A powerleveler's guide to blasters (very long)
By
45th_Parallel,
Posted on: 2004-06-14 07:36 in Player Guides
Oh yea, that must be it...they're "envious"... 
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Oh yea, that must be it...they're "envious"...
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Yes I believe so. Why does anyone care if someone is 40? Does it impact your game that someone else is 40?
So, why should someone who is say level 20 care that a level 40 has not enjoyed the game and skipped all the content, especially since its not true.
Im playing a non-AOE blaster and his specialty is wiping out large groups of orange. Yes, thats right, he can take out a group of orange. Not only can he handle a group of orange, he can also destroy a combo of 2 purp lieutenants and 2 red minions. How do you suppose he could do this? No, it doesnt involve any exploits, but rather the trick involves hovering and blasting from a distance. So heres my suggestion to the person who wrote this guide try the hover-blasting technique and once you reach level 22, youll see a big difference between flight and speed.
Jackdaw
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Im playing a non-AOE blaster and his specialty is wiping out large groups of orange. Yes, thats right, he can take out a group of orange. Not only can he handle a group of orange, he can also destroy a combo of 2 purp lieutenants and 2 red minions. How do you suppose he could do this? No, it doesnt involve any exploits, but rather the trick involves hovering and blasting from a distance. So heres my suggestion to the person who wrote this guide try the hover-blasting technique and once you reach level 22, youll see a big difference between flight and speed.
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The big difference between the two is speed. The superseed AE'er is finishing a group in about 5 seconds and moving to the next. You're spending much more time to kill one group.
Is it bad exp? No. You'll be generating more exp per hour than any other archtype.
Is it the most efficient exp gain, which is what this guide is about? No. AEing will generate the most exp per hour hands down.
American_Pie, ignore the others in your supergroup. YOU would
have leveled faster to 40 using Ice or Energy than Electricity.
And I didn't say Electricity sucked, I said it was inferior to
the other choices. From a powerleveler's perspective (the whole
point of the guide), the idea is to choose the best choices, not
the second best choices. So I guess from a powerleveler's
perspective that does mean it sucks, but if you just want to have
fun, do missions, that sort of thing there is nothing wrong with
it.
Of course, you say you did very little soloing until 34, so I'm
not sure how you comments really apply. You are grouped with your
friends until 34 meaning regardless of what character they
played, you will all level the same. Heck, for all I know, you
were one of the first to 40 because one of your grouping buddies
was a fire tanker. After 34, when you said you did your soloing,
you are high enough level to do swarms. All blasters can squash
them quickly and efficiently, so during your soloing time it just
boiled down to more play time than your friends. Now I don't know
if you did do swarms or not, but you would have leveled faster if
you did. If you did not, it proves even more that the issue
wasn't your build or your primary power set, but just lots more
playtime or a willingness to grind that your friends lacked. With
the next patch, swarms will no longer allow all blasters
comparable leveling in the 30s. Underlings are nerfed on test.
The next crop of people coming to the 30s who want to level as
fast as possible will really see the difference between AOE
blasters and single-target blasters and between the various
single-target blasters. And they will see that Energy and Ice are
better than Electricity.
Just for the record, I did a bit over 4 levels in the 30s on
swarms and the rest on missions and street hunting in Brickstown
and Founders Falls. I hated doing swarms because they were so
dull but I just couldn't stand the insanely slow exp speeds as a
single target blaster, I could only stand so much once all my
missions were used up. These levels showed me that a build has
to have a powerleveling aspect to it to make any progress at all
at the high levels.
Admit it, endurance drain is far inferior to knockback and slow.
For powerleveling it is completely useless. You kill mobs that
pose no risk and can be massacred as fast as possible. No mob
will live long enough to be drained of mana. At least with
knockback and slow, you will take slightly less damage, though
all three will take little enough that it is hardly an issue. No,
for powerleveling, lacking a third big nuke is electricity's
problem. Versus bosses (which are kind of irrelevent for
powerleveling since when going solely for exp, you do not fight
bosses) I'll match my knockdown to your endurance drain any day
of the week. Especially before your character was fully
developed. Remember, knockback puts bosses on their back right
from level 1, and right from the opening shot of the battle.
By the way, I've copied Kelena, my 40 energy blaster, to test.
I'd be happy to meet you anytime to give you the chance to
impress me with your endurance drain. We can hit the COT and Crey
level 40 spawns around Agent Six, a typical single-target grind
spot for the high 30s (not that there is many alternatives), and
you can show me just how fantastic endurance drain is. And I'll
show you the difference the third heavy nuke makes.
Lightning_Fast, it isn't being closed minded to admit that fire
and assault rifle are simply better powerlevelers than are the
single-target power sets. Its really indisputable fact. Ice,
Electricity, and Energy all kill in a similar fashion so it is
best to compare them. My point was that we should avoid bringing
in Fire or Assault Rifle as a red hearing to make Electricity
look bad, to compare it to its peer power sets and show that it
still comes up short.
Bwbarbou, you are making a mistaken assumption that I do not do
missions. You don't list your level, but here is a tip. Do EVERY
mission at 30 and again at 35. When you are done with them,
you'll be left with about 3 levels in each 5-level block to go
that you'll have to grind somewhere. And there is something like
having a boss be a practice dummy after you managed to drain its
endurance. Having him spend the entire fight on his back, right
from the opening snipe, looking stupid as you beat him into
submission.
BernieGoetz, basically the same comment. At high levels the
missions give you only a fraction of the experience you will need
to level up. As in all your contacts will be drained, no more
missions, and you still have several levels to go before you get
more contacts. You will have to grind no matter what. The
difference is that a poor grinding built is likely to get
frustrated with the mindless killing and give up while a good
build is still frustrated but can get through in something less
than eternity to get to see the new contacts and the new
missions. Now that swarms are to be nerfed, it will take a player
even more willing to grind mindlessly to get past the 30s. We'll
just have to wait and see on the 40s.
Codename_hitman, what's your point? You just assume I would have
trouble taking out 2 purple lieutenants and 2 red minions. You
would be mistaken. The only mobs that give me any trouble are
those with status effects. You know, the ones that will knock
your hovering butt out of the sky right into the middle of the
pack. Nothing gets into melee range unless I want it to, or I am
held/slept/stunned (not counting immobolize, with Combat Jumping
I can't remember the last time anything successfully immobilized
me.) If that happens, with caltrops, I am much less likely to be
forced into melee than the you with your hover which just shut
off.
Single-target blasters avoid large packs because there is no
advantage in fighting them. You'll still have to pick them off
one at a time. What's the difference between picking off 5 guys
one at a time twice or 10 guys one at a time? Only that with 10,
more guys are shooting at you for a longer time, so you have more
downtime. Yes, a pack of oranges will do a noticeable amount of
damage shooting at you over the time it takes you to take them
out individually, especially if you are not a devices blaster
with Smoke Grenade. It just makes much more sense to find smaller
packs that you can drop quickly to minimize the shots you take.
It has zero to do with melee. I have no hover, yet no mob gets
into melee range with me unless I don't care if it does.
I'll add that if you rely on hover, wait until you get to high
level. I've been fooling around with the new content on test and
the developers' non-creative method of making the higher level
groups more difficult is to make a lots of them have status
effects. You will be slept/held/stunned constantly. You will be
completely drained of mana and have all your toggles turned off
contantly against one villian group. I don't mean just by the
bosses, by minions, minions at range. Hover will not even keep
you out of melee anymore because it will be constantly shut off.
Fortunately, my caltrops still work fine, and superspeed means if
I find the fight going badly, I only need a second or so of
unheld/stunned/slept time to turn it on and run away with my tail
between my legs. Flight is just slower, you will get much less
separation in the same given time, meaning much more chance that
you don't get away.
On power gamer and role player being one in the same. Yes I know they cross over.
The MMORPG is more Power Gamer territory, role players might feel out of place at times but still find a lot of excitement. As a veteran of "in character" RPG's (like Masquerade, played in real life with real people) I've seen many Power Gamer types come and feel out of place at real IC RPG sessions, perhaps as much as I do on this message board. Of course I always tried to make everyone feel welcome and that they had legitimate input.
But those who were overly concerned with numbers and powers would lose interest. They wanted to resolve the storyline and dispense with the "game" so they could get more powers. It's a tendency of human nature really so I don't mean to insult anyone. John Lennon said that life is what happens to us while we're busy making other plans. All I'm saying to the power gamer is to stop and take time to smell the Vahzilok (okay, not literally).
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Thats a big misconception that everyone level 40 skipped the content.
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Huh? Did I say that someone lvl 40 skipped content? If the content is riveting eventually everybody will reach level 40. Unless of course there is some skill ceiling in the game which I have yet to encounter, which could be fun.
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Levels dont really matter, time played does. I've done just about every mission and I hit 40 within a month of release. I also helped my SG level up, so I was rarely xping solo, mainly after 34.
So, why should someone who is say level 20 care that a level 40 has not enjoyed the game and skipped all the content, especially since its not true.
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In true "powergamer" fashion, even "immsersiveness" becomes a quantifiable value, proving that the power gamer just doesn't get the RPG.
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I think people are more envyous of others ability to play alot rather than their level.
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I'm just jealous of that cookie I don't get to snack on. 
Bernie Goetz
BTW, RSRobinson. I completely respect your guide and your observations and in no way attempt to detract from the idea of "grinding" which I try only to do in bed. I completely understand that you stated what your guide was and was not and I respect that. I know it's an inevitable position.
I appreciated reading what someone feels is a good build as opposed to a not so good build. Believe me, I am more than a little interested in getting my characters as tough as possible for the tougher missions I expect to see later. And yes I spend a lot of time just taking out random baddies everywhere on the map.
BernieGoetz, I know reading this guide you must think me purely a powergamer. That is not the case. I would rather be doing missions than street grinding any day of the week, even for slower exp. Heck, I play an energy blaster, a good mission runner but not the best grinder just because I like missions.
The problem with this game is that missions run out before you level up to the next level. You have to grind. To me, grinding is something I do not for more levels and powers (though I do like those), but to open up my next set of contacts and get more missions. Unfortunately, I was one of the people with 2 bugged story arcs from 25-30, so I have not been able to see any of story arcs from 30 on. Very frustrating to me. Fortunately, the devs have said that this is fixed so I should get to see 40 plus story arcs. I also read that there are a whole lot of missions 40 plus, I hope this is truly the case. The fact that one of the first missions I tried was a 'defeat all villians' mission with a level 40 archvillian in it was very upsetting. I am a soloer at heart, and before I was even a bub into 40, already I've got an unsoloable mission. Plus, I came across an unkillable boss for me in another mission, fortunately I didn't have to kill it. It hits for 300 damage at range, has a ranged hold, phases out during the battle so half the time your attacks have no effect, and summons lieutenants to help it that also have a ranged hold attack. Oh yeah, and it floats so knockback only pushes it back, it doesn't knock it down. It just is too powerful - the phase out that makes an attack just bounce off which it seems able to turn on while recharging its attacks and off while firing is the kicker. Add to that so many more minions having status effects and all of your toggles getting turned of and the content I played so far seems to have the general theme of difficulty via frustration which does not bode well for me to have fun with it.
Admit it, endurance drain is far inferior to knockback and slow.
For powerleveling it is completely useless. You kill mobs that
pose no risk and can be massacred as fast as possible
Your position that electricity is worse than the other AT's because mobs will die too fast to make endurance drain effective doesnt make sense.
If mobs die too fast, then none of the secondary effects really dont come into play in PL.
With Endurance drain, I dont have have bypass groups with bosses or multiple bosses or multiple LT's.
I'll add that character you have to my friends list on test, Im stuck in *outbreak* atm.
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Renjiro, the problem with your argument is that Blasters will
always solo faster than any other archtype, simply because they
are the archtype that does the most damage... [snipped for brevity's sake]
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That is probably the single most insightful post about this game that I have read. Kudos RSRobinson. Agree 100%.
(Just for emphasis, mission bonuses should be increased)
And my main is a scrapper. 
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze
Nice build
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<begin rant>
wow. imean.. just wow.
rob puts up a PL guide and of course all the RPGers start complaining that PLing is dumb. If you don't like it, DONT DO IT!!!
and then all the elec/whatever people start talking about "im not inferior! i refuse to believe i chose wrong for PLing!". how can you even pretend that end drain is "just if not more" effective as knockback. when you knock a mob back, they're down for the 2-5 sec's they're alive whereas with end drain, they lose a miniscule % of their end and shoot at you 1-2 times... see how it matters pie?
<end rant>
I have a 27 Elec/Elec and 34 Fire/Device.
Fire Prim outdamage Elec Prim either single/pack target.
Why?
Elec have 2 single attack, 1 snipe, and 1 AE.
Fire have 3 single attack, which one of them is almost as strong as the snipe, 1 snipe, 1 AE and 1 Cone.
No hasten, Fire's attack allow them to attack most of the time. But the Elec are going to wait for his 2 singles attack to recycle.
[ QUOTE ]
<begin rant>
wow. imean.. just wow.
rob puts up a PL guide and of course all the RPGers start complaining that PLing is dumb. If you don't like it, DONT DO IT!!!
and then all the elec/whatever people start talking about "im not inferior! i refuse to believe i chose wrong for PLing!". how can you even pretend that end drain is "just if not more" effective as knockback. when you knock a mob back, they're down for the 2-5 sec's they're alive whereas with end drain, they lose a miniscule % of their end and shoot at you 1-2 times... see how it matters pie?
<end rant>
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All I can say is I played with all the sets in Beta and the only reason I chose Elect in release is because I like the graphics and sound. No one in his right mind would opt for electric otherwise. Its far inferior to all other blaster sets. It works fine for someone who just wants to have fun, but realistically its not as effective as any other blaster powerset. Yeah, it does the job. ITS NOT BAD which is what the author has said several time. We have it easier than almost any other archetype. I have fun with my electric blaster. But to say its at the same level as the other powersets would be crazy.
[ QUOTE ]
<begin rant>
wow. imean.. just wow.
rob puts up a PL guide and of course all the RPGers start complaining that PLing is dumb. If you don't like it, DONT DO IT!!!
and then all the elec/whatever people start talking about "im not inferior! i refuse to believe i chose wrong for PLing!". how can you even pretend that end drain is "just if not more" effective as knockback. when you knock a mob back, they're down for the 2-5 sec's they're alive whereas with end drain, they lose a miniscule % of their end and shoot at you 1-2 times... see how it matters pie?
<end rant>
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Come see me on justice anytime.
so whats the big diff in an energy 1-2 shotting a mob and the elec doing the same? Drain or knockback...pfft wtf cares.
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so whats the big diff in an energy 1-2 shotting a mob and the elec doing the same? Drain or knockback...pfft wtf cares.
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/agree
guess I was wrong to make an electric blaster, Ill never be 40!
RSR, let me first say that, the guide that you created was very informative. Out of curiosity, I created a Fire/Devices blaster last night. HOLY CRAP!!!!!
Although I'm not completely convinced in inferiority of my Elec/Elec blaster, my god, what power. My Elec blaster is only 23 (only 23, heh), but I"ll continue to build him up.
My apologies to you and others that I might have offended with my comments. I don't mean to bash people who mainly power level. I'm only curious as to the mindset behind it since I've seen it in many of the other MMO's I've played. In other games, this has taken away from MY experience since I"ve been griefed so many times. I forget this game's not like that.
Have fun power leveling up. Just don't KS my hunting mission 
lol
Tell ya what why not leave this post alone and go make your own giude about Hover , Fly, Electricity or whatever.
This person posted a very nice guide that obviously took some time to write and it has turned into a flame war about nonsense. Why you want to hijack this thread with your dribble?
I could give a crap less if your electricity Blaster is lvl 40 or any of that stuff. If the title said Electricity Blaster debate than ok maybe I would be interested in what you have to say.
Quit hijaking this thread and go get one of your own.
yes i am!
no your not!
yes i am!
no your not!
My blaster can beat up your blaster!
no you cant!
yes I can!
give it a rest.
The thing is, the so-called useful guide opened with a very poor tone towards electric blasters, claiming that they're inferior, and that anyone attempting to powerlevel with one is better off re-rolling.
It comes across as fairly immature, and as an Electric Blaster, I don't tend to see these problems. Of course, I'm also smart enough to add *range* enhancements to my build, so while you're all arguing about maximizing damage, I'm doing just enough from far away to wipe out mobs before they can touch me. Does it take a bit longer than AoE attacks? Maybe. I never said I was sufficiently well-versed in the art of powerleveling to know what the exact fastest method was for XP gain per hour, but you know, I'm pretty effective.
Maybe if the original post said something closer to "I don't know electric blasters well enough to provide any input," then this would have never blown out of proportion, as Pie might have just posted her tips, and we'd be done with this already.
(Besides, any thread that claims that a certain AT mix is going to have the easiest time powerlevelling is just *begging* for the nerfbat, which I'm sure we all want to avoid.)
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Lightning_Fast, it isn't being closed minded to admit that fire and assault rifle are simply better powerlevelers than are the single-target power sets. Its really indisputable fact. Ice, Electricity, and Energy all kill in a similar fashion so it is best to compare them. My point was that we should avoid ringing in Fire or Assault Rifle as a red hearing to make Electricity look bad, to compare it to its peer power sets and show that it still comes up short.
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Let me try and resolve this, although I doubt any single post will at this point.
You stipulated your ideal goal of powerleveling by identifing target groups of minions you should be killing at both low and high levels. You further state that the goal is to 2 shot them and move on. This would allow the quickest XP. Agreed so far?
I agree that AR is the best for this at later levels. Fire can do the same after lvl 11 or so, once you can 5/6 slot up both AOE attacks and fill them with dmg DOs. Still ok?
Now, my issue was that you claimed ice is a single-target blaster, along with energy and elec. My counter-point is that each blaster has a varying level of AOE ability and I had listed the descending order of those types: AR, Fire, Ice, Energy, Elec. As you go down the list, each type has less AOE ability and therefore has less chance of clearing out large groups and having to focus on smaller groups, therefore earning XP at a slower rate. So, in the grand scheme of things, choosing anything but ar/dev would be a waste... unless you put criteria on optimal target groups for grinding... which you did.
Based on your criteria, Ice is able to perform the needed 2-attack combo, in order to kill a group and move on within a sub-5 second time. If you want to increase your criteria, feel free. I would have no choice but to agree with you, but would definately make the point that as the criteria increases, you would be a fool not to play ar/dev... as it gives you the maximum possible AOE dmg for the maximum possible criteria. Luckily, people like different animations, sounds, etc and want to play different primaries. I am stating that Ice still is a valid powerleveling blaster with good AOE abilities, which can powerlevel at almost identical speed as AR/Fire, provided you do not diverge from the -1/equal criteria.
Quick note though... please don't repeat any statements regarding my levels or experience. You simply don't know. I remained completely quiet about the fact you are giving advice on fire/ar powerleveling but actually just have a 26 AR and 40 energy. I would suspect you don't also have 35-40 fire/ice/elec/ar blasters, but I didn't discount your post, telling you to actually play them. I ask you to afford me the same respect.
>> Electric Blaster, I don't tend to see these problems.
Denial is ugly. Bump for a great Blaster Guide.
Good grief he didnt say the other power sets were not effective, just not optimal for power leveling the way he described. I like my Eng guy best and might enjoy an Electric blaster as well, but its ridiculas to argue they level as fast. The simple mathematics dictate they dont. Does it mean they are gimp, uninteresting, poor levelers or inneffective, no. Just a bit slower. I dont understand the emotion behind people defending certain power sets. Blasters are kings of leveling and Fire or AR are the kings of those. Too many people just throw out the old................well come watch me on such and such server and you will see just how good x power set is. That offers no further insight or reason why your set is superior. If you are a high lvl, it does show that you are competant and understand the game mechanics well. I think my fire blaster is pretty boring, but nothing has lvld at the speed he has of the blaters I have. shruggs
An excellent post, concisely demonstrating for the perusal of the Developers everything that is best about the best AT in the game.
Are you -sure- you wanted to do that?
An excellent post, concisely demonstrating for the perusal of the Developers everything that is best about the best AT in the game.
Are you -sure- you wanted to do that?
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I read the guide, good stuff. I like the info and will use the advice. I mean no disrespect to my fellow CoH gamers when I say...
I was a little "saddened" by the post, although as a newbie to the game I expected it.
I think this game is immersive, lots of back-story. Killing baddies is just part of the fun, gets the blood pumping when you narrowly avoid death or run away with a sliver of life. The more immersed you get, the more actual time you spend reading the contacts information, looking at clues, trying to contribute to the society of Paragon City, the MORE you blood is going to pump from the sheer excitement of the action in the game. Yes, I believe the powergamer misses out on the true "action" in the game even though they think they're all about the action aspect, ironic.
Do you care when a character that hasn't been developed in a movie is killed? No. In RPGs your involvement in the development of your character isn't half as interesting, exciting or pulse pounding if you haven't let yourself become immersed in the world.
I believe the highs you feel running around burning foes with your blaster as a power gamer who has broken the statistics down to their lowest common denominator, built the 'best' on paper character who specifically avoids back-story or development as an inefficient waste of time (IE why bother creating a cool costume for your powergamer character, just take a default) I believe your highs aren't as high as my highs in the game. Sorry if that sounds arrogant or if you think I really can't "know" how someone feels in a game or how much enjoyment he derives, but I do know, and I know you're missing out by being a "powergamer". You're missing out most on the very aspects of the game you purport to specialize in.
This is nothing new. I see it in all computer games. I saw it in dice and pencil RPGs years ago. The DM and his pals who gave out ridiculous magic items and had millions of hit points didn't play D&D very long. Me and my friends who played with a stingy DM and played in a fertile world that unfolded like a story before us would play the same campaign for years and years.
I really don't mean any offence to the powergamers. In fact, for all those of you who got your level 40 in one week of playing and have all your sockets in the mathematically most efficient slots for maximum NPC damage dealing here, I bestow upon you your rightful gift. A cookie. Enjoy.
Bernie Goetz, crime fighter extraordinaire
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Thats a big misconception that everyone level 40 skipped the content. Levels dont really matter, time played does. I've done just about every mission and I hit 40 within a month of release. I also helped my SG level up, so I was rarely xping solo, mainly after 34.
I think people are more envyous of others ability to play alot rather than their level.