A powerleveler's guide to blasters (very long)

This thread becomes much more useful after ignoring Lightning_Fast. That aside, RSRobinson's advice is excellent and I'm glad I read it before creating my blaster.

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Lightning_Fast wrote:

I'm sure someone will reply to this, possibly to try and argue that this attack won't work, despite it working just fine...


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Lightning_Fast,

Nobody has claimed that there are not ways to kill in an AoE fashion with other blasters.

My favorite character right now is an energy/devices blaster. I play him in an AoE fashion, but I am well aware that if I were a fire or AR blaster I'd be AoE killing tons faster. He is a lot of fun. I play him mostly with my wife's emp/rad defender and energy torrent + electron haze isn't bad. I hope eventually torrent along with explosive blast and/or trip mine will be effective. We'll see.

However, since the thread is specifically about powerlevelling, speed is a critical element of the discussion.

The problem is that you claimed, repeatedly, that you could AoE kill/level JUST AS FAST with an ice blaster as a fire or AR blaster could.

You made this claim repeatedly and incessantly. Yet, when asked to back up your claim, you went into an elaborate dance of convulted dodges, snobbish attacks on "cookie cutterism", and a variety of other dillatory tactics.

You have only now gradually adjusted your outrageous and absurd claim to instead say your methods work "just fine" whereas the claim everyone took issue with was you saying it would work "JUST AS WELL."

"Just fine" is a matter of personal opinion. "Just as well" is a matter of empirical analysis and comparison.

That's the difference.

You compounded the problem by acting like an arrogant jerk when you thumbed your nose at people asking you to back up your assertions with evidence. Your constant insistence on calling people "cookie cutters" and calling them mindless or blind, simply because they wanted you to back up your claim, was what truly established yourself as a troll and a jerk.

Nobody would have criticised you for merely saying "hey, I figured out a way to make an AoE ice blaster that does pretty well." In fact, in this thread, I actually posted some questions and suggestions to RSRobinson about how to make passable energy and ice blasters. He provided some suggestions back. Neither he nor anyone else was hostile to the concept of figuring out ways to make other blasters *decent* AoE blasters.

Thus, your accusations truly hold no merit. Everyone in this thread seems very interested in discussing possibilities and tactics. But if you make an outrageous claim that is not supported by the facts as presently understood, you will be expected to back up and prove your claim.

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Nobody has claimed that there are not ways to kill in an AoE fashion with other blasters.

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Actually, I've been told by RSR and others that this is not an effective xp/hr configuration for an ice blaster. It's in the original post. That is incorrect. This was an assumption based on his playing style. xp/hr using AOE is much faster than single target tactics.

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However, since the thread is specifically about powerlevelling, speed is a critical element of the discussion.


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Yes, speed is critical. Since it is not a thread about fire or AR only, and other builds are mentioned, why are speed considerations of ice wrong to correct? If the purpose is for fire/AR blasters to pat themselves on the back, then narrow the scope of the original guide.

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The problem is that you claimed, repeatedly, that you could AoE kill/level JUST AS FAST with an ice blaster as a fire or AR blaster could.

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Mostly correct, and this was a mistake (I never said AR, only fire). Based on numbers purely, ice and fire beat AR early on. Fire starts pulling ahead of ice in the early teens (when both it's attacks are slotted enough to able to completely kill together). AR finally comes into their own in the early twenties (after ignite gets slotted). Any dev secondaries will help catch up, based on the target mob criteria, after trip mine gets slotted.

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You made this claim repeatedly and incessantly. Yet, when asked to back up your claim, you went into an elaborate dance of convulted dodges, snobbish attacks on "cookie cutterism", and a variety of other dillatory tactics.


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Actually, I gave numbers (rounded to the nearest 1k/hr) of how I was doing with xp/hr. No one ever said "my fire blaster is making 120k/hr", so what do I need to prove beyond that? At that point, RSR was stating that 1.5 hours for the level would be AOE fast, while a non-aoe would take 3 or so. I was much closer to the 1.5 than the 3.

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You compounded the problem by acting like an arrogant jerk when you thumbed your nose at people asking you to back up your assertions with evidence. Your constant insistence on calling people "cookie cutters" and calling them mindless or blind, simply because they wanted you to back up your claim, was what truly established yourself as a troll and a jerk.

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I didn't want to give my tactics as they really didn't matter. I gave other options that would work as well, one even for better xp/hr. What is so important about mine? My tactics have changed multiple times over the course of the toon's life. What may work for a while can change when you get more slots, more powers, or spawns/mobs change. Now that I have trip mine, I use that and things are actually faster (now that it's fixed again). Should I post my tactics with tripmine? Do people really need that much information?

Maybe I am way off base. I honestly thought that part of the challenge of powerleveling was figuring out how you can do it the fastest possible. I don't want to play any game based completely on the instructions of others. That isn't a challenge. It's already mind numbing enough grinding away the levels. Why waste my time?

Anyways, I apologize to whomever I offended out there. My original purpose was to say that ice is an AOE blaster if you want it to be, and is far more efficient doing that than what was advised. I made some assumptions early on. I can admit they were mistakes. Things just went off on tangents so quick that I lost sight of my goal and became confrontational as they kept going.

Hopefully any aspiring ice blasters will ignore any negative comments made by me or to me, and see that it's still a valid toon for AOE powerleveling, just less speedy than a couple others.

i think if his guide was labeled, "guide to how i lvled my engery blaster, and other helpful advice"

there would have never been any cotnroversy or any questioning in the the information given. its the fact that people make themselves "experts" on a topic they are familier with, but not really qualified enough to make themselves an expert

this whole thread was never a flame. i was a simple "hey i think some of what you call facts, arent right to what i've experienced in the game so far"

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i think if his guide was labeled, "guide to how i lvled my engery blaster, and other helpful advice"

there would have never been any cotnroversy or any questioning in the the information given. its the fact that people make themselves "experts" on a topic they are familier with, but not really qualified enough to make themselves an expert

this whole thread was never a flame. i was a simple "hey i think some of what you call facts, arent right to what i've experienced in the game so far"

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I agree, but perhaps I did not choose my words wisely in the beginning, so that controversy would be minimal on a topic that wasn't that important. People got hung up on the part where I thought I was able to AOE level as quickly as fire. As I tried to nail the real point, it didn't matter anymore.

RSR continued to say that I did not have a 1-2 combo, and that the rains were not enough. He also said that even if it worked for me early on, it wouldn't continue. By the time I was arguing that, people were still stuck on fire vs. ice. Anything I said at that point was being ignored... and still is, despite my statements, finally, that fire would be faster.

Regardless, Ice can AOE, especially quickly with the addition of buildup or trip mine. Whether people can move on beyond the old topics, and understand this, still remains to be seen.

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I agree, but perhaps I did not choose my words wisely in the beginning, so that controversy would be minimal on a topic that wasn't that important. People got hung up on the part where I thought I was able to AOE level as quickly as fire. As I tried to nail the real point, it didn't matter anymore.

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Well it was a pretty outrageous claim with no backing in powers used, foes fought, etc. and one you finally conceeded was false. However, you have already admitted to handling it poorly, which I respect, so no point in belaboring it further.

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Regardless, Ice can AOE, especially quickly with the addition of buildup or trip mine. Whether people can move on beyond the old topics, and understand this, still remains to be seen.

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Your point about leveling a non-fire / assault blaster using AoEs is a valid one. However, I would further qualify that by stating those blasters would be best served by taking devices as their secondary.

Great info here.

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AR finally comes into their own in the early twenties (after ignite gets slotted).


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Before someone takes off with this one, I meant FT, not ignite.

Powerleveling or not this post has a lot of great information. It should be sticky.

This is the first post for me.

I am very impressed with all the posts. There is more real ingame knowlegde here than anywhere I have seen. Thanks to RS for kicking this off. There is only one thing that I would like to add to this. Two words -

Game Balance.

I'll just wait and see how the game looks in a few months after there are some "tweaks".

So is everyone gonna reroll a AR/device blaster now? =P

Hey guys. This question has probably already been answered in the 100s and 100s of threads posted already (lol) but alas, I have not had time to thoroughly go through each one and find my answer . So please, tell me Robinson or others, for my fire blaster, is it better to have 5 slotted attack and one slotted cone range increase -or- is it best to have ALL 6 slotted for attack and forget about cone range? Just wondering what would be more effective, more damage, or more area. Also, how many slots should I put on targeting drone? 6 or is that overkill? I also have combat jump just as you stated, although I have it slotted with a defense buff, is this better than slotting it with jump enhancers or is this useless? Maybe I need more slots on it with defense buffs? Hmmm. Well, there they are, please, answer these for me anyone, input is nice I appreciate it, Thanks!

6-slotting it would likely be best. You'll plan to be in short-range anyway more than likely (esp if you're tossing 'trops) so the extra range won't mean all that much.

Trick is, of course, to drop in a cone-range in that last spot and see how your damage is -- a lot depends on your play-style -- and if you're hapy with the performance, stick with it. Otherwise exchange it for a damage enh

Full Auto has a long narrow cone and Flame Thrower has a wide short cone. I went with 5 damage and one cone range in Flame Thrower and 6 damage in Full Auto. My tacic is Smoke Grenade the group of baddies and then I find the best angle to hit the most guys. I then throw the caltrops in front of the group (not on them). Now I target the furthest guy that lies in the center of the cone I want to do. I hit FT and then run back a few yards and do FA. This will take out everything but the boss and (depending on the mobs resistance to lethal) leauts. Pick off the leauts and move on. In my opinion soloing bosses just isn't worth the time (unless its Nemesis bosses then just own em)

lol i was taking his guide seriously untill he said "you only get 4 power pool powers" . . then why do i have 6? I have Teleport friend, foe, self, hover, hurlde, health. . . where do people get this number 4?!?! you can have as many power pools as u want. . . if you dont want your primarys , then dont take them ,but telling people u only get 4 pools is wrong. . guide not worth reading past that line. LoL power leveling!!! HAHAHAHA without HOVER!! LoL!!! hahahahahahaha what an @$$

A$$hat,

Teleport Friend, foe, and self = Pool 1
Hover = Pool 2
Hurdle, Health, and Stamina = Pool 3
You didn't list your 4th power pool.

You may be able to get a 5th pool now that the patch is out. I wouldn't know though I'm not 40+.

If you think the guide is crap...good...more mobs for me to burn in DA.

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lol i was taking his guide seriously untill he said "you only get 4 power pool powers" . . then why do i have 6? I have Teleport friend, foe, self, hover, hurlde, health. . . where do people get this number 4?!?! you can have as many power pools as u want. . . if you dont want your primarys , then dont take them ,but telling people u only get 4 pools is wrong. . guide not worth reading past that line. LoL power leveling!!! HAHAHAHA without HOVER!! LoL!!! hahahahahahaha what an @$$

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I feel dumber for having read this. If you don't understand the game then please stay off this thread. He meant you can choose from 4 different pools of powers. This means you could take a total of 16 pool powers if you desired. This is information that can be found in the guide that came in the box. Let me take a wild guess here and guess that you didn't read the guide.

Not only did he not read the guide in the box but he was not tought how to express manners as well.

Now on another note i just read the guid (finaly!) And have just started a fire/fire blaster and with the advice in the guide i made it from lvl 2-8 in record time (2 hours) Ok for me thats a record rather then 2 days! lol

I will continue to use teh advice in the guide because it is all sound advice for POWERLEVELING not for any other stwle of play. And hover is just too slow to have any place in POWERLEVELING. The hole point is to level fast, and become the strongest and best. You have your way and i will take this way.

One thing I will add to the above post is that this guide is good for even more beyond Powerleveling. I am not really a Power Gamer, but this guide was THEE most helpful I read when creating my Blaster for solo'ing the Story Arcs. It was very well thought out, well put, and solid information that has proven very true for me. I am enjoying my AR/Devices build immensely. Thank you, RSRobinson.

Also, I am considering 6 Slotting Hasten with 5 Recharge and 1 Defense. Point is with 5 Green SOs I am without Hasten for approximately 10 seconds rather than never being without it. Robinson made the point earlier that the key to a solid defense is more powers with 1 Enhancement rather than fewer powers heavily enhanced. Well, consider this one more that doesn't have to be chosen for its defense ability only. Thoughts on this?

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lol i was taking his guide seriously untill he said "you only get 4 power pool powers" . . then why do i have 6?

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this hurts my eyes.

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LoL power leveling!!! HAHAHAHA without HOVER!! LoL!!! hahahahahahaha what an @$$

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so what exactly do you think hover does for PLing? pre-fly, turning it on will slow you down to a crawl, which despite the +def, will get you killed. i'm not sure, but don't all three of the starting Power Pool abilities(hover/hasten/combat jumping) give the same +def bonus?

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lol i was taking his guide seriously untill he said "you only get 4 power pool powers" . . then why do i have 6? I have Teleport friend, foe, self, hover, hurlde, health. . . where do people get this number 4?!?! you can have as many power pools as u want. . . if you dont want your primarys , then dont take them ,but telling people u only get 4 pools is wrong. . guide not worth reading past that line. LoL power leveling!!! HAHAHAHA without HOVER!! LoL!!! hahahahahahaha what an @$$

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/points

/laughs

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lol i was taking his guide seriously untill he said "you only get 4 power pool powers" . . then why do i have 6? I have Teleport friend, foe, self, hover, hurlde, health. . . where do people get this number 4?!?! you can have as many power pools as u want. . . if you dont want your primarys , then dont take them ,but telling people u only get 4 pools is wrong. . guide not worth reading past that line. LoL power leveling!!! HAHAHAHA without HOVER!! LoL!!! hahahahahahaha what an @$$

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That would be a dumb post even for VN.

Look, I know it's cool to post on a thread and try to poke holes in someone's argument, but, ya know, as a general rule, you shouldn't destroy your credibility in the process.

Lightning_Fast, I've read your posts in this thread, watched you talk big and when pressed watched you dance. I've come to the only inevitable conclusion: you're all ego and no data. You want ice to be thought of as more than it is...whatever. Obsfucation <> proof. You obviously can't post build + methods. Enough already. You boasted and got caught. Deal with it.

I do want to think you, however, for spuring me to find the board's /ignore capacity. No more mind-numbing pretentious posing to wade through in this thread.

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Lightning_Fast, I've read your posts in this thread, watched you talk big and when pressed watched you dance. I've come to the only inevitable conclusion: you're all ego and no data. You want ice to be thought of as more than it is...whatever. Obsfucation <> proof. You obviously can't post build + methods. Enough already. You boasted and got caught. Deal with it.

I do want to think you, however, for spuring me to find the board's /ignore capacity. No more mind-numbing pretentious posing to wade through in this thread.

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Don't be so quick to ignore Lightning_Fast.

While he did get out of control in this thread, he pretty much saw the light and was willing to admit errors and overstatements.

Also, if you've read his posts in other threads, he has contributed some useful information and analysis.

While it is possible the crazy Lightning_Fast from about page 2 to page 9 is the real Lightning_Fast, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and chalk that up to getting carried away in a heated debate.

Anyway, I think we all benefited from the analysis of various abilities that came out of the whole discussion.

In short, I'd recommend against ignoring him and reserving judgement.

Very diplomatic Cambios.
Well done.
/e clap