26: Stimulant -- RechRdx(A)
Level 28: Aid Self -- RechRdx(A), IntRdx(29), IntRdx(29), RechRdx(36), RechRdx(40)
Level 30: Consume -- Acc(A), Acc(31), RechRdx(31), RechRdx(31), RechRdx(37)
Level 32: Inferno -- Dmg(A), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(34), RechRdx(34)
Level 35: Combat Jumping -- EndRdx(A)
Level 38: Combustion -- Acc(A), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), Dmg(39), EndRdx(46)
Level 41: Char -- Acc(A), Acc(42), Hold(42), Hold(42), RechRdx(43), RechRdx(43)
Level 44: Bonfire -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(45), RechRdx(45)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(48), Heal(48), EndMod(50), Dmg(50)
Level 49: Fire Shield -- EndRdx(A), ResDam(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance

I love fire fire blasting. It's the only blaster I've played over 34, and the only toon I have at 50. It's the only toon I'm just about guaranteed to play every session, if for nothing more than a few RotP blitzes for lulz.

Don't fear the melee. Melee is your friend, if you play smart, which you already do based on

"jump in the middle of the mob and kill everything around you like a blazing death god."

Many people take the "blasters are ranged damage dealers" as the word, and don't realize that melee is ranged. Point blank range.

I don't care for rain or hot feet at all, though I do have an alternate build that has those powers slotted heavily. I think that skipping those powers doesn't hurt your damage ability, and having them doesn't really add to it. Yes, they do plenty of damage, I just am not a fan of playing the way those powers make me play if you want the watery controls they provide.

I am not a fan of combustion, and I'd rather see it's overall damage reduced but frontloaded. I have it because it does eventually produce quality damage, and that's usefull on AV fights, or in situations where I am waiting on something to click.

Blazing Aura? Why have a high end cost toggle (even if it is high damage which is debateable considering electrice only does 2 points of damage less, with a 20ft radius for less end cost, not to mentions that it has -end) when it only has a 7ft range, and at best is going to tick off 3 pulses worth of damage per spawn because everything that close is already dead or you are already moving away? The end cost doesn't justify keeping it on to deliver the "kill tick", and I've got better things to do than micro manage it like granite armor.

Burn. I see and concede to the high damage of char/ring/burn on a boss or AV. I just find the surviveablitity of the medicine pool to add more to my overall playstyle than a situational high maintenance combo, even if it is a heavy hitter. I found it to be mostly worthless for area denial. Why bother to bloack a doorway when you can just FSC it?

I don't slot but use often Ring of Fire. Not for damage, but for the "hold on right there for me for just a second" aspect.

fire epic:
Char is usually the start of an attack cycle for me. Bonfire gets used a lot, because it's a great control, and nothings more funny than tossing it on a granite tank in the ITF on a rooftop, even if it does drive the kin crazy. RotP is my favorite power in the game. The animation pwns all animations. It should be the inherent instead of defiance.

Fire Breath, Blaze, Fire Sword Circle, Combustion, Fire Sword, Consume, Inferno. I can't imagine not playing at point blank range. It just wouldn't be fun with a fire fire blaster.

I'm playing this build. It's at 20 now, and I'm finding it a lot of fun, solo or team (aggro management had a steep curve). 12-18 were tough, but the addition of the second rain made it much easier to play. Most of the slotting is what I think I'll do, not what might be most efficient.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Montana Rayne: Level 50 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Ice Blast -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(48), Dmg(48)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc(A), Acc(48)
Level 2: Frost Breath -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5), Range(5), Range(7)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx(A)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(9)
Level 8: Swift -- Flight(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(11), RechRdx(11)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(13), RechRdx(13), Dmg(15), Dmg(15), Dmg(17)
Level 14: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(17), RechRdx(19), Dmg(19), Dmg(23), Dmg(23)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Acc(A), Dmg(21), Dmg(21), Dmg(25)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A)
Level 22: Hurricane -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(25), EndRdx(27), ToHitDeb(29), ToHitDeb(31), ToHitDeb(31)
Level 24: Fly -- Flight(A)
Level 26: Steamy Mist -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(27), DefBuff(29), DefBuff(40), ResDam(40), ResDam(40)
Level 28: Freeze Ray -- Acc(A), Acc(31), Hold(34), Hold(36), RechRdx(36), EndRdx(36)
Level 30: Thunder Clap -- Acc(A), Acc(37), Dsrnt(46)
Level 32: Blizzard -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(34), Dmg(34)
Level 35: Tornado -- Dmg(A), Dmg(37), Dmg(37), RechRdx(39), RechRdx(39), EndRdx(39)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Acc(A), Dmg(43), Dmg(45), Dmg(46), RechRdx(46)
Level 41: School of Sharks -- Acc(A), Range(42), Range(42), Range(42), RechRdx(43), Immob(43)
Level 44: Hibernate -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(45), RechRdx(45)
Level 47: Spirit Shark Jaws -- Acc(A), Hold(50)
Level 49: Summon Coralax -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(50), RechRdx(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Scourge

I prefer Earth to Mind, but Mind does have better lockdowns.

Telekinesis is uber, Total Domination trumps VG a bit, Terrify trumps earthquake, Mass Confusion is probably better than stoney to eliminate aggro to set up more controls. IMHO single target control > aoe immobs, and mind has 1 more ST control (confuse).

Earth has very nice stacking debuffs and is a bit more fun to play.

If I were going for a non concept total lockdown controller, I'd have to pick a mind storm set.

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Err, the market forums. BUT, i don't run back and forth or sit in WW all day hoping to make a dollar, either.


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You've got that part right. The best way to use them is to spend as little time as possible. Place your buy orders and go away. Come back the next day and collect your purchases, then turn them into inf.

I'm not anti AV or anything, it's just not my cup o' tea.

It would be very safe though, and with a good damaging secondary on both toons, would be just fine in terms of damage output, especially if it's a /sonic defender. The defender would be running siphon power double stacked during hasten for a nice damage output by level 10. Most tanks get an aoe at 16, and /dual blades gives a nice -def component to help the defender with the needed hits for the primary.

This would be a very nice duo before 20 IMO.

Me. I don't dcare to try to solo AV's. I generally avoid teams that are planning on fighting non TF AV's. AV's are (to me) incredibly boring and pointless, regardless of build.

I haven't even bothered to slot sets on anything yet, and very very few non common IO's on any of my toons.

Defense is so unblastery.

Thanks for the advice. Could you give me a rough idea of what type of defense I'd be looking at with your suggestions?

Assuming you don't have debt, will the patrol xp bonus still be consumed as if it were being applied?

Kinetics with hasten, siphon and SC slotted 3 recharge and 3 end mod, tactics slotted for acc.

Recharge 7.02s
Acc 122
end -68.2
recovery -194.9

Follow up with power sink doing another -80% (42 second timer) and transference, and you have a completely drained spawn.
Blaster.
Short circuit with 3 endmods and 3 recharges
recharge of 7.55 -68% end and -194 recovery. Acc is only at
97.5

Power sink
same slotting -68 end 22.6 second timer with hasten,
Power boost makes SC hit at 95%. Still needs a second application of short circuit. 22 second timer. Unless Lighting field is running with 3 endmods for the several ticks of -3.9, but costing damage.

Defender edges out the blaster by just a touch.

Assuming solo play, the defender actually needs the spawn drained faster because the blaster will be mitigating damage with damage, something that will clearly outshine the defender, even with FS.

The defender will have to continue applying SC to keep the mobs soft controlled, while the blaster will be moving on to the next spawn.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are trying to sap, you have to do two thing:
1)Bring the mob to 0 endurance.
2)Prevent him from recovering endurance. IIRC, most mobs only need 5 endurance (this may very well have changed, or never been correct at all, but it is a significantly low number to be sure)to use the majority of their attacks. So 1 pulse of recovery gives the mob an attack. The sapping elec/elec blaster has 2 methods of generating -recovey with an aoe. (most of the single target stuff does as well) /elec has 2 ways, short circuit and powersink, althought powersink is on a much longer timer (22.6 Hastened)
Edge to the electric/electric blaster over energy's non -recovery power boost which removes more endurance, but relies on short circuit to stop recovery.

The electric blaster and defender also make use of the -recovery in ball lighting.

The defender I would slot 2/2/2 recharge, endmod, damage, because with siphon speed and hasten the ball lightning is up every 6.24 seconds, which makes a good chain with tesla cage and short circuit, with the occasional bolt or snipe.

The blaster needs to slot it (according to what most people suggest) as a damage power. Even going with 6 slotting 1 acc 3 damage 1 recharge and 1 end mod is up 7.87 seconds with hasten. I personally would put a endmod to get over 10% drain to go with the -recovery

So, edge (slightly) to the defender in of endurance control, because you would expect the blaster to take advantage of the time that he has to clear the spawn with damage powers, while it's necessary for the defender to apply a continual series of endurance attacks because the sapping defender won't be able to clear the spawn quickly enough to do it safely.

I do have a lot of fun with sapping builds, but as some point it's time to get rid of the green bar and the sapping defender does this more slowly than most builds.

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It's balanced once you save up a billion inf to spend on your toon. Good luck going in with no sets.

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He is completely wrong, set bonuses have been nerfed dramatically with diminishing returns and such.

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It doesn't matter if the sets were nerfed. They are still providing a significantly higher bonus than the casual PVE builds that just want to do something different. I'm not about to go spend the time and effort necessary to get a build that MIGHT be competitive (if I even haz the right sets in the first place) while I L2P.

IMHO, get rid of enhancements altogether (for PVP). Just turn them off in the zone. Get rid of all the balance rules, and just play. Will some sets be better? Yes, that's the nature of the game. People who want to pvp hardcore will still get the FotM powersets. People who want to pvp casual will be able play their toon without having to learn a whole nuther game.

Lolpvp.

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for some dumb reason everyone wants them. .... i'd actually like to have a couple toons purp'd

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That's not taking out of context, it's paraphrasing.

Doesn't make much sense to say it's dumb but you want it, and then complain about what you have to do to get it.

It's stupid that people have to drink water, but I'm kinda thirsty. I wish I didn't have to go get a glass and fill it up so I could drink it. Stupid water.

I bought Spore for my stepdaughter, and was appalled that I had to have an Internet connection to register it before she could play it. Especially because I didn't haz Intarweb connection at the time, having been computerless for 2 years.

During that 2 years I purchased a 360, and oh how I wish, how I wished you were here. Console games are truly lacking in depth and long term playability. The only games I could find that were even close to my personal standards for gaming were ports of PC games, like Oblivion and Fallout3. Madden 09 is also a favorite of mine, but I would happily do without it if they stopped releasing to PC. In those 2 years I purchased 2 console games. Prior to my dark ages, it wasn't uncommon for me to buy 2 PC titles a week for when I needed a break from CoH.

Oh, and about taking a grain of salt when reading The New York Slimes, be careful, because the salt might kill the slugs that write it.

I started putting NO FARMS in my search comment, and that really cut down on the LFF invites, blind invites, and fill requests. A good 85%.
I get 8-10 tells an hour during peak hours from people LFMT, on a range of levels from 10-50. Seeing FARM 1500 times an hour in broadcast doesn't mean mission teams aren't running.

There is a green button in the search window that flags you looking for missions, instead of looking for all, so the game already has it. Many players don't use it.

I turned down teams all weekend trying to work out how to play a new corruptor solo, to the point I went on /hide.

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Well, if your goal is to beat AV/Hero, then Blaster may not be a good choice 'cause you deal zero dps when you die quicker.

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I'm too tired to look for it, but there was a forumite who solo'd several AV's. Last month? 2 months ago?

Kranik solo'd the ITF