The_Faou

no worries, it's just how i member mw doing it b4

just post it in here.

why not just do it like milkweasel used to, and post it to the forums, letting Ex reedit the first post? then you don't have to play the waiting game.

good, coz my old guide was purged by my request. The new one is the only version that works.

after less than two months, the new ATI 2600XT I bought just bit it. COX issues aside, I can't recommend going through all the workarounds for sub standard hardware.

I really wanted ATI to prove me wrong on this. First it was their crappy Catalyst driver set, now this... this was the second go so shame on me this time. There won't be a third.


Bill good on you for the help you provide, and i wish those of you unlucky enough to go ATI the best.

I just updated my Fire/EM guide from I7 to I11. Purge at will.

How to Eat Fried Minions Vol. 2, Fire/EM Blaster (Issue 11) is the new and improved version of my guide.

oh, and in doing so, I had my previous I7 guide purged, so might want to remove that link too.

[u]How to Eat Fried Minions, and other favorites: A Guide to Balanced Fire/EM blasting Version 2.0 [Issue 11].[u]

The following is my revised guide on how to play a balanced, also known as hybrid, blaster using the fire primary and energy secondary. Originally the guide was written with the changes that had been brought up through Issue 7. While the tactics and strategies aren’t gimmicky or based around constantly changing game mechanics, and still hold true; due to some significant power changes, the implementation of the market and IO’s, and Defiance 2.0; an update was needed to some portions. In the next section, I will cover these changes in detail and hopefully by the end of this, you’ll have an awareness of how to play a balanced fire/energy blaster that is great at a lot of things, not just one. In the course of this guide, I’ll use terms that are very commonly tossed around in the blaster community, but someone either new to the game or blasting might not be aware of. Bear with me, the definition of something you might not understand may just be in the next paragraph or easily gained from context if you just keep reading. With that in mind, let’s get started, shall we?


IO’s and Issue 11 changes!

When I first wrote this guide, I thought, “WOO! I’m done!”, but within less than a year, we’re four more issues along. What did those four issues bring? A doubling of the range on Blaze from 20’ to 40’, the ability of Boost Range to effect cones like Fire Breath, the Consignment Market and Invention Origin Enhancements with their set bonuses that brought true enhancement diversification…but even with that I still only tacked on to the end of the original guide. It wasn’t until Issue 11, and the Great Blaster Buffing™, that a serious revision was needed. Defiance 2.0 aka Defuriance aka Frankenfiance, along with animation and power activation time changes, have shifted the way blasters play considerably. For those that have read this guide before, you’ll notice I now advocate different power selections as needed in regards to others. These changes are the reason for the update to the guide, and the changes in heart regarding those powers. Enough preface on the update, on to the meat of the guide.


Hybrid style…just what is it?

As the name suggests, it’s a fusion of different, extreme playstyles. Whether you want to fire from range or run in and blap, do single target damage or AoE goodness, team or solo…the hybrid style blaster can fill the bill. If you want to do only one of those things, you may want to specialize, but that isn’t what this guide is about. It’s about being able to do it all, and well. The fire primary, coupled with the energy secondary is about fusion to begin with. Extreme damage coupled with extreme utility is what you get out of the box. Making it mesh just takes some thought and time spent playing to get the rhythm going. As you realize your undeniably supreme godlike power, and squishy limits, you’ll be chewing through hazard spawns and missions; while later on in your career, bosses will stand around as you pummel them using a mix of disorients and quick strikes.

Where do I sign up!?!?

Whoa there little one! You have to know the powers you’re going to be picking from first. Remember where I said it takes some thought? Here’s where that first applies. Now since there are plenty of guides already that give you activation, base damage, range, slots preferred, how many particle effects you’ll see during a lunar eclipse in the month of March, etc.; we’ll move through them fairly quickly. What we’re going to concentrate on however, are the core needs and passes to make you into a fiery doppelganger of doom. I’ll explain in summary why some are hits, some are misses, and some are out there for you to decide on personally afterwards.


Fire Primary

Hits - Flares, Fire Blast, Fire Ball, Fire Breath, Aim, Blaze, Inferno

Miss - Rain of Fire

Optional - Blazing Bolt

The keys to your ranged power are here in the primary, both AoE and single target. Two AoE attacks for large spawns, a heavy hitter and two fast recharging powers for single target, and a good self buff are the core of the build. With them you’ll be able to take things on from range whether you’re in a team or not. The only one not ranged in that regard is Inferno…but come on, you get to blow up in a ball of fire and take everything around you out. It’s the crown jewel of the fire primary and deservedly so. In my previous guide, Flares got the pass because of the very long root animation, and low scaling damage; that is no longer the case. With Issue 11, Flares isn’t just well worth taking, but slotting out. With the ability to fire through mez, and it’s fast recharge; Flares now allows for a very smooth attack chain that benefits the stacking damage buff of the new Defiance. Rain of Fire however, is still crap due to the tendency to scatter the enemy all over. Some players like Rain since its semi-recent change of being able to be buffed by Build Up and Aim. I’ve tested it, and without any support power to keep the mobs from running around like 4 year olds in a sprinkler, it’s still a pass because of the scatter it causes. Some that like it also cite its use as a panic button when things go pear shaped. If I need to press a panic button to kill stuff, I’ll Inferno or run away and not waste a power choice on something like this. Blazing Bolt is a really good power, but I’ve placed it in optional because you may or may not need it, or like it. I don’t personally use it any longer. I did, especially against AV’s that I didn’t want to close within melee range on, but it is more of a choice then core required for the hybrid style.

Energy Secondary

Hit - Power Thrust, Build Up, Bonesmasher, Boost Range, Total Focus

Miss – Stun

Optional – Energy Punch, Conserve Power, Power Boost

That’s a lot of hits, and rightly so. The energy secondary is, in my opinion, the best blaster secondary there is. Power Thrust sneaks in because it’s required, but it holds its own as a nice soft control with guaranteed knockback. Build Up for the second tohit and damage buff, along with devastating melee attacks with stun (TF will stun bosses in one hit!) effects make the blapper in you drool. You’ve now got the real melee power to go with your ranged options, hence…your balance. Boost Range comes late, but grab it as soon as possible. It turns Blaze into an 80’ monster and widens the cone on Fire Breath. Stun is unfortunately a miss, but if they lowered the activation time, you could call it beanbag from the AR primary. With a miss power like that, you get the idea how effective this secondary really is. As to the optional powers, they’re all very good. Play with them on the test server and you’ll see their usefulness. I personally would recommend taking all the optional powers if you could squeeze them into your build, but they aren’t required, just very nice to have.

Pool Powers

Hit – Fitness, Leaping, Flight, Concealment

Miss – Fighting, Presence, Leadership, Teleportation

Optional – Speed, Medicine

Power pools are trickier, in that it’s not so much the pools you choose, but the combination of powers together. I’m not saying with the hits section that you need those pools precisely, just that they are ideally suited for this type of play. Fitness is arguably the best power pool you will ever take. Some look at it as something forced on them, but then again, so are travel powers. You never catch anyone complaining that they have to take a pool for that (or if so, very rarely). Concealment is just all around quality of life, but can now be simulated with a +Stealth IO. Either buy that IO or get Stealth and love it. You’ll find that it’s game changing for lining up those fire breath cones, and helps a lot in waltzing past mobs outside mission doors. Leaping and Flight are slightly interchangeable. They both give travel, knockback protection, and slight defense. Flight has also undergone some radical changes in the past, making it much more desirable a power, as well as pool. They each have pro’s and con’s to weigh in regards to the other. Flight takes two powers instead of three to get the required effects, but Leaping is more maneuverable in fights.
Optional pools, Speed and Medicine, are good considerations to flesh out your build. One has slipped in popularity, while the other gained because of Enhancement Diversification and PvP changes over the past few issues. Both are worth it, but not required for the hybrid PvE build. As for the misses, fighting isn’t worth the investment for its minimal return. Leadership values are too low for the blaster AT, and you’re going to pull enough aggro as it is with your attacks, so Presence is a big BLEH. As for Teleportation, you can play with that for free on your Warshade when you hit 50 and name it Taxi Squid.

Speaking of high level…What do I need for my APP?

The Ancillary Power Pools are all good, and will all function well. There is no “bad” choice in the bunch here. What did I go with? I went with Fire Mastery for the fast activating hold of Char at level 41 and loved it. I used a respec after hitting 50 and went Force Mastery, which I still have. What should you go with? I think you’ll win with whatever you decide on. I spent a good amount of time on the test server checking each pool out and they all have great function and utility. So much so in fact, that you really won’t go wrong with whatever you choose by this point. By the time you’re able to select a power from this pool, you’ll have your play style mastered so well that you won’t have any problem figuring out that for yourself. I wanted a good hold and got it, then wanted the later blooming APP and got that. You may want to go for something else instead and that’s perfectly fine. The APP’s are the individualistic flair of this type of build, enjoy them!

I’ve got my powers chosen! How do I do it ALL?

Doing it all and being that hybrid style blaster is about knowing your powers and being aware of things at all times. I stated in the beginning that equipping yourself with the proper tools and playing smart are a big part of what will make you successful. Take the core AoE and single target powers from the fire primary, the heavy hitters from the energy secondary, and sprinkle with your self buffing powers and you’ll see a multitude of ways to defeat things that I never thought of. The important point is to not center your vision on one particular style of play and to plan accordingly. Be malleable and adapt to your situation, you’ve built your blaster to be able to do just that! If you’re overwhelmed by a large spawn, pick them off with your single target. If you’re facing a nice bunched up group of minions, try to not slip on your drool as you move in for the one two BBQ! The two power sets complement each other so well in their mix of heavy AoE, heavy single target, stuns as soft control, and numerous self buffs, that with a bit of vision you will see clearly how you can do it all. I’ll give a few of my favorite recipes to get you started:


o Minion en Flambé – You see a group of tightly packed minions standing around. They could be talking about anything really. How their favorite football team just lost the big game, which girl at the strip club is their favorite, your mother…it doesn’t matter really. They’re there, just waiting to be cooked. Line up a narrow upside down triangle in your minds eye, target the poor sucker in the middle of it and move to where the apex of that triangle begins. This is where Stealth from concealment comes in handy, because they won’t notice you as you activate either Aim or Build Up (whichever is available at the moment) and let loose with the Fire Breath. Start with Fire Breath because the time it takes to animate and unleash damage is longer then the clean up power Fire Ball, which you should be now using as the damage over time from the first attack ticks out. If you’ve lined it up properly, you have a carpet of bad guys at your feet. If there are pesky lieutenants in the mix, they don’t have much health left. Finish them off with Fire Blast and your other single target attacks.

o Slow Roasted BBQ Boss – This down home classic usually isn’t served by itself, as bosses like to have minions and lt.’s surrounding them. This is also a good example of where the status effects of Bonesmasher and Total Focus help out a lot. I don’t recommend trying this until you have one or the other if soloing. Start off with your Aim or Build Up cycle (in fact, you should always begin your attack chain like this, so we’ll just assume that it’s a given from here on out) and lead into the boss with your status causing punch (preferably TF) making him wobbly. If you’ve used Bonesmasher he won’t be stumbling drunk at first, but you can attack with your single target damage until it refreshes, then hit him again to stack the stun (we hope, see why TF is better…I recommend not taking on bosses solo until the upper 30s) . Pick off the bad guys surrounding him if there are any, then move back to the big guy and stack another stun on him before dropping him in a sizzling pile of shredded rag doll mess at your feet. I recommend using Woody’s BBQ sauce on what’s left and serving on a toasted Kaiser roll.

o Teammate Truffles – Good teammates, like good truffles, take some rooting around to find. This is why when you do find them, you have to treasure them and savor the experience. Nothing will sour that like leading off with a Minion en Flambé, when you should be sitting back and letting the others do their thing too. Use your single target attacks mostly, and target through the tanker/scrapper. Clean up the stragglers with bits of health by using your Fire Ball and don’t be afraid to run if things go bad. You can do more good standing on your feet, than licking the floor.

o Pulled Jamaican Beefy Mobs – The finer points of this tasty dish are found below in my links to helpful things I’ve found in my travels. This is a single target tactic, meant to cull the herd for when rushing in with an AoE chain isn’t practical. We’ll use the ubiquitous indoor warehouse mission as an example. Target the minion you want to pull (why minion is explained in the linked guide to pulling) and stand behind a crate, or something else that obstructs your line of sight of the mob. Queue up your pulling attack, I use Fire Blast, and tap the space bar to quickly jump up back down, or duck out and back behind your obstacle. The animation of the attack will fire while you are moving out of sight, thus making the mob come to you, pulling it from the group. The poor sucker won’t know what hit him when he comes around the corner.


That should give you a brief idea of some of the things you’ll be able to do. Notice that it isn’t just AoE, or just single target boss killing…it’s all of the above. Here are some more quick tips:

• Fire Ball can be used as a single target attack chain filler.
• Don’t be afraid of melee, you have lots of tools in your secondary to dig you out of trouble.
• Stamina is your friend, not a must have waste of three powers.
• Bind Super Jump and Combat Jumping (or Flight and Hover) to your movement keys + something easy to toggle (I use shift + W to SJ for instance); it makes it easy to stay debt free when the fit hits the shan.
• Don’t spam your powers as they become available. A lot of times it’s wiser to wait for a different power and regain that little bit of endurance, instead of using Blaze or Bonesmasher to finish off that minions sliver of health.


Can you let me see your build, so I can, umm…compare to mine, yeah, yeah!!

I honestly don’t hate posting my build because I’m quite happy with it, and knowing when to take things is just as important as what to take. I will give you a word of warning however; what works for me, may not work for you. What IO sets I think are important for me, may not be for you. In my original guide, I gave a PvP and PvE build. With the ways IO’s have changed slotting your build…go to town. You can go with straight SO’s, or build for set bonuses that make your slotting look weird, but are hugely effective. I said it before: IO’s and sets brought true Enhancement Diversification. Here’s my take on the madness.



Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Faou (i11): Level 50 Science Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Entrpc-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx:35(3), Entrpc-Dmg/Rchg:35(5), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(11), Entrpc-Heal%:35(15), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:45(42)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I:45(A)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:45(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:45(3), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:45(5), Posi-Dmg/Rng:45(7), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:45(15), Posi-Dam%:45(43)
Level 4: Build Up -- Membrane-HO:50(A), Membrane -HO:50(7)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I:45(A)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:45(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:45(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:45(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng:45(11), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:45(13), Posi-Dam%:45(43)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:45(A), ULeap-Stlth:45(36)
Level 12: Aim -- Membrane -HO:50(A), Membrane -HO:50(13)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I:45(A)
Level 16: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+:30(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(17), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:45(17)
Level 18: Blaze -- Entrpc-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx:35(19), Entrpc-Dmg/Rchg:35(19), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(25), Entrpc-Heal%:35(25), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:45(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:45(A), EndMod-I:45(21), EndMod-I:45(21)
Level 22: Bone Smasher -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:45(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:45(23), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:45(23), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:45(31), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:45(31), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:45(37)
Level 24: Stimulant -- IntRdx-I:45(A)
Level 26: Aid Self -- IntRdx-I:45(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:45(27), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg:45(27), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:45(36), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:45(37), Dct'dW-Heal:45(40)
Level 28: Flares -- Entrpc-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx:35(29), Entrpc-Dmg/Rchg:35(29), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(34), Entrpc-Heal%:35(37), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:45(46)
Level 30: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I:45(A), EndRdx-I:45(31)
Level 32: Inferno -- C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg:45(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx:45(33), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:45(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:45(33), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:45(34), Sciroc-Dam%:45(34)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I:45(A), RechRdx-I:45(36)
Level 38: Total Focus -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:45(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:45(39), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:45(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:45(39), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:45(40), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:45(40)
Level 41: Personal Force Field -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:45(A), LkGmblr-Def:45(42), DefBuff-I:45(42)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-Psi/Status:45(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(46), ImpSkn-Status:30(46)
Level 47: Force of Nature -- Aegis-ResDam:45(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg:45(48), ImpArm-ResPsi:40(48), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg:40(48), TtmC'tng-ResDam:45(50), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg:45(50)
Level 49: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I:45(A), RechRdx-I:45(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:45(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd:45(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:45(A)
Level 1: Defiance
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]+6.75% Max Endurance[*]+41% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+4% Enhancement(Heal)[*]+66.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+45.2 (3.75%) HitPoints[*]+MezResist(Confused) (Mag 35.8%)[*]+MezResist(Held) (Mag 27.5%)[*]+MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 31.9%)[*]+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 31.9%)[*]+MezResist(Stun) (Mag 27.5%)[*]+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 29.7%)[*]+8.5% Recovery[*]+50% Regeneration[*]+4.41% Resistance(Fire)[*]+4.41% Resistance(Cold)[*]+3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*]+6.25% Resistance(Toxic)[*]+11% Resistance(Psionic)[*]+5% RunSpeed[*]+2% Debt Protection[/list]------------
[u]Set Bonuses:[u]
[u]Entropic Chaos[u]
(Fire Blast)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 2.75%)[*] +2.25% Max Max Endurance[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Positron's Blast[u]
(Fire Ball)<ul type="square">[*] +2.5% Recovery[*] +1.575% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +3.13% Resistance(Toxic)[/list][u]Positron's Blast[u]
(Fire Breath)<ul type="square">[*] +2.5% Recovery[*] +1.575% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +3.13% Resistance(Toxic)[/list][u]Luck of the Gambler[u]
(Combat Jumping)<ul type="square">[*] +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Entropic Chaos[u]
(Blaze)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 2.75%)[*] +2.25% Max Max Endurance[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Crushing Impact[u]
(Bone Smasher)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +13.6 (1.13%) HitPoints[*] +7% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +2.5% Resistance(Psionic)[/list][u]Doctored Wounds[u]
(Aid Self)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +1.26% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +4% Enhancement(Heal)[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Entropic Chaos[u]
(Flares)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 2.75%)[*] +2.25% Max Max Endurance[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Cleaving Blow[u]
(Inferno)<ul type="square">[*] +1% Recovery[/list][u]Scirocco's Dervish[u]
(Inferno)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[/list][u]Crushing Impact[u]
(Total Focus)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +13.6 (1.13%) HitPoints[*] +7% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +2.5% Resistance(Psionic)[/list][u]Luck of the Gambler[u]
(Personal Force Field)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Aegis[u]
(Temp Invulnerability)<ul type="square">[*] +3% Resistance(Psionic), +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Held) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Stun) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 20%)[/list][u]Impervious Skin[u]
(Temp Invulnerability)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +18.1 (1.5%) HitPoints[*] +2% Debt Protection[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +7.5% Status Effect Duration Reduction[/list][u]Aegis[u]
(Force of Nature)<ul type="square">[*] +5% RunSpeed[/list][u]Impervium Armor[u]
(Force of Nature)<ul type="square">[*] +2.5% Recovery[*] +3% Resistance(Psionic)[/list][u]Titanium Coating[u]
(Force of Nature)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 2.2%)[/list]


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</pre><hr />


The Sample build is just that, a sample. Once again, you can take it or leave itt, but hopefully it helps in not just what to take, but when.


Any other tips and tricks for me?

I highly recommend checking these links. Some are older, but they’re still helpful resources:

Pulsewave's Guide to Energy Manipulation - THE resource material for the EM secondary. Bookmark it and refer back to it for number crunching. Hopefully he'll update it some issue soon.

Nemo’s Guide to EM - Can't put the nails in the coffin on Pulsewave's Guide, but it does a good job of keeping it up to date. Deserves a look.

COH Online guide to Pulling- The definitive guide to pulling in CoH. Old and grey and still going strong. I've copy/pasted it so if the site ever goes offline, it's still around.

Flame Like Me! - Great breakdown on fire primary powers, plus I get a thank you in the credits

3B Bible - Any blaster should have this bookmarked already, but it is noted here anyhow.

Version 1 of the Cookbook – for posterity

Legion of Freedom - shameless self plug of the best SG on Virtue.

Thanks also to my gamer fiancé, Denali Luna. She not only plays the game with me, but also helped edit this guide to make me sound smarter than I really am.

I recently authored a short how to guide on forum auctions titled:

Stick it to The Man! - A How To Primer on Forum Auctions


I would think it would belong in the Market section, but it could also apply to Tips

Stick it to The Man! - A How To Primer on Forum Auctions


I’m writing this small How-To guide on forum auctions, since a common response to them is, "Use the WW/BM!" and the eventual 1 starring of the auction thread. The Market Forum exists for many reasons, auctions being one of them. There’s no hard and fast etiquette in regards to forum auctions, but a few simple guidelines in how to conduct one would help everyone involved.


Be Specific.

Be specific in what you want in trade or how much you’re willing to accept for your item. In all the games I've played that had a forums market, a Minimum bid and Buyout were offered.

The Minimum bid is, obviously, the least you would take for it; the Buyout being some ridiculously high amount you don't expect to get, but will assure a bidder that it's their new shiny outright. You could, alternatively, set an Opening, Reserve, and Buyout. Opening being what starts the auction, the Reserve being the amount that has to be met for sale, and the Buyout already explained above.

Be specific in where this transaction needs to happen as well. Will it be hero or villain? What server? What level of IO, type of salvage, etc.


Be Concise.

It’s not your resume, you’re selling something. Get to the point. In fact, just listing the above first section would usually be enough. If you want to “hard sell” like the kids in my neighborhood; feel free to tell us it’s for your exchange student trip to Guatemala, but leave it at that.


Be Polite.

Don’t feed the trolls. Thank people for their offers, or at least looking at the page. Thank whomever purchased the item at the end of it all. Keep the gloating about "how you kept from listing something at a non refundable 10% of purchase price just helped me pay for another IO" to a minimum…but do thank for it. Oh, and keep on stickin' it to the man.

lol, rp.

I knew about the ATI issues, and refused to cave in. I am loving my new Radeon, even if I have to jump through hoops for it. I think the issue is MMO's and ATI lol. I had a radeon way back when in Anarchy Online, when Catalyst drivers were first released, it would cause me to crash every hour on the hour. I switched to nVidia and never had any issues again.

With the new card purchase, my desire to have ATI instead was too much. The things it does for OTHER games cannot be discounted.

[ QUOTE ]
Any guides on Fire/Em?

[/ QUOTE ]

There's some

Faved

great googly moogly. Fave toggled.

If it means the numbers will do away, I will tell people that Aim + Build Up cure cancer.





they also invented the interwebz.

LOL, post necromancy FTW

omg!

[ QUOTE ]
I agree, some guides are amazing, but outdated. We need to be able to go in an rewrite some of the information to our own guides.

Another thing I would like, is if we are able to self-moderate our own guides... I posted a build guide and it got foamed out of existence by people who didn't think I had the correct power choiced to be a min/maxed tank... (see the signature for the thread). If the same thing happens in the Guide section, it could prove disasterous to those who are posting a guide on one thing, but get flamed for not posting a guide to another.

It would be like a person posting a Guide to the AV-killing machine, and getting flamed for it not working in PvP.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that idea sucks, mainly because you could delete any post that showed how crap your guide is, if it were. If you can't take criticism, you shouldn't be writing a guide.

I'd reformat it so it reads easier. For example, if you're describing powers, try to leave the strategies for another section of the guide so it doesn't feel like a cluttered post. I do like that you're describing why to lead with fire breath though, the young upstarts have no idea why it's done that way any longer.

oops, forgot to mention that I updated mine too

It says I7 on the title, but I've made the one change needed for I8 in about two lines of dialogue in a post within it. Enjoy.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm working on updating the guides I've written for minor tweaks and I8 notes, but am wondering why many of the actual guide LISTS are out of date! Many good guides are either not linked to in the Guide to Guides section or their own sub-section, or have an outdated guide linked to when an updated version has been made by the creator and posted!

[/ QUOTE ]

Good point, I'm hoping that's what this call is for.

I played with an earth sonic last night. it wasn't you

kinda brief, needs a good bit of work. Couple points stand out to me.

1) Skipping Power Boost is a mistake. You're aiming for the blapper audience, and you've pimped bonesmasher/total focus. Why would you not recommend a power that doubles stun duration, when you're blapping?
2) You wrote nothing in regards to Energy Punch.
3) It's Power Thrust, not Power Push.
4) Boost Range effects cones, so it's a big hit for Fire Breathers.
5) Tactics section is too short, it's a Guide; put something in to seperate it from a build post.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but it could be better.


oh, and if you're gonna update for I8, make Blaze a 40' range.

I'll shiny it up for I8, since there are blaster power changes to address. I just hate having to reformat the entire bugged without being able to use EDIT