Stern_Verdict

My vote would be for Dark Melee/Regen.

Quick Recovery at level 6 means that you'll never have Endurance issues--which is a huge plus in my book.

DM gives you a good attack chain early on, especially if you add in Air Superiority (no need to worry about redraw).

DM also gives you another heal in Siphon Life. This makes an already tough Regen Scrapper even harder to kill except by massive burst damage.

Finally, DM also gets you Touch of Fear. Oh, Touch of Fear, how I love thee! With it's long duration and nasty To Hit debuff, taking on multiple purple bosses is fairly easy, even with just SOs.

So, yeah, DM/Regen for the win (as the kiddies say).

Personally, I don't see the point of porting over a powerset if they're just going to remove most of the things that make it unique.

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Rage has needed a nerfbat for ages, but it's just too popular.

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That never stopped them from nerfing Regen...

Dear Heretyk,

try using more purple inspirations.


Your affectionate foe,

Metal Shift

You mean Proton Volley? I always thought it sounded more like the photon torpedoes from Star Trek...

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i used /ice to help solo early on but i like the munitions APP better because of the ranged sleep grenade instead of the PBAoE Frozen Aura in /ice

the only control power in /ice i found useful for soloing was freez touch and ice patch. which i use a lot.

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You seriously don't use Chillblain, the best Immobilize in Blasterdom?

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haha yea i used to use it when thats all i had. back then i learned that i am not a huge fan of immob as a mitigation tactic. it has helped before but it always left me wishing i had more

now my soloing is bolstered by three holds and a AoE sleep grenade. with that many holds there is always one available so there is no need for a "stop and shoot me from over there" power

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Well, it's the stackable -Recharge and -Speed that makes Chillblain so good, rather than the Immobilize itself.

Still, if you have that many holds I can see why you wouldn't use it much...

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i used /ice to help solo early on but i like the munitions APP better because of the ranged sleep grenade instead of the PBAoE Frozen Aura in /ice

the only control power in /ice i found useful for soloing was freez touch and ice patch. which i use a lot.

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You seriously don't use Chillblain, the best Immobilize in Blasterdom?

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Thanks both of you. I think I'm going to go with Energy/Devices.

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Er, if you really want to. I wouldn't recommend it for your first Blaster, though.

The main problem is that your only mezz is Taser, which is pretty weak. And there isn't a single-target disorient in the epic power pools to stack with it. I find that it helps a lot when soloing a Blaster to have two mezzes of the same type so you can stack them on a Boss and take them out of the fight.

So, if you must have Energy for you primary, I'd recommend /Ice or /Electric as a secondary since they both have holds in them that you can stack with the hold from an epic power pool.

If you must have /Devices as a secondary, then I'd suggest combining it with Ice (which has two holds) or Sonic (which has a disorient you can stack with Taser). Psy might be an option, too, since it also has a disorient, but I really wouldn't recommend Psy for your first Blaster--you have to be rather careful when deciding which enemy groups to fight, since certain ones have massive amounts of Psy resistance.

I've neither received nor sent a legitimate email in, oh, probably at least two years.

Another plus for Electric that people seem to forget is that it does pure Energy damage, unlike (ironically) Energy and Sonic, which do a mix of Smashing and Energy. Since Energy damage is not too often resisted, that does help Electric's damage a bit.

That being said, I've had an Electric/Electric Blaster stuck in the mid-30's for a while now. I've respecced him several times, but I've never been quite happy with how he plays.

Part of the problem is that I mostly solo, which makes Electric's lack of a third good single-target attack particularly noticeable.

It makes me wish that at least one of the epic power pools had a heavy-hitting single target attack as the first power for those sets like Electric and Assault Rifle which are missing the third ST attack in their primary.

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Sappers are interesting because they are always - always - the primary target whenever you encounter them, regardless of archetype.

Them coming in an ambush can make things a lot harder too. It is one of the few mobs in-game that require you to make a quick tactical choice to target them over other mobs. (Healers are another mob type that you target first, but generally there you can take your time. You can't with Sappers, especially solo.)

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Either I'm horribly lucky or terribly unlucky....

Even on large teams (6 or more players) I only rarely come into contact with Sappers. I take down TONS of Tactical Operatives and Gunslingers.... But almost never Sappers... Titans: Ohhhhhhh Yeah. All the darn time! >_< But not many Sappers.....

Sucks to be me.
-Rachel-

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I, too, rarely encounter Sappers--maybe one or two per mission.

I asked about this recently and someone said that their spawn rate had been changed a long time ago.

Frankly, without a Sapper in every spawn, I don't find Malta that tough. That could be, though, because the only characters I've fought them with recently are my EM/WP Brute and my Ice/NRG Blaster who are both extremely well-equiped for dealing with them.

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The other day I saw a blaster who was themed as a witch. A great bio, and electric blast/electric manipulation. Her outfit was pretty cool and her bio was enjoyable. Yet to my suprise when reading her power selection she had the munitions epic power pool. I noted that this witch would apperantly throw out a ROCKET LAUNCHER amongst her electric spells?

<snip>

P.S I realise that sometimes it is thematically correct to have different elements etc, but you can only stretch it so far.

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Yeah, i know what you mean.

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OMG! That "Strike Witches" show looks totally==>

I've never heard of it before, but a show that combines so many anime stereotypes together that it becomes something original must be pretty amazing.

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And fire, does absolutely nothing to stop a purple boss from running up and wrecking me. No controls in fire whatsoever without some IO procs. The damage is good but doesn't seem to keep me from getting faceplanted.



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That's why you combine Fire/ with /Ice--that gives you all the control you need.

Finding ranged damage in a secondary to overcome Psi's relatively weak damage is a lot more difficult.

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On test Freakshower has been patched... was fun while it lasted!

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Seriously?

So, Freakshow just give normal XP now?

Is that just for MA or for normal missions, too?

Well, one thing that Archery gets with /Energy is a bunch of disorienting melee attacks to stack with Stunning Shot.

I agree, though, that, overall, /Energy isn't the best choice for Archery (or for Assault Rifle, for that matter).

One of the advantages of Archery is that you can actually stay at range to deliver your damage, since you don't have any PBAoEs or short-ranged attacks like Power Burst. So, what I think goes best with Archery is a set that allows you to use that range.

The only two Blaster secondaries which let you do that are /Ice and /Devices.


Ice gives you the following (skipping the useless powers):

- Chillblain: The best Blaster immobilize, thanks to its -Run, -Fly, and -Recharge components.

- Build Up: Great damage boost (as I'm sure you're aware).

- Ice Patch: So, a constant knockdown AoE that can neuter a small group of foes instantaneously? Yes, please!

- Shiver: Huge cone that drastically drops your enemies runspeed and recharge rate, allowing you to slaughter them from afar at your leisure.

- Freezing Touch: Not that great on its own, but you can stack it with a hold from your epic power pool to lock down a boss.

- Frozen Aura: I haven't been able to play with this one yet. It's a PBAoE sleep that only affects minions (I believe). A lot of people don't seem to like it, but I can see where it would be useful if a group of enemies manages to get past your other defenses.


Devices, on the other hand, has the following (skipping the useless powers):

- Web Grenade: The second best Blaster immobilize, again thanks to its -Run, -Fly, and -Recharge components. It does no damage, though, which always kind of bugged me. The extra damage you get from, say, Chillblain is quite useful when levelling during the low levels.

- Caltrops: This is pretty much what you're taking the set for. Slows down enemies run speed and then makes them run away from the AoE. If they're running away, they're not punching you in the face, which is very good.

- Taser: Normally this power is kind of skippable, but paired with Archery, it gives another (sort of) ranged disorient to stack with Stunning Shot.

- Targetting Drone: Not the game changer it used to be (ah, six-slotted damage, I remember you fondly), but still quite good. If nothing else, it lets you put another recharge or end reducer in your attack powers instead of a second accuracy.

- Cloaking Device: A Stealth power so you don't have dip into Super Speed, the Stealth pool, or an IO. Not a big deal, but nice.

- Trip Mine: For more single-target oriented Blaster sets, the massive AoE damage Trip Mine puts out is nice, but Archery already has enough AoE (especially once you get Rain of Arrows) that it's not really needed.

- Time Bomb: See Trip Mine.

- Gun Drone: It's always nice to have a pet (especially one that can soak up some agro) but its long set up time is kind of annoying and its damage isn't spectactular.


Personally, I prefer /Ice because of Build Up and the great damage mitigation provided by Ice Patch and Shiver, but either set is viable.

Why not Electrical Mastery?

It has the best Blaster armor, a ranged hold (for stacking with Shocking Grasp), and an awesome defensive power in Surge of Power (which you can get three levels earlier than Force of Nature).

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... I believe that we've established that this is "new and not as good." Unless someone's found a batch of minion Freaks that give boss XP.

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Well, not boss-level, but, as someone else pointed out earlier, all Freaks give out more than normal XP--about 20% more, from what I can tell.

For example, I was just playing on my level 32 Scrapper. Killing a Council Galaxy earned me 562 XP, while killing a Freakshow minion earned me 675 XP.

So, in an attempt to get this thread back to the original topic: Did they change the spawn rates for Sappers at some point?

I usually don't run Malta missions, but I ran three or four recently with my Brute, and I came across a total of two Sappers.

Well, Ice is a fantastic soloing set no matter what primary you pick, but my vote probably goes to Ice/Electric for being the best mix of control and damage.

Just make sure you skip Lightning Field, and you'll be golden.

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I don't believe any Blasters, Scrappers, Stalkers, Brutes, Dominators, Tanks, or Epic ATs get any significant -regen, so that lets them out.

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Actually, Blasters get Drain Psyche in Mental Manipulation which gives -250% Regen to the target for 30 seconds.

So, something like a Sonic/MM Blaster might have a shot.

You'd probably need a super IO'd build in order to get a decent amount of survivability, though. Or I suppose having a trayful of Lucks might work.

AmazingMoo, I appreciate you taking the time to put this together. I know that these long posts take a bit of work.

Unfortunately, I disagree with quite a few things you said.

Maybe it's just because I exclusively solo, but my perspective is very different than yours.

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Devices is problematic for me. It seems almost entirely group-oriented.

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Umm, I think most people (including me) think that the opposite is true. Based on my limited teaming experience, you hardly ever get to use Trip Mine or Time Bomb because they take too long to set up. Plus, at higher levels, there can be so many AoEs flying around (like when you're fighting Nemesis) that you'll just get interrupted if you try and use them anyway. Solo, though, is a different story, and you can use them to instantly anihilate an Elite Boss, if you're patient.

While you can use Gun Drone on teams, the damage it adds on a team is pretty negligible--it shines a lot more solo when you can use it to soak up aggro.

Also, you rarely have need to use Web Grenade or Taser when teaming because most things die too quickly for them to be needed. Solo, though, Web Grenade is great for applying -Recharge to tough foes and Taser is excellent for instantly taking an annoying Lieutenant or Minion (e.g. Sappers) out of the fight.

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Energy Manipulation...very viable in groups and somewhat less viable solo.

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Not sure why you think Energy Manipulation is anything less than excellent, especially solo. Conserve Power gives you essentially unlimited endurance for those EB fights, Power Boost greatly extends the duration of any controls you have, allowing you to lock down Bosses with ease, and the melee attacks quickly pound your foes into gooey paste, while giving you a good chance to disorient them in the process.


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I consider Electric Manipulation to be the second strongest blaster secondary compared to /Mental.

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Ok...

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Most of this comes from the sheer power of Power Sink.

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Um, what? I'd never say that Power Sink is a bad power, but the real attraction of Electric are, like Energy, the hard-hitting melee attacks. Plus, Electric gives you an immobilize instead of the kind of crappy melee knockback (Power Thrust) that you get with Energy.


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/Electric's real weakness is that aside from its drains, it doesn't do a lot to protect the user. There's no heal along with all the free endurance, and the few status effects are all single-target, meaning that large groups will still do bad things to you.

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I think that you're underestimating the AoE knockback in Lightning Clap and Thunderstrike. Clever use of those two powers can do a lot to save your hide. I agree, though, that Electric doesn't give you nearly the control of Devices or Ice--but that's the trade-off for the massive damage you get instead.

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Like Devices, Ice can be problematic when solo. It performs okay on teams, but I feel that the other sets outperform it even then.

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Like someone else pointed out, Ice is possibly the BEST secondary for a solo blaster. Chillblain is, hands down, the best 1st tier power among the secondaries, and the controls available with Ice Patch, Freezing Touch, and Frozen Aura do awesome things for your survivability.



You seem to really like Mental Manipulation. I freely admit that I don't have much experience with it, but I don't see anything obvious about it that would make me pick it over, say, Ice for a solo blaster.

You also seem to be big on heals and endurance recovery powers. However, every Blaster can get Aid Self which, in my experience, is really all the healing you need. As for endurance, once I get Stamina, most of my Blasters don't have too much trouble with endurance ever again (well, except my Ice/Energy, but he has Conserve Power to help him out).

Very nice guide, Fulmens.

But, that's what we expect from you.

About the only things I would add are:

(1) If you don't want to spend millions on an IO, you can get Knockback protection from Acrobatics in the Leaping pool.

(2) There are secondaries which offer utility: Ice and Devices. Both, though, are probably more useful to solo Blasters than teaming Blasters.

(3) Aid-Self is your best friend. Yes, it's interruptible, but it's still easy to use in the middle of a fight as long as you have a power which can distract enemies for a few seconds (i.e. Power Push, Caltrops, Ice Patch, Lightning Clap, etc).

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Soloing effectively with a Blaster requires some way of quickly AoE-ing groups of mobs. Any Blaster can solo single targets, but leveling will be tedious if that's all your Blaster can do so Ice, Energy, Sonic, need the get their extra AoE's from the secondary. Assuming you mean solo-PvE.

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If you want to run around hazard zones, yeah, AoEs are essential, but if you just want to solo mission content (both "official" arcs and AE arcs) then your single target damage becomes way more important than your AoEs.

I've levelled numerous Blasters, and I find doing missions way less tedious than soloing big groups in hazard zones.

For a primary, Ice, Fire, and Sonic are all good (if you can stomach Sonic's animations/sound effects, which I really can't).

Energy Blast I rate a tier below. It lacks the controls of Ice and Sonic and it doesn't have the pure damage output of Fire.

Archery, Assault Rifle, and Psi are pretty good, but they all suffer from having a highly resisted damage type. Assault Rifle also lacks a heavy-hitting single target attack, which I always find annoying.

Electric has a little bit of everything (control, single target, and AoE) but doesn't really excel in any area--the pure Energy damage it puts out is a plus, though, since relatively few enemies resist it.

As far as secondaries go, I like Ice more and more. What you lose in melee damage you more than make up in control.

Energy and Electric are also excellent choices, with their hard hitting melee attacks. I think that I prefer Electric slightly since they nerfed Total Focus--it's nice to have a real immobilize instead of Power Thrust.

Devices is very different, and it's powerful in some ways, but I find that, overall, its a bit weak.

Fire just seems to give you a bunch of powers that you really don't need. Maybe if you had a single-target focussed primary which already had good control (like, say, Ice), then Fire would add some AoE.

Mental I have very little experience with. Like the Psi primary, though, you have the issue of a heavily resisted damage type.

So, how does the zombie AI work from a game mechanic perspective? Do the Reapers, Mortificaters, etc have some sort of AoE power that boost the perception range of the zombies?