SnipeFu's Definitive Guide to Energy Blasters V3.0
By
Airhammer,
Posted on: 2004-11-09 13:44 in Player Guides
Definitely attacks...trust me, as a blaster...I know when 300 damage hits. I had some of my SG teaming with me a couple nights ago and I had to get my buddy who plays a tank to make sure he would move a little after I'd land it so that they would effectively go into stun mode. I'll double-check tonight and let you know.
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As far as I know wolves and DE are resistant to KB. Certain others also, but more often than not you can knock anyone around especially with power push.
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I will have to disagree with you on one point... DE are not resistant to knockback. In reality, if you knock one of them down, there is a chance, they will lay there for a few moments for some unknown reason. I have been in missions where I threw an explosive blast and knocked half of the group down... when I defeated the rest that were standing I ran on and got sent to the hospital from about three alpha strikes.
grasses and shrooms are highly HIGHLY vulnerable to knockback. As far as I can tell, rockheads are highly resistant, and crystals are about normal.
If wolves are resistant, they are not extremely so. I've punted them around a fair bit, as has my MA partner (of course, she bounces AVs, so that's not saying much).
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grasses and shrooms are highly HIGHLY vulnerable to knockback. As far as I can tell, rockheads are highly resistant, and crystals are about normal.
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Though keep in mind that crystal DE are resistant to energy damage, regardless of knockback.
I just wanted to quickly post that SnipeFu's Guide to Enery Blasters deserves to be voted the best guide out there. It helped me ding 50 tonight!! 
Wewt!!! Gratz Virginia! Wohoo another 50 in the ranks!
Yay, another energy blaster makes it to 50 despite having to overcome the incredible deficit of being both unable to solo past 40, and unable to team because no one wants us.
So how'd you do it? Currently, I'm recommending that energy blasters make a costume that looks like a phantasm, so they can follow illusion controllers around and hope the controller doesn't notice the extra phant.
"w-t-f? when did they give phantasms a snipe? And NOVA???"
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I just wanted to quickly post that SnipeFu's Guide to Enery Blasters deserves to be voted the best guide out there. It helped me ding 50 tonight!!
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w00t! Grats!
The Legion of Freedom
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So how'd you do it? Currently, I'm recommending that energy blasters make a costume that looks like a phantasm, so they can follow illusion controllers around and hope the controller doesn't notice the extra phant.
"w-t-f? when did they give phantasms a snipe? And NOVA???"
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Well, I combined SnipeFu's energy blaster guide with Concern's "Be a Better *******" philosophy, added a few range/accuracy/damage HOs, and created the ultimate long-ranged sneaky dirty-fighting sniper. 
I'd often snipe a Malta sapper from extreme range while stealthed, watch him turn around looking for me, then nail him with a second snipe without either him, his fellow minions or his LT seeing me. 
After that, BAM BAM BAM from range and they're "arrested".
Was it sporting? Nope. Was it fair? Nah.
Was I Being a Better Blastard? You bet your bippee!!!
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Well, I combined SnipeFu's energy blaster guide with Concern's "Be a Better *******" philosophy, added a few range/accuracy/damage HOs, and created the ultimate long-ranged sneaky dirty-fighting sniper. I'd often snipe a Malta sapper from extreme range while stealthed, watch him turn around looking for me, then nail him with a second snipe without either him, his fellow minions or his LT seeing me. After that, BAM BAM BAM from range and they're "arrested".
Was it sporting? Nope. Was it fair? Nah.
Was I Being a Better Blastard? You bet your bippee!!!
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That works also.
Blasters do not want "fair" fights. I was never exactly a full-fledged 3B, but I know the highest compliment you can give to a blaster is, after watching them defeat a bunch of foes, tell them "that hardly seems fair."
Since you also have snipe slotted for hami-range, have you played "tag the death mage" in Portal Court yet? They hate that. First they climb the nearby hillside to get into range of you, and if that doesn't work, they actually sometimes run off into the ocean - if you don't kill them first.
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This is still about the best guide out there, regardless of Archetype. Just can't stop from reading it again for my poor, easily-smooshed blaster. Thanks again!
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Currently, I'm recommending that energy blasters make a costume that looks like a phantasm, so they can follow illusion controllers around and hope the controller doesn't notice the extra phant.
"w-t-f? when did they give phantasms a snipe? And NOVA???"
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I like it! I have a costume that's similiar, and if someone gives me invisibility, I can almost blend in! Then it's time for some psychotic twitchy goodness!
Congrats!
I have to agree that this guide is one of the best available, and that the people who post here have combined to create one of the best topic discussions of any thread. I currently only have one toon, my eng/eng blaster, and I have to admit that I originally powered him up all kinds of wrong. I had energy punch, flurry instead of hasten, and I might have even two-slotted brawl. (Yeah, laugh about that one.)
Thankfully, I just completed the lvl 24 respec tf and took both hover and invis and then set out to solo a Freakshow hunting mish in Terra Volta. Where once I was earning debt like it was my job (I wasn't that bad, having only gotten to a third bubble once), I now found myself confident in wacking a few boss and maybe an LT or minion before turning off hover and scampering away with SS.
Which leads me to my question...as a eng/eng blaster, when does it become possible to blast away a +1 or +2 mob of 8 or 10 without having to run away after having only off'd one or two of the mob? Is it ever possible? (I hate asking a group to help me with these hunting mishs. Don't know why.)
I read this post quite often, and while I know my toon is significantly lower in lvl than some of the posters, it seems that I'm forced to hit and run more so than others. For instance, in order to kill the 20 Freakshow, I probably needed about 13 trips to different mobs. I never ate dirt, but then I'm wondering if I could be doing things better.
I don't have my build on me, but I can tell you that I have most of the basics (Power thrust [only because I'm forced to], Bolt, Blast, Burst, Snipe, [mostly five slotted right now with 1 acc and rest dam, except Snipe which has 1 acc, 1 interrupt red., and 3 dam] Aim, Build up, Hasten [two slotted, I believe), SS, Hover (3 slotted currently), and Stamina).
Any advice on playstyle from anyone who can handle +1 or +2 mobs would be greatly appreciated. (As would someone saying...yeah, you're pretty much on the money by quickly offing one or two and then beating feet.)
The relative lack of AoE effects is a mixed blessing for nrg blasters. At your level, only Energy Torrent would be available. Explosive Blast will be available at 28 and Nova at 32. So for the time being, hit-and-run is your only real option with larger groups of mobs.
Even when Explosive Blast becomes available, you'll find it doesn't do great damage. The chain I most commonly use it in is Power Boost - Build Up - Aim - Energy Torrent - Explosive Blast. Con or +1 minions will generally require one shot each after that to finish them off. It's good for a modestly-sized group of minions or a smaller group with a lieutenant.
For big groups (8 or more) you'll need to wait for Nova. Until then, just continue with the sneaky-stealthy blaster methods.
Regards to all
Actually when dealing with freakshow the aim+buildup+Energy torrent+Explosive Blast combo will take out even level freaks because they are weak to energy. Generaly speaking that combo will leave most mobs with a tiny sliver of health, but since freakshow are weak to energy it will work.
I think you will realize that most big groups will be a chellenge until you get nova slotted. Also you don't have any AoEs going so the best thing is to probably concentrate on small groups of higher level where your single target damage will shine.
You will aslo find that once you have hasten fully slotted which you should really getr working on things will move significantly faster.
The Legion of Freedom
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Any advice on playstyle from anyone who can handle +1 or +2 mobs would be greatly appreciated. (As would someone saying...yeah, you're pretty much on the money by quickly offing one or two and then beating feet.)
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At level 24? Hmm, I would say have stealth, snipe, build up, and torrent, and don't attack more than 4.
BU+Snipe+torrent if snipe is well slotted will probably take out a +1 or +2 minion at your level, and the torrent should knock down the other three (but not do terrific damage). Then, its a shoot out on the remaining three. Power blast, or bolt+blast will take out the second one, probably for free (you're probably not taking too much damage yet if torrent connected well). If you have power burst, better yet, but you have to start this engagement more or less in range of burst to begin with, which is why stealth is important.
If you had burst, you have two, probably three of four dead, but you've probably taken some hits, and you have to put the last one or two down quick. Without perma-hasten, your attacks won't be recycling very fast. It would be tricky to get the last one down fast enough, but its possible.
I could get away with this with 3 +1 minions. Usually 4 +1 minions. I would not go after more than 3 +2 minions this way at level 24, too dangerous. It would be possible with superspeed and bonesmasher, but I had neither at 24. If there is an LT in that mix, my max was one +1 LT and 1, maybe 2 minions. I would not engage a +2 LT unless it was alone. Facing any group bigger than those limits, and I would resort to pulling to bring the count down.
Of course, at the time I was 24, there weren't any +2 LTs in small spawn groups to be found anywhere. Which means I was pulling all the time.
If you are thinking of going after the bigger game (higher than even con, more than three, or both), I think energy blasters at level 24 have to be really good at at least one of three things: pulling, super speed jousting, knockback control. Realistically speaking, you'll want at least two out of these three solid.
Really good at pulls: if you think its impossible to pull two LTs apart, not good enough yet. If you think pulling = standing back here and shooting at something, not even close yet.
Really good at jousting: you don't need extra range in burst or torrent, you don't run into things, and if you get low health, you escape more often than drop dead.
Really good at knockback control: you want them there, you put them there, chain knockback is second nature, and you will switch targets to knock one down and switch back without thinking.
I got good at pulling in the 20s, it took until the late thirties to get really good KB control, and I didn't even know about jousting until the 40s. I tended to stick to even con villains myself in the 20s, if I could. Heck I went after blues a lot, I tended to prefer the easy kills when I could get them (when I was street hunting, which wasn't often except in the level X'8s and X'9s).
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For big groups (8 or more) you'll need to wait for Nova. Until then, just continue with the sneaky-stealthy blaster methods.
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Thanks a lot, Demon. That's kinda what I thought...especially since I dropped torrent because of the unwanted aggro that it constantly supplied.
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You will aslo find that once you have hasten fully slotted which you should really getr working on things will move significantly faster.
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Snipe, what's your thought on future slotting? I've been trying to max out damage by going heavy on the attacks, but you seem to feel that I'd be better off loading up Hasten. Is that what you're thinking?
Also, again, thanks for confirming that my hit-and-run stategy is satisfactory. I tend to feel like a lil' punk going about my business this way, but a squishy blaster has to do what a squishy blaster has to do.
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Really good at pulls: if you think its impossible to pull two LTs apart, not good enough yet. If you think pulling = standing back here and shooting at something, not even close yet.
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Pulling I'm still trying to master. I recognize that you pick off the outside stragglers when they wander from the pack and don't immediately target the boss, but other than that, I'm open to advice. Once I'm out of stragglers to pull toward me, that's when I hit the pulling wall and end up aggroing everyone.
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Really good at jousting: you don't need extra range in burst or torrent, you don't run into things, and if you get low health, you escape more often than drop dead.
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Just starting to pick this one up, having just learned of it recently on the board. What I try to do is run up and then run back, but then I was doing that before invis. Now that I have invis, I'm going to start running through to come out on the other side. I can definitely tell that this takes practice.
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Really good at knockback control: you want them there, you put them there, chain knockback is second nature, and you will switch targets to knock one down and switch back without thinking.
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Nowhere near this kind of game command yet, but I'm trying to learn.
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Pulling I'm still trying to master. I recognize that you pick off the outside stragglers when they wander from the pack and don't immediately target the boss, but other than that, I'm open to advice. Once I'm out of stragglers to pull toward me, that's when I hit the pulling wall and end up aggroing everyon
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Here are the basics everyone will tell you:
Distance is good, be far away.
Stealth is good, have some (it reduces the perception radius, effectively making better use of distance)
Don't kill the guy you are trying to pull (this one, frankly, isn't really accurate, though, in the sense of if you actually pull off the perfect pull, but you accidentally or deliberately kill the target, you still shouldn't aggro the whole rest of the bunch).
Here's a few things people don't always know about pulling that isn't mentioned very often:
1. Distance is important, but breaking line of sight is even better. I see so many people "pull" by standing still, firing a shot into the crowd, and then seeing how many come after them. That's not pulling, that's gambling. If you can break line of sight fast, your pull will tend to go better. Line up on a target, and then move behind an obstacle (like around the corner) until you can just barely see the target. Then - and this takes practice - fire and move behind the obstacle *at the same time*. What will tend to happen is that the guy you shot will come around after you, but the others, because of the way the alarm logic works, will "get alerted to your presence" but be unable to locate you, since they can't see you. Be warned that this doesn't always work, so be able to "mouse look around the corner" to see what's coming.
A really good way to do this exists in the Hollows, the Shadow Shard, and other places where you find yourself in the "hollows-like" tunnels. There is so much "up and down" terrain, that you can jump up, fire, and as you fall back down you will break line of sight, exactly the way you want. If you want to use snipe to pull from very long range, *hover* and fire, then immediately turn off hover - once again, you'll rapidly fall out of line of sight.
2. When it goes to heck, it can be fixed! Run for your life, but keep them in sight if you can. Keep kiting them until they get tired of chasing you, and start running back. Then - go after them, and shoot the straggler. When they are all running away from you, shooting the last guy in the back will generally cause him to turn to you and attack, while the rest of the group continues to run off.
3. The guy that wanders away is a good target, but the best target is the one the other guys aren't looking at. If there is a group all looking in one direction, go to the other side, and shoot the guy closest to you (farthest in the back). Hit him, and if he isn't knocked back too far into the group, he will come after you, but the others wont' turn around fast enough to see you (see breaking line of sight, above).
Which one is closest? All good pullers have /target_enemy_near bound to a key, so they can reliably target the closest thing to them.
4. Target things that prefer melee attacks over ranged attacks. Slashers over gunners, that sort of thing. They are least likely to stand and shoot at you, and much more likely to run after you.
5. When pulling simply won't work, or won't work well: if there is something in the group with a very long perception range, like snipers, rikti drones, and other things that can see through stealth, only experts have any chance at all pulling those groups. It can be done, but only from extreme range with snipe shots. Don't practice on these. Never, ever attempt to pull the Skyraiders unless you intend to practice on them to write a pulling guide. Its possible, depending on the mix of minions, but most of the time you'll get a bunch of raiders teleporting in all around you.
You know, if you want to learn pulling but aren't hanging around pullers a lot, watch tanks that herd. Herding is the converse of pulling. Notice what they do. They grab everyone's attention. Then they run off. Then they run around a corner. They break line of sight because they want to force all those mobs to have to chase them instead of standing and firing from range, and then as they all round the corner they bunch up in nice piles - if they do it right. If they do it wrong, the villains go wide around the corner and don't make a pile.
You want to do the same thing, just to one target at a time. Get his attention. Shooting him in the head works wonders to get their attention. Then run around the corner, fast. Force him to come to you. Make sure you're ready to hit him before he gets a good shot at you. Make sure this is all happening far enough away from the others that they don't care. Your main problem is grabbing just one, and breaking line of sight fast enough to only keep one.
It takes practice, but that is what solo missions are for - no one can laugh at you when you "pull" eight DE towards you at the same time. When I was learning this I had blown pulls in ways so ridiculous you would think I was trying to commit suicide. Don't be discouraged if it takes time to get right. Most of the people that tell you they got pulling down quickly probably aren't even doing it correctly now.
Energy is king of the pull. Have fun.
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When does it become possible to blast away a +1 or +2 mob of 8 or 10 without having to run away after having only off'd one or two of the mob? Is it ever possible? (I hate asking a group to help me with these hunting mishs. Don't know why.)
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It is possible and I was doing it before my 3rd respec. Here's what I found works best...
1) Hover up out of melee range, but be close enough to use the main powers (Stealth will help with this).
2) Target an enemy just past the closest one. Then hit the powers in this order: Aim, Build Up, and Sniper.
3) When you see the animation and halo around the sniper power, quickly target the nearest enemy and hit Blast. When Sniper and Blast both fire, hit Bolt.
4) Use Blast, Bolt, and Burst on whatever comes in range. If you start taking too much damage, run away. Then, rinse and repeat.
My normal tactic is to Hover, Aim, Build, Snipe the farthest. While snipe is charging, I Bolt then blast the closest. Now my BU and Aim have dropped, so I start spamming torrent and explosive on the mob as they get close. If anyone is not KBed, Power Push handles that.
I can go through a group of Crey in nothing, except when they have a Protector with them. DE and Nemesis are easy also. Rikti I have a problem with, but if I start to get overwhelmed I hit the panic button: NOVA!
After that either they die, or I die... either way, what fun!
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1. Distance is important, but breaking line of sight is even better.
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I find jump pulling to be the most effective. You find a convenient crate to hide behind. Target an enemy, hit the attack (which won't go off yet), then jump. The attack will go off once you land, safely out of site. If there isn't something to jump over, you can also jump around a corner. This is harder, since you have to move, jump, and hit the attack. It takes some coordination and timing, but it's not too bad. It goes off again after you land behind the corner out of sight. But if done right (and out of perception range), there is no way for a mob to attack you after you attack unless they come after you.
As someone else said, you don't want to defeat the mob you pull. Defeated mobs send out a death cry that agros nearby friends. I've seen a pulling guide that describes this as being a larger radius than the "hey I'm being attacked" cry that pulled mobs normally send out.
Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304
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1. Distance is important, but breaking line of sight is even better.
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I find jump pulling to be the most effective. You find a convenient crate to hide behind. Target an enemy, hit the attack (which won't go off yet), then jump. The attack will go off once you land, safely out of site. If there isn't something to jump over, you can also jump around a corner. This is harder, since you have to move, jump, and hit the attack. It takes some coordination and timing, but it's not too bad. It goes off again after you land behind the corner out of sight. But if done right (and out of perception range), there is no way for a mob to attack you after you attack unless they come after you.
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Yep, this tends to be the best tactics outdoors. Note: you used to be able to do this with fences, but not any more.
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As someone else said, you don't want to defeat the mob you pull. Defeated mobs send out a death cry that agros nearby friends. I've seen a pulling guide that describes this as being a larger radius than the "hey I'm being attacked" cry that pulled mobs normally send out.
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Yep, and there's a catch to this that makes this advice a sometimes not entirely correct. This is a problem for people that don't break line of sight. As I mentioned, there are a lot of people that "pull" by standing fifty feet away stealthed, shoot one, and see how many come. If that shot kills the target, they will tend to pull the entire group because of the "death cry."
But a proper pull won't do that. The only attack we have that has any chance at all to 1-shot kill tends to be snipe (anyone pulling with firebreath deserves to die). If you pull from extreme range with snipe, and you are outside their perception range, you can shoot with impunity. If the snipe actually kills the target, all of the others will be "alerted" but they will be unable to actually see you to attack.
So it is perfectly valid to stand at extreme range, use boost range, build up, and snipe-kill someone one, wait for snipe to recharge, and then shoot *again* and this time pull the next one.
Similarly, if you actually break line of sight while firing at a target and you actually kill the target for whatever reason, the fact that you broke line of sight means the others can't rush you. The main problem with LOS-breaking is that the *only* reason they aren't all trying to kill you is because they can't see you; the moment you round the corner again they are all going to charge you.
Its one of those rules that its best to believe when you are first starting out because its safer to believe it, but then in certain circumstances, its good to remember that its not absolute, because some tactics require you to disobey it later on.
Example: one minion, one LT, one Boss Rularuu, in the tunnels, where sniping from maximum range isn't possible because of tunnel geometry. Here, its best to kill the minion, break LoS, wait for aggro to quiet down, then attempt a pull on the LT. The alternative, pulling the minion, might cause him to shoot at you, which might then pull them all to you.
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Much thanks to everyone who responded. Last night I only had time for one mission (thank God my grad school classes are finished until September now), so I undertook a Freakshow warehouse mish solo in order to practice on pulling. Wow, that line of sight thing really does make things a heck of a lot easier, doesn't it? I only aggro'd a second Freak once or twice, and I never got myself in a situation that needed for me to SS away.
The one thing I noticed that I didn't see on here: Even if you do successfully pull only one bad guy, if the rest are on alert and you hop in their line if sight after wacking the one you pulled, they'll see you even with invis. Just thought I'd point that out.
Thanks for all the help everyone. Much appreciated. Once I get pulling fine-tuned (now to try it outdoors with much bigger groups), it'll be time to start brushing up on jousting.
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Snipe, didn't know if you could back this up for me. Recently discovered the Wonderful World of Total Focus. Power is REAL helpful post 40, when everything starts to annhilate blasters, stun the boss and take out everything else while he's woozy.
Anyways, anyone else notice an issue with after hitting with total focus, the target will not start acting woozy unless they're made to take a step? If they don't move they jsut continue to swing/shoot/etc. as if not affected.
Thanks bud
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I've recently noticed occasions where after I total focus something, they turn to look at me almost like I aggroed them from afar, and sometimes they seem to stare at me for a couple of seconds before going woozy, but I haven't seen them actually attack (effectively - I haven't been hit with an attack) while stunned by total focus.
Are you seeing them make motions, kind of like how blinded foes sometimes stand there blind while continuing to go through their attack animations but no actual attack happens - or are you actually seeing real attacks that are landing real damage?
I have been seeing a lot more zombies, though. You know, you defeat them, their health and endurance bar goes to zero, they stop attacking ... but they just stand there until they despawn, they don't fall over.
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