StrykerX

Whether the various uniques are worth it really depends on the character. For instance, I have never slotted a Regenerative Tissue +Regen simply because I have no regen-based characters... they all tend to have some sort of self heal, Hibernate, or simply enough control powers that they can just use Rest on the few occasions they get badly hurt and are out of greens. But on a softcapped character or a very high resist tank, sure it's worth it since the extra regen can actually matter in combat. For characters like mine, not so much.

As far as the recovery uniques go, I have them on a few characters but usually skip them. My old main was an Archery / Energy Blaster who literally could not use endurance fast enough to ever run dry, even with just a couple of lvl 50 EndMod IOs in Stamina and a few minor +recovery set bonuses. A Performance Shifter proc or +recovery unique would be a total waste of inf (and more importantly, slots) in his case. My new main, a Fire/Fire Blaster, uses a lot more endurance and therefore needs the recovery uniques to be able to keep going, especially once I get her Incarnate build done and she's running more toggles. And my Plant/Storm Controller... well let's just say that if I finish his build I'll not only have all the recovery uniques I'll probably drop 1.5 billion or whatever on a Panacea proc too. He uses that much endurance.

Oh, if you have a crashing nuke and an endurance recovery power, a Performance Shifter proc is really handy since if it ticks before the crash wears off you can hit Consume or Power Sink or whatever and jump back into the fight, even if you are out of blues. Not a big deal, but it can be handy and that proc is quite cheap if you are patient and bid on several levels.

I believe pretty much anything that damages, mezzes or debuffs an enemy triggers it, while things that only affect yourself or friendlies don't. Placate may be an exception (I'm not sure since I don't play Stalkers), but other non-damaging effects like confuse or fear do trigger it.

Also, suppression is four seconds from the start of a power's animation, so with really long activating powers like snipes or Full Auto you can actually have the suppression wear off before you actually attack.

A high end Bots/Traps MM with an experienced player at the controls can solo pretty much anything that can be soloed. They aren't quite as good as they used to be due to the pet AI changes but they're still quite good... +4/x8 should still be possible with the right build. After all, this is a combo that has soloed Giant Monsters using only SOs so even with the pets liking to run in and melee (even the ones with no melee attacks) they can still be quite solid. You just have to spam Goto more often and resummon the occasional robotic lemming that decides to go run up and smack a +4 AV in the face even though he doesn't actually have the ability to melee. The important thing if you want to really tear up tough spawns is to softcap your own defense (pretty easy with FFG, the Protector Bot bubble, and Maneuvers plus IOs) and use Provoke. Even though all the bots but the Protectors will probably be softcapped (and the Protectors won't be far off) they can drop fast from lucky hits, especially the Drones. With Bodyguard and softcapped defense you are basically a Granite Tank... effectively 75% resist all from Bodyguard, some resistance from your patron shield if you take one, and capped defense make you harder to kill than many tanks. You even have mez protection.

The two main drawbacks to Bots (/Traps really has no drawbacks ) are that they are rather slow until you get to level 32 since that's when you get your AoEs, and the fact that they tend to get torn to pieces on the new Incarnate TFs so you'll have to resummon a lot.

I don't see it changing things much. The Incarnate raids / trials / whatever they're calling them may have certain ATs / power sets that work well or that don't work but I don't expect them to be "X powerset is required to win" fights. And anyway, nothing in the rest of the game will really change other than the addition of another Incarnate slot which appears to be a long recharge nuke (based on rumors at least) rather than something that actually affects general gameplay. So really I don't see it making any more difference than adding a couple of new TFs does.

I find the best way to get Thunderstrikes (or other mid-range IOs) that are in low supply at non-max levels is to use an alt I'm not actively playing and bid on low-30s or so recipes. You can cover three or four levels for each IO you need and place lowball bids... you may end up with an extra recipe or two but you can either send it to an alt or just craft and resell it for a profit. Of course on a set like Thunderstrike you can probably get most of them you need overnight even at odd levels if you don't mind paying a slight premium but if you can wait a few days and use an alt to cover several levels you can get them at a bargain. It takes longer but you don't have to wait until level 47 to slot them and you keep the defense when running mid-level TFs, plus it's a lot cheaper.

You can also do the same over several weeks to get dirt cheap -KB IOs, 3% defense IOs, and so forth. I keep an array of standing bids out for 6% accuracy IOs that are far below normal price... they rarely fill but I snag one every two or three weeks and you only need one of those per alt, and if you don't mind using a rarely-played alt to do it you can snag them for 5-10% of the normal rate.

Rad is a reasonably solid set with decent single target damage (and a stun on it's tier 3 blast) and good AoEs as long as you don't mind getting close. /Energy packs heavy melee damage and lots of stuns... put those together and you should have a decent close range Blaster. Jump in (after using your cone if you prefer), hit Irradiate and Neutron Bomb, and then start punching things and Cosmic Bursting them... you won't mow things down as fast as a Fire/Fire or Fire/Mental but between your energy melee punches and Cosmic Burst you should be able to keep even a boss stunned. I'd recommend going /Ice or /Mace for your epic and building for S/L defense because you'll probably be in melee a lot. Softcapping S/L is expensive but getting to 33% or so (one Luck away from softcapped) isn't bad.

Sometimes I like speed runs, especially certain TFs. They're faster (so I can actually do one without needing 2 hours free) and some TFs can get awfully repetitive so by the time I've taken down my 500th Crey or Council goon the idea of just stealthing a couple missions sounds pretty good.

That said, Lady Gray is one that I absolutely hate speed running unless I'm on a villain. I'm not really a full blown RPer but I do like to act "in character" and letting hostages get beaten down by Rikti just to fail the mission and move on annoys me to no end unless I'm on a villain character.

Mine is my Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster. She can kill things in groups at range, kill things in groups up close, kill single hard targets at range, kill... oh, you mean versatile as in things other than killing? Ok, then she's just my favorite...

But more seriously, my most versatile character is probably my Plant/Storm Controller. He has so many options on dealing with groups... confuse them and let them fight, lock them down, knock them flying, herd them into a corner and debuff them senseless... the great mix of offense, debuffs, and control is just a lot of fun. But that's just the most versatile I've played to a decent level.

The most versatile in the game? Probably a tri-form Warshade, simply because versatility is pretty much what Khelds were designed for and Warshades are better than Peacebringers (unfortunately, since I prefer the looks of a PB).

Well, the Wide Area Web Grenade does at least have -KB and a more powerful slow. In general I suspect that the patron web has a larger area and faster recharge because it's based on Controller AoE immobilizes so it has similar stats but a longer recharge. Also, it's not AT specific... several ATs get Web Envelope so it wasn't balanced specifically against Wide Area Web Grenade.

Essentially, Web Envelope is a longer-recharge version of a Controller power with a "web" feel to make it more Arachnos-y. WAWG is a light control power on a non-control based AT so it's weaker than other AoE immobilizes, just like (for instance) the holds in a Blaster's Ice Blast are shorter duration than patron / APP holds. As for the recharge on Envelope being so fast, it's probably because it's based on control set AoE immobilizes which are very fast recharging powers normally... even with the recharge increased it still ends up reasonably low.

I used to only use crashing nukes for fun or in emergencies (Nova's knockback is great for buying a few seconds' time even if it doesn't kill things), but then I made my Fire/Fire Blaster. Inferno + small blue pill + Consume is a thing of beauty, and I can do it every few spawns on a team. Likewise, Drain Psyche can potentially overcome the -recovery and let you start getting more endurance right after you nuke, so there are certainly builds that can use standard nukes frequently. And anyone can just pop a medium blue or a couple small ones and fight through the recovery crash.

Would I mind a shorter -recovery time or a reduced crash? Not at all. But I wouldn't want to give up one bit of damage to get it... eliminating an entire spawn is the whole point to using a nuke.

I like pairing DP with Dark or Traps because the whole selectable secondary effect gimmick works better on ATs that have secondary effects strong enough to notice.

But on a Blaster I'd suggest /Energy if you like staying back at range (Boost Range is nice for Empty Clips and Executioner's) or if you want to play a "guns and martial arts" gun-fu type (adjust the /Energy attacks colors to the dimmest you can find and it looks more like normal punches than any other secondary). If you prefer getting up close and personal then /Electric can be good and /Mental is always nice... just be aware that you're going to lose a fair amount of damage to redraw unless you group up your attacks, such as opening up with your pistol AoEs and then switching to melee to mop up. I would not advise alternating back and forth between pistol and secondary attacks unless you just really like that fancy draw animation.

For the totally suicidal, /Fire could be nice. Jump into a spawn with your auras going, hit Bullet Rain or Hail of Bullets, and go nuts with fire PBAoEs... though Fire or Rad primaries really work better for that unless you get insane recharge and use HoB every fight.

Oh, and I don't believe Power Boost has any effect on -damage effects. I don't think any buff does.

A high recharge /Pain build could really help Demons since you get an AoE resist power you can use to quickly buff the team (a lot less annoying than Thermal). However, you need a fair bit of recharge to make World of Pain permanent... still, Demons are tougher than average even without buffs and healing works best with tough pets. Thugs are probably the best choice since they have a great target for Painbringer and enough defense to keep them alive long enough to heal them, but Demons aren't a bad choice either. (On Demons / Pain I'd use Painbringer on the Hellfire Gargoyle since he's pretty much all offense.)

I do consider Demons/Dark a bit better for most purposes though. You can effectively "softcap" your pets by flooring the enemy's to-hit and Tar Patch is great for speeding up fights. However, against AVs /Pain is probably better because to-hit debuffs do very little against those while resists and heals still work fine.

One thing to add about Rise of the Phoenix... it's not just a self rez that stuns and knocks back enemies, it's a second nuke. It hits hard, stuns even bosses, knocks things flying, and it leaves you untouchable for 15 seconds while only leaving you helpless for four. That's 11 seconds of payback to a bunch of stunned and damaged enemies while invincible... plenty of time to dump some AoEs, pop Aid Self or a green pill to top off your health, and even retreat if need be.

Of course you do have to die to use it, but come on, you're a Blaster. You're gonna die from time to time, so why not grab a power that lets you make whatever killed you really sorry they did?

I like going with a primarily ranged build but keeping a couple of melee attacks. The idea is that you start out with ranged shots and by the time enemies reach you they've been thinned out enough that you can finish them off with your melee attacks. That has the advantage or requiring no S/L defense whereas a heavy melee build does... and high S/L defense costs a fortune. Boost Range is especially nice, not so much for extending your normal blasts but rather for making Energy Torrent's cone larger and letting you use Power Burst from farther away.

Hover blasting is also very handy for Energy because knockback becomes essentially knockdown if fired from above. You can save Bone Smasher (and maybe Total Focus) for fliers that come after you or situations where someone decides to web you out of the air and run up to punch you. The melee attacks in /Energy are quite good but I find that on a cheaper build it's better to use them on things that come to you rather than jumping in and trying to use them from the start. You really don't want to melee more than one or two enemies at a time without melee or S/L defense... and with Energy's knockback that's about how many tend to reach you so it works out well.

You can't go wrong with Thunderstrike. Good ranged defense, some Energy defense (helps a bit with a lot of stuns), accuracy, and recovery bonuses... it's pretty much the best set for ranged attacks unless you have a special purpose build. And best of all it's actually pretty cheap, especially if you go for mid-30s to low 40s IOs instead of 50s so the crafting costs are lower. If inf is an issue, there's a very simple trick:

1) Run tips and morality missions until you have two hero merits. (Should take 4 days, you can speed through them fast.)

2) Use those two hero merits to get a LotG +recharge recipe.

3) Craft the LotG and sell it for 100+ mil.

That should get you pretty much everything you need for a lower-end build or give you a good start on a mid-range one. Also, level 50s make a ton of inf just through normal play so you should be able to scrape up a quarter billion or so in a few weeks even playing casually, especially if you do tips. You can also use hero merits to grab any rare recipes you can't afford, like recovery uniques or LotGs or even just expensive, hard to find rares like the LotG defense IO.

As far as the build itself goes, I'd change a couple of things but it looks decent overall. You'll want a KD protection IO... I'd put a Karma -KB in Hover instead of the defense IO because that is only giving you about 0.4% defense, which is pretty much meaningless. I'd also replace the Stun IO set in Bone Smasher with a damage set since it's one of your best attacks... 6 Mako's will also give you ranged defense while also boosting your damage. They're kind of expensive but again, nothing some hero merits (or normal merits if you run TFs) can't handle. Also, you probably won't be running Tough with only one slot in it (it's of questionable worth on Blasters fully slotted) so I'd drop a Steadfast 3% defense IO in it instead of a resist. They aren't cheap but they aren't that expensive either... selling one LotG can probably get you one and a full Thunderstrike set or two (or more). And Weave needs some endurance reduction... I'd go with a Serendipity Def/End IO, a Red Fortune Def/End IO, and a generic defense IO. All defense set IOs are a bit pricy but those are some of the cheaper ones and they shouldn't need rare salvage.

Finally, you have a couple of things overslotted a bit. The third recharge in Hasten and Force of Nature only makes a few seconds' difference (two level 50 recharge IOs already are near the ED cap), and Boost Range is permanent with one recharge while Hasten is up and only has about 3 seconds downtime when it isn't... you can use those slots to better effect elsewhere. I'd slot up Nova a bit more and put five Doctored Wounds in Aid Self to max out the healing and grab some extra recharge.

My suggestion is something like:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Sci Fi Issue 20: Level 50 Science Blaster
Primary Power Set: Energy Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- ExStrk-Acc/KB(A), ExStrk-Dmg/KB(25), ExStrk-Dam%(39)
Level 2: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 4: Energy Torrent -- KinCrsh-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(A), KinCrsh-Dmg/KB(5), KinCrsh-Acc/KB(7), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB(19), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(36), KinCrsh-Acc/Dmg/KB(37)
Level 6: Power Burst -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 8: Build Up -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(33), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(36), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(40)
Level 10: Bone Smasher -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(21), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Dam%(37)
Level 12: Aim -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(33), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(36), AdjTgt-Rchg(40)
Level 14: Hover -- Krma-ResKB(A), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(34), Flight-I(37)
Level 16: Kick -- ExStrk-Dmg/KB(A), ExStrk-Acc/KB(43), ExStrk-Dam%(48)
Level 18: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 20: Power Push -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 22: Weave -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(34), DefBuff-I(34)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 26: Explosive Blast -- KinCrsh-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(A), KinCrsh-Acc/Dmg/KB(27), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(27), KinCrsh-Acc/KB(29), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB(29), KinCrsh-Dmg/KB(31)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(39), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal(42)
Level 41: Personal Force Field -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Repulsion Bomb -- KinCrsh-Dmg/KB(A), KinCrsh-Acc/KB(45), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB(45), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(45), KinCrsh-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(46), KinCrsh-Acc/Dmg/KB(46)
Level 47: Force of Nature -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Nova -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(50), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 50: Musculature Boost
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(42), EndMod-I(42)
Level 4: Ninja Run


The Eradication and Obliteration IOs in Nova are quite expensive but you can just slot it with generic IOs or even SOs and buy them when you get a chance. (If I take a nuke, I want it slotted for high damage and recharge.) There are a few other semi-pricey IOs but between that respec recipe and selling an LotG +recharge or two from merits / hero merits you shouldn't have any trouble buying everything. The changes leave you with about the same recharge and accuracy bonuses, slightly higher defense, and more effective slotting in several powers plus 4 points of KB protection. You could also drop the extra slots in Nova if you really want those few seconds shaved off Hasten and Force of Nature... or even drop Nova entirely and grab Temp Invulnerability for some added resistance.

(Personally, I'd drop Repulsion Bomb for Temp Invulnerability since you already have Explosive Blast, slot it with 3 Reactive Armor and a generic Resist, and use the other two slots to drop LotGs in Weave and Hover... but that would significantly increase the cost (or number of tip runs) of the build.)

Sonic is nice for a Blapper. Open up with Siren's Song (or Howl + Siren's if you want to risk getting hit more) and then start punching. The ranged shots can seem a bit slow, mainly because some of them are slow (Shout in particular, but the cones aren't that quick either) and Scream is a DoT so it takes a second longer to finish applying damage than other Blaster tier 2s. On the other hand, all that -resist tends to help make up for the speed issues somewhat.

Just a quick note... Sonic/Energy is probably better than either Sonic/MM or Energy/Energy. Sleep a group, then pummel them one at time with stunning punches and -resist debuffing blasts. You'll probably be able to complete a whole mission without getting hit more than once or twice.

If you still have missions available from an outleveled contact they're probably part of a story arc. Story arc missions will spawn enemies at the maximum level for that arc (or the maximum level for a given enemy, if lower) so if it's a level 1-10 arc you'll probably get level 10 enemies. Normally contacts will not give missions once you have outleveled them unless you are in the middle of a story arc. Some contacts / missions don't have a max level (like the Midnighter arcs or cape missions) but the "normal" ones do. It can be a good idea to clear outleveled story arcs though, because you have a limit on how many arcs you can have ongoing at once and if you hit it (used to be 2 arcs but may be more now) you can't get new story arcs.

If he's going to be teamed, why worry about survivability? Normally you don't pull a ton of aggro on a team unless there's no Tank or Brute and not a lot of control so why not build for recharge and damage and rely on inspirations or just running away for a few seconds on the rare occasion you do get too much aggro? You may faceplant occasionally but you'll do more damage the rest of the time because you aren't wasting set bonuses and power picks on softcapped defense you'll rarely need.

That's not to say you can't get some defense or resists, just don't sacrifice offense for them. The usual Thunderstrikes / Obliterations / etc... will give modest defenses and inspirations can do the rest.

Damage from all sources stacks, but +damage buffs (and Musculature Incarnate slots) work on the power's base damage so the more +damage you have from sources like enhancements, Build Up / Aim, or Defiance the less effective a given amount of +damage is. It's why Scrappers get a lot more out of damage buffs than Brutes even though both do similar damage without the buff... the Scrapper has higher base damage (the Brute has low base damage but a large self buff) so he gets more from, for instance, a 10% damage boost than the Brute does. Blasters aren't as bad as Brutes, but with Defiance and significant uptime on Aim and Build Up they do tend to have a decent amount of average damage buff.

That makes Musculature a bit less powerful than it otherwise would be... that 30% ED-ignoring damage buff (assuming you take the 45% total buff) from the Very Rare slot is only going to increase your average total damage by 12-15% or so (depending on recharge and whether you have Aim). That's not bad, but a 30% ED-ignoring recharge boost may well give you more total damage simply by letting you use Build Up and your heavy hitters more often... especially if you aren't ED capped on recharge, which is common since most good attack sets aren't.