StrykerX
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Archery/Energy is great as a pure ranged Blaster. You get Build Up early on, and you can take Boost Range later and put it on auto to have a permanent 60% range increase. You'll have redraw when you use Build Up or Boost Range fires, but that's a small price to pay for an 80 foot cone and 120 foot range on your other attacks. Not to mention Rain of Arrows being completely awesome even before you extend it to 140+ feet...
You can also grab one good melee attack for when things do get close and possibly Stun to stack with Stunning Shot on bosses. Redraw is no big deal if it's occasional, you just don't want to have a lot of it in your normal attack chain. -
Well, any Blaster primary has plenty of ranged damage... that's what they're all about after all.
If you are looking for heavy hitters in particular, you have to start with Fire. It has Blaze, which is the highest DPA Blaster attack, as well as Fire Ball (the best targeted AoE) and good solid damage in the others. Pair it with /Mental for more AoEs or /Energy to boost the range (as well as be able to clobber anything that does reach you).
The big drawback to Fire is that you need to get relatively close though, since Blaze is a short range attack and so is Fire Breath. /Mental also requires getting in close to get the most out of it, though you don't need to stay there long. If you want to really hang back and blast, try Archery/Energy. Archery has Blazing Arrow, which is almost as strong as Blaze but has a full 80 foot range... with modest recharge you can get a full single target attack chain from 80 feet. Archery's cone is also longer than most others. Add in Boost Range and you can attack single targets from 120 feet away and use an 80 foot cone... not to mention a full range targeted AoE that's almost as good as Fire Ball and the single best crashless nuke in the game. And you even get a ranged stun (plus the option to take a melee stun to stack with it on bosses). My Archery/Energy hover Blaster can mow down whole spawns without getting anywhere near them, which means I can pretty much ignore enemy cones and other short range attacks and I never have to risk melee. And if anything does get into melee range I have Power Thrust to send it back to range where it belongs. -
Quote:Try three damage, one accuracy, one end reduction, and one recharge if needed. Go with two endurance or accuracy if you don't need the recharge. Attacks that miss just waste endurance, and attacks that aren't well slotted for damage waste endurance. An incomplete attack chain also wastes endurance by letting the enemy regen while you aren't damaging him. Your top priority should be hitting hard and often, then devote any extra slots to endurance reduction.Originally Posted by Ultimo_
Not quite. I'm not concerned with taking a long time to defeat a foe so much as not having the endurance to do it. I've tried slotting like most of my characters (one EndRedx, one Accuracy, three Damage), and I've tried slotting two EndRedx and two Damage, but nothing I do seems to make any difference.
Keep in mind, this was an experiment of sorts. With maximal endurance reduction, I was still running out of endurance in seconds.
You may want to try fewer toggles too. For instance, you don't need Maneuvers or Hover against a single enemy... just zap him with a Force Bolt every time he gets back up and he'll be stuck on his backside most of the time. All you really need is Dispersion Bubble to protect against the occasional mez he does get off and Assault to speed up the fight if you can spare the endurance. Tough is a complete waste in this case too since he should never get in melee with you and his ranged attacks have no smashing or lethal damage. If you aren't using IOs toggle management is very important... run only those you really need for the given fight.
And of course you can also just use some cheap set IOs. For instance, just replacing IOs and not moving any slots gives me this:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Technaught: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Energy Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Legacy Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Personal Force Field- (A) Defense Buff IO
- (A) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (3) Maelstrom's Fury - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Volley Fire - Accuracy/Damage
- (5) Volley Fire - Damage/Endurance
- (5) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Endurance
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (7) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Air Burst - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Air Burst - Damage/Endurance
- (9) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage
- (9) Detonation - Damage/Endurance
- (11) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Bruising Blow - Accuracy/Damage
- (11) Smashing Haymaker - Accuracy/Damage
- (13) Bruising Blow - Damage/Endurance
- (13) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance
- (15) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Flight Speed IO
- (15) Flight Speed IO
- (17) Flight Speed IO
- (23) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Maelstrom's Fury - Accuracy/Damage
- (17) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Endurance
- (19) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (19) Volley Fire - Accuracy/Damage
- (21) Volley Fire - Damage/Recharge
- (A) Flight Speed IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (21) Flight Speed IO
- (A) Bruising Blow - Accuracy/Damage
- (23) Bruising Blow - Damage/Endurance
- (25) Smashing Haymaker - Accuracy/Damage
- (25) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance
- (27) Bonesnap - Accuracy/Damage
- (A) Healing IO
- (27) Healing IO
- (29) Healing IO
- (A) Endurance Modification IO
- (29) Endurance Modification IO
- (31) Endurance Modification IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (31) Endurance Reduction IO
- (31) Defense Buff IO
- (33) Defense Buff IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (33) Endurance Reduction IO
- (33) Resist Damage IO
- (34) Resist Damage IO
- (A) Air Burst - Accuracy/Damage
- (34) Air Burst - Damage/Endurance
- (34) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge
- (36) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (36) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (36) Endurance Reduction IO
- (37) Defense Buff IO
- (37) Defense Buff IO
- (A) Volley Fire - Accuracy/Damage
- (37) Volley Fire - Damage/Endurance
- (39) Maelstrom's Fury - Accuracy/Damage
- (39) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Recharge
- (39) Maelstrom's Fury - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (40) Endurance Reduction IO
- (40) Defense Buff IO
- (40) Defense Buff IO
- (A) Air Burst - Accuracy/Damage
- (42) Air Burst - Damage/Endurance
- (42) Air Burst - Damage/Recharge
- (42) Detonation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (43) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Calibrated Accuracy - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (43) Calibrated Accuracy - Accuracy/Damage
- (43) Calibrated Accuracy - Accuracy/Endurance
- (45) Calibrated Accuracy - Accuracy/Interrupt
- (45) Calibrated Accuracy - Accuracy/Range
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (45) Recharge Reduction IO
- (46) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (46) Endurance Reduction IO
- (46) Resist Damage IO
- (48) Resist Damage IO
- (A) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (48) Focused Smite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (48) Focused Smite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (50) Smashing Haymaker - Accuracy/Damage
- (50) Damage Increase IO
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (50) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 12: LEGACY BUILD
(Replace the dirt cheap snipe set with slotting for actual damage if you actually snipe a lot, it's there for cheap set bonuses.)Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1550;700;1400;HEX;| |78DAA5945B6F124114C767814AB915E895DE2894B6F6BA85A889978726B52569529| |4348DD1442548A7B0862C0DD0286F467D51FB057CF0036863135FD46AAAC617A35F| |0ACF99FF401B797413FEBF9D73CEFEE7CCCE2C99C76B7E219EAC08A3E77A395FABE| |5D6E4AEB47764D5BB2D0B25BB52AE141BB8CDEF174B75B71062B855925BDDDFDD35| |D3956A41E6D2962CEF8CB5335B79BB2877CC755B568B8DDC2A39D7C31B764956A55| |D375B37BE6CA55236D3658B8CFDB8B7EAB6ACD5027A4071CB2E06D56853E6C9B856| |B2F67AD7F7AC8299AD3CA27932642CAB8D08B575897ED221F4D514224A98141F4F4| |32E71A0428E17C053C2B8703D035EAA6091CA0D941BC6880A9D8B2B7CA68C531B39| |DF22F34EA1FB3D70A4E05D00E85575E9F2AE753585775365FC6935F267D4A8E7A68| |287CADD6AE2A6D39D4006080183E8E21375E1D1B61EAC2384CE7BB1B85EACAAFFB9| |4217D9FA602B7C30F25128A0571880693F32066582DA3B889607D16B049D47D0F2C| |80A2122DC541E86B7233C850C30067453419F2EE88B2103448187B49801BDE801B4| |12D5C0E6C50027190DE9BA2114C4341615E24099FC86F50286B145716C51FC50AD2| |3F1418D12D82217D98E6ADB51F82580A9E8591C3BF859D88EE3F54EE1D0CC600766| |5E01D88130D94E68DB09F89DD7889EC5898315B693E8760EDDCE1D02E8761EDD7EA| |1F2695D3EFD139913E09BC2E277E087C22F3AABB32877CCC2611158027E53C1826E| |7301FD2D69E06D2E037FA8CED4F39A38ACCB7780DB0A291C8ED4B8C2119DADA43E5| |E49CC9402C65C673ECE265D62B3239275B53F3F61A8C80DAE419BFF751DFB5B7379| |B6BCA4DB2C59965B2C7759EEB1DC67C9B33C6029B034BFB69F0E5EE686AEB05C65B| |9C632102239E04AB78FC4C7E26709B0F4B00459422C7D2C232C6F589A9E50FB8F05| |D7EB3059887F979CEC7859F31D915447E46247E44247E4748EBF9A652D6D| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Every IO in this build should be available for a few thousand inf or so... these recipes are dirt cheap and there are usually a few on the market in any level range. If some are out of stock or too expensive you can substitute others, just pick any yellow (uncommon) set that doesn't have high demand set bonuses and you'll usually be able to grab the recipe for around the cost of a DO and craft it cheap. You can also run Hero or Villain tip missions for four days and get two hero or villain merits, then use those to buy a Numina or Miracle unique for Health that boosts your recovery. Eight days will give you both, with no cost other than crafting them, and that will improve your recovery to the point you can run more toggles full time. -
Quote:It is bad... I had a DB/SR Brute and I never got him to 50 but I did plan his final build. No travel power (and this was pre-Ninja Run) and I did skip the first two combos, and I still had no room at all for patron powers. Probably the worst are /SR Stalkers though, since they need pretty much 8 secondary and 6+ primary powers. At least Dual Blades can make a decent attack chain with 4-5 powers if you don't care about skipping some combos (or you have huge recharge and can use a chain that outdamages combos).Originally Posted by Gearsinger
I imagine DB/SR stalker would be the worst, at least if you want to use all the combos. My DB/EA stalker and MA/SR scrapper were both very grateful for inherent stamina.
Demons MMs are also a bit tight, simply because they actually have personal attacks worth taking. My Demons/Dark is going to end up with practically every power from both sets... of course by that point she won't really need anything else so I guess it's not that tight after all.
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Another option (assuming you aren't a squishy on x8 where you might get killed by mass fire) is to just hit your fastest travel power and run / fly / whatever past them. They'll shoot at you, but as long as you don't attack back they'll lose interest after a few dozen feet. Obviously this doesn't help if they're near a glowie you need, but if you just want to pass them it works fine.
You can also just use Teleport, provided you can see far enough past them to reappear outside of their sight range. -
The problem with Energy/Electric is that you combine a secondary that specializes in fighting at close range with a primary that specializes in knocking things away from you. It's fine if you want to primarily use ranged blasts and melee anything that manages to get near you, but it doesn't mesh well as a full Blapper, which is what /Electric is great at. I prefer Energy/Energy since when things do get near you you can not only hit them hard but also stun the heck out of them and then knock them back away from you.
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As I understand it, crafting an alpha slot ability just enables it to be chosen in the Incarnate menu. So you can craft as many as you want and freely swap between those from then on.
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Quote:For all intents and purposes there are no decent IOs that boost resistance. There are some 3% psi resist IOs that resist-heavy sets with psi holes like Stone Armor or Invulnerability can get some use out of, but in general building for resists is kind of pointless since there are barely any sets that give it. Defense is far easier to get.Originally Posted by Spazboy
wow o.o so basiclly go for defense more than resistance and slot IOs that can up res and def(preferrably def?), though money for the most part isnt that hard to come by condsidering ive been saving for my purp IOs and not buy any new ones till i19 came out... which it did
! this is going to be a very complicated build for me -.- eh ill go villain long enough to punch statesman in the face *shrug* i can deal with the mace shield.
As far as purples go, fair warning... they often aren't worth it. They do give high recharge bonuses and some other nice stuff like accuracy, regen, and HP and they exemp down to any level, but they usually do not have any defense and they cost a fortune. You can usually buy a full set of a fairly high end IOs for the cost of one single purple... fully softcapping S/L defense will probably cost less than purpling out two powers.
If I was going to make a softcapped Elec/Elec build I'd probably go with something like this:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electricity Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Bolts- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
- (34) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
- (34) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
- (37) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
- (40) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
- (40) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (9) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (11) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (40) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
- (42) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (19) Focused Smite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (19) Focused Smite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Multi Strike - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance
- (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
- (45) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
- (21) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
- (21) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
- (23) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
- (23) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
- (A) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Recharge
- (25) Razzle Dazzle - Endurance/Stun
- (25) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Endurance
- (27) Razzle Dazzle - Stun/Range
- (50) Razzle Dazzle - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
- (27) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
- (A) Healing IO
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
- (33) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
- (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (34) Doctored Wounds - Heal
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (29) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (29) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (31) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (31) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Empty
- (A) Damage Increase IO
- (50) Damage Increase IO
- (50) HamiO:Nucleolus Exposure
- (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
- (36) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
- (36) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
- (36) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge
- (37) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy
- (37) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Focused Smite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance
- (45) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
- (46) Serendipity - Defense
- (46) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (45) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
- (A) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance
- (48) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (48) Serendipity - Defense
- (48) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
- (A) Celerity - +Stealth
- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja Run
I'm not that experienced with Electric Blast but the basic idea is to softcap S/L defense while getting modest ranged defense and recharge and keeping the attacks well slotted. There are no slots left over for Stamina, but with Power Sink up every 30 seconds or so I don't see a need for it. There are probably much better builds but this should give you a general idea of what's possible. It's also a rather expensive build, though still cheaper than purples.Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1432;708;1416;HEX;| |78DA9D93EB4E134114C767DA2DA5A5A5AD58CAAD2258A0086C5B638CB7C444C5844| |8B582313151C9D26ECAEA665BDB2DC2371F0015BC7DC3DB2B788BF135BC24FA2808| |F55CA695CF6EDAFF6F77E63FE79C9993C9AF5D0C09F1F09C90E10BB651AF2F9D077| |5CD9A2F6F94ADA2F00B2186D5D0D282E194CD923E6B9B45B766150D9BCDE9D6FC62| |A35AADD4DCB6C172D797F28663551BB6E15A152736E7AC9835D371F5D64BA850A9D| |8FABC69542DA71CA68FBC5982958EC95F97ACF28A0B7331FA9A7356ADBAB56CD910| |B97FB66A15F556EABC513441F07DBD0F6A9E84BF2E5A4FD327B60139E179C5784DD| |0DE30DE123ADE114AFB576D4A1C1AD9623C25A49E11269E335E1032E0976A95E45C| |1D9CAB93737572AE20E70A72AE2CA8975769DEF73434F18130F991F189F1996082F| |A94DD57008C8AD035C602A17B9170E026E118A89FEDC23F4511CAA0011521C011BA| |3942942344F7459880054274297B578D221CBDCF58636C7A10D32F09BD902D2C396| |1781790142BA0115543846B380E1A534163DF3CE83AF89DF183D0FB9351A693B5C0| |D8A3EC3D7589337D2EA341185825E41E101250439CED32FE8BCA1AF84D48C24C429| |592485129C330D4AF62F75FA67487E71979C615EEFC55C25D300EAA260FEE50D0A1| |3F8C5DC2A13D469381BDCD09E9C7BA386FB2098F3881978A473CC349AA24A77016A| |079C53DEA82A44CA31B14EDC823C663C613428ACF3FB545B0C13FA6B633C6DD1DE7| |EE8E7377C7B9BB33DCDD9DA810696E9737BD4743D341DAE88C47E2D78C247861035| |3EC9353093AE5E93E820633BA8AA073840CAFC970840CC70B832FAB8E201BA7A121| |AD7DCDE087A732AFB5EE108C04684305AD7DAB8424D3C83F5333106DDF9EFF7DBE8| |45A55041682A0D7510A2837506EA1DC46B98362A02CA314519A5FDBAB2327B1AE53| |28A751CEA0C4A13EB1814E3F5EA22E94104A18A51B25821245E9411940D94669FE0| |5F83F0648| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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The main problem with your defenses is that you are a Blaster. Blasters have among the lowest values for resist and defense powers, so you get less out of them than a Scrapper or such would. The ancillary armors do help some, but even fully slotted they only provide around 30% resistance, which means you still take a bit over 2/3 the damage you would with no shields even from attacks that match your shield's damage types. Adding Tough and slotting it would boost you to around 45% resist to smashing/lethal, but that still means taking more than half damage.
The key to making a Blaster survivable is to either kill everything really fast (not really an option for Electric/Electric) or boost your defense. Since you like using melee attacks I'd suggest going for Smashing / Lethal defense. Most melee attacks have a smashing or lethal component, and defense either works or it doesn't... as long as the attack has some amount of smashing or lethal damage you'll be protected. Resistance, on the other hand, only affects the smashing or lethal part of the damage so using S/L resistance against a Fire Sword (which does Fire and Lethal damage) would only reduce the Lethal part of the damage, but using S/L defense would increase the chance of it missing and therefore protect against both parts.
The cheap(ish) way to get S/L defense is to take a defense based shield (I'd suggest going villain long enough to grab the Mace Mastery set since you don't want to be a block of ice) and add Tough and Weave, but don't slot or run Tough. Just use Tough to take Weave and toss a Steadfast 3% defense IO in it (they aren't cheap but if you are in the 40s you should be able to afford one). Also add a Steadfast -KB IO if you can fit it in. Add in Combat Jumping and you can hit around 27% S/L defense, which is already better protection than Charged Armor and Tough and also helps protect you from those annoying stuns that tend to accompany punches and kicks.
If you want to go with set IOs and can afford it, you can further increase your S/L defense by slotting your melee attacks with four Smashing Haymaker each (relatively cheap but don't add a ton of defense) or four Kinetic Combat (twice the defense but horribly expensive). I'd also suggest 6-slotting your ranged attacks with Thunderstrike, which is relatively cheap and provides a nice amount of ranged defense. Holds are usually ranged and there will always be enemies too far away to punch you who decide to shoot, so ranged defense is handy.
If you can hit around 32.5% S/L defense (should be possible with Combat Jumping, Weave, Scorpion Shield, a Steadfast 3% defense IO, and some Smashing Haymaker sets, plus maybe an Enfeebled Operation set in Electric Fence) a single Luck will softcap you to smashing and lethal damage, so as long as your enemy uses those sort of attacks you can pop one purple pill and be as hard to hit as you can be. If you reach 45% S/L defense you get that full-time with no inspirations needed, but that involves a massive increase in build cost since you'll need Kinetic Combat sets and probably Obliterations. -
Quote:I think it may actually be the reverse. Since MMs tend to solo a lot and Howling Twilight doesn't rez pets, they may forget it is a rez since they're used to just stunning and debuffing with it.Originally Posted by Come Undone
I think the problems may be that they think of it as a group rez, and not an awesome debuff/stun that happens to have a group rez as a side effect, along with the fact that since pets can't be rezed they think of it as not useful for them.
You're missing some recharge. It sounds like you have just enough recharge to keep a tornado out but not enough to stack them. It takes some global recharge or Hasten to get multiple tornadoes going.Quote:I can never get 2 X tornadoes out with my ice/storm controller. As soon as I launch the second one the first disappears so there's never more than one at a time.
Am I missing something?
As far as underrated powers go, I'd have to agree with Hover. It's relatively cheap to run, has perfect control instead of drifting like Fly, provides some defense (and room for defense set IOs), and has -fly protection. There are several attacks that will knock you out of the air if you use Fly but won't if you use Hover, which is quite handy.
Another power I love but hear people talk badly about is Explosive Arrow. It's as fast as Fireball, does decent damage, and the knockback isn't really that strong so it doesn't usually scatter things too badly. I see a ton of Archery builds skip it, but Fistful + Explosive can deal a decent AoE hit on spawns when RoA is down, and if you time it right Explosive Arrow is good to finish off minions who barely survive RoA while staying back at long range. -
Weapon redraw seems to vary depending on the weapon, but in general I'd put it at a bit under a second. Long enough to be annoying and significantly reduce your DPS if you constantly switch between weapon and non-weapon attacks (or different weapons), but short enough to be no big deal if your attack chain doesn't involve much swapping. As long as you fire off all of your rifle attacks and then switch to Crab Spider / patron attacks (or vice versa) you should be fine, but trying to alternate back and forth between them will get old fast.
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Try a /Dark or /Traps MM. You'll have plenty to do... it won't be direct damage but it'll be very useful all the same. You may want to try a Demons MM too, since their direct attacks actually are worth using since they have -resist debuffs. I took all three whip attacks on my Demons/Dark and I'm constantly doing something. Admittedly my damage is pretty poor from the whips, but hitting something with all three gives a resist debuff equal to Tar Patch so I'm helping my minions kill faster.
If you want to go the melee route you may want to try something like a Stone/Shield Brute. You can get a lot of mitigation in Stone plus softcapped defense and extra damage in Shield, so it should be a nice mix of toughness and speed. Stone/Dark would also probably be excellent if you can really sink a lot of inf into it (you'll need a lot of recovery and good sets since it's an end hog). -
Quote:Actually it is true unless you fight +6 or higher enemies. Up through +5 enemies only get an accuracy bonus, not a higher to-hit value. Likewise, higher ranking enemies like bosses or AVs get accuracy bonuses but not to-hit boosts. Since accuracy is applied after defense, that means that 45% defense will reduce any +5 or lesser enemy to a 5% base to-hit chance. Their accuracy bonuses may well increase their final to-hit to 7.5% or even 10% or so, but that's still the absolute lowest chance to hit they can possibly have (since nothing can offset increased accuracy in PvE)... you can have 150% defense and it won't make them miss any more often.Originally Posted by ChaosExMachina
Note this is why the common claim that softcapped defense works against 95% of attacks is not true, unless you only battle even level minions.
Enemies with to-hit buffs, on the other hand, do require more than 45% defense to floor their chances of hitting you. But since only +6 or higher enemies get increased to-hit from level difference, in general this only matters for enemies with to-hit buffs which are relatively rare. -
I'd say a Storm/Energy Defender would have the most knockback, simply because Defenders get the strongest AT modifier to KB. FF/Energy might also work... you'd lose the chaos of having tornadoes blunder around tossing things up in the air but you'd get Repulsion Field and Repulsion Bomb for AoE KB, plus you get the absurdly high magnitude knockback of Force Bolt. Force Bolt is stronger than Power Push or Power Thrust, is ranged, recharges very fast, and tops out at magnitude fifty KB fully slotted.
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I'd suggest either a Dark/Dark Defender or a Fire/Dark Corruptor. You'll have a great heal, strong debuffs that make you very useful on a team, and will be able to solo well enough to handle the occasional tip or cape mission. (Actually the Dark/Dark solos reasonably well, the Fire/Dark solos very well due to superior damage). Dark Miasma also has a stealth power you can combine with Super Speed or a stealth IO to become effectively invisible.
Another good option would be a Rad/Sonic Defender with Invisibility (or Stealth plus Super Speed or a stealth IO) from the Concealment pool. Rad/Sonic is one of the most powerful debuffers in the game and is great on teams, plus all those debuffs let you solo easily. -
I have a Demons/Dark and I really enjoy it... it's one of my toughest Masterminds (aside from the Bots/Traps). Some things that help a lot:
- Slot Fearsome Stare for to-hit debuff instead of just fear, and make sure you get enough recharge to use it every spawn. Also slot Darkest Night for to-hit debuff. Between the two of them you reduce incoming damage a lot.
- Once you get Fluffy and make him permanent it makes a world of difference. Even more so when you slot him for to-hit debuff.
- Slot the resist and defense auras. Both sets can go in Hell on Earth.
- Slot plenty of generic endurance reduction in Summon Demons and Summon Demon Prince. They run out of endurance fast once you get the second upgrade, and they have multiple types of powers so you need generic (or Hamidon) enhancements since sets only apply to powers that can use them. No heals and no slows or holds due to empty endurance bars will make you lose pets a lot more often.
- Watch your spawn sizes. You are essentially "softcapping" your pets by flooring your enemies' chance to hit them. Against very large spawns you may not be able to hit everything with your debuffs and a lot of enemies will be outside Fluffy's range, so your pets will start taking a whole lot more hits.
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Might I suggest Archery/Energy? If you want pure ranged nothing beats an easily-permanent power that increases the range on all your attacks. You also get a great tier one power that knocks anyone who does get into melee flying back to range where they belong.
You'd lose Drain Psyche but Archery doesn't really need the extra recovery and the nice thing about staying at range is that even moderate ranged defense makes it fairly easy to use Aid Self. Also, Archery does have a decent targeted AoE... Explosive Arrow is just as fast as Fire Ball and while it doesn't deal quite as much damage the knockback is decent mitigation. With Boost Range active I can use Fistful of Arrows + Explosive Arrow from quite far away (Fistful becomes an 80 foot range cone).
/Mental is a nice set, but it requires getting in close to really make the most of it. With Archery/Energy you can grab Hover and Aid Self and seldom get closer than 60 feet or so from the enemy. Add in Rain of Arrows' ability to hit things 140 feet away from around corners and it's easy to drop most of a spawn before they get a shot off...
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I personally never skip either of the first two attacks on a Blaster. Even if you don't need both in your normal attack chain, as a Blaster you will spend a considerable amount of time mezzed and having three attacks you can use while mezzed is better than two. You could drop Telekinetic Thrust for Pistols, since the only time you'll probably want to use TK Thrust is when something is attacking you in melee and in many cases you'll be mezzed when that is happening (otherwise you would be able to move away) and therefore not able to use TK Thrust.
I'd also consider more Ranged defense since that helps keep you from being mezzed as much and most enemies will be at range even when you move in for Drain Psyche or PSW. I'm assuming you plan to jump in, hit one PBAoE, and jump out again... even many of the enemies that get next to you will wait a couple seconds before switching to melee, and by then you'll be gone again. -
What level are you fighting them at? Mez protection scales with level so an enemy doesn't have to stack as many stuns at lower levels. In addition, higher level enemies have longer lasting stuns, allowing them to stack more on you. I don't think AVs and EBs have increased magnitude on their stuns, but a +2 enemy is going to stun you for 22% longer than normal.
If Marauder is still Super Strength I'd be surprised if he could stack four stuns (unless he has some variant version that has stuns in attacks that normally don't), but if he's Energy Melee now (I haven't fought the new version yet) I'd believe it. AVs have a decent accuracy boost just for being AVs (or EBs) and +2 level adds more, so he'll hit a lot if you don't have defense. In general the only thing that should be able to stun a Tanker is an "unresistable" stun (one with a magnitude higher than any normal protection), multiple stunning enemies ganging up on him, or a significantly higher level enemy with multiple stunning attacks.
If you're a Scrapper, on the other hand, you have less mez protection. They only need to stack four stuns instead of five to get you at level 50, and probably three will do it if you are much below 50. With a 22% duration bonus that's not hard to pull off if an AV has multiple attacks that can stun. You might try popping one purple (and another one each time it wears off)... the added defense will make it harder for the AV to land enough stuns to get through Unyielding. -
Quote:AoE defense is not really a big deal. AoEs are relatively rare and generally a lot less damaging than single target attacks. There are some nasty AoE debuffs or controls (like Longbow grenades and Malta stun grenades) but they're the exception and can be dealt with by popping an inspiration or two. As far as pure S/L attacks go, most guns (except Rikti blasters or the occasional oddball Council or Crey gun with cryo or heat rounds) are pure lethal. "Normal" melee weapons are generally pure lethal or smashing, and most non-powered hand to hand attacks (like Martial Arts or SS) are smashing. That means the AoEs you want to watch out for are things like cone attacks from guns and Foot Stomp or Fault / Tremor style PBAoEs. Grenades are also a danger since they tend to be Lethal/Fire and you probably don't have high Fire defense. But again, AoEs in general aren't that big a deal unless you plan to solo at x8 or something, and even then it depends on the type of enemy (and really no Blaster I know of solos everything well at x8).Originally Posted by Adaptionist
So my main question is: Will the lack of AOE defence cripple me much (even though i have high energy and negative defence)? Are there many pure s/l AOE attacks or do most contain an energy component, thus being affected by energy defence?
For a pure AV soloist the first build looks interesting. But as soon as you add in general gameplay the lack of AoEs becomes a real problem... a Fire Blaster with no AoEs is half a Blaster. One suggestion would be to try to tweak build 2 to have Fire Breath and maybe Psychic Scream instead of Psychic Shockwave and Inferno. With a Ranged defense build you're probably better off using cones and Fire Balls than trying to move in to use PSW. Hover would be very handy for that build as well.Quote:I am wondering about this from the standpoint of AV/GM soloing as well as general gameplay. I have slotted build #1 now, but feel it a bit constraining not to have AOEs as well as needing the PVP IO in my dark tank. So I hope build #2 is not a lot worse than #1.
Any thoughts? -
I'd recommend a Mastermind. Each tier of pets or pet upgrade really changes things up, so you keep having new things to look forward to. Add in a secondary with a great level 38 power (like /Dark) and you at least have good incentive to play until then. 38-50 isn't that long a trip, and you have some interesting content in those levels and more that opens up at 45 to keep you going.
I'd also suggest going Hero. They have cooler zones, like Striga and Croatoa, plus it's easy to find a group or a task force. Also, Masterminds solo very well so you can run through the (very well done) arcs in Striga and Croatoa and then hit the various task forces if you have the time. -
You definitely need to narrow the question down a bit... the various epic / patron pools are very different from one archtype to another. For instance, only two out of five powers are shared between Pyre Mastery for Tankers and Flame Mastery for blasters.
In general the basic rules apply: fire = damage, earth = control, etc... but the specifics vary so much that it really depends on what AT you are playing and how you are using it. Though you should always consider Leviathan Mastery because it lets you throw sharks at people.
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I really like the Hover animation on my main simply because he has rocket boots... it looks a lot more realistic for him to have them pointing down instead of back since he has no wings or anything to provide lift.
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Quote:Honestly, you can't judge a Mastermind set before level 32. For instance, if you level Bots up to 20 (or even 30) you'll think "they're tough, but pretty slow to kill things since they're almost all single target". Then hit 32 and get the second upgrade, and suddenly your bots are throwing out massive amounts of AoE death in the form of incendiary missiles, explosive missiles, cone laser blasts, and photon grenades. It totally changes how they play. Likewise, Necro pets suddenly start self healing, which is probably a game changer.Originally Posted by Gimix
Hah, I really can't decide, my head is asploding
I might just take each idea here to 20 and see how each plays out.
Likewise, some of the secondaries have very nice powers you get late. For instance, /Dark becomes a lot better once you get Fluffy (Dark Servant) and /Thermal suddenly switches from a pure buff set to also having debuffs. /FF, on the other hand, just keeps giving you more stuff you'll probably never use once you pass Dispersion Bubble.
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As I recall, the first time you do a Hero or Villain morality mission on a character that is already that alignment, you just get normal merits. Every additional time you re-confirm your alignment you get a hero or villain merit. If a villain goes hero, I don't know if you get merits when you switch and an H-merit when you do it again, or if you get merits for switching and the first confirmation and then H-merits afterwards.
Likewise, Rogues and Vigilantes get twice as many normal merits the second and subsequent times they confirm their alignment.