For starters, I must commend you on your choices. My primary is currently a "only" level 28 fire/fire blaster. Having alot of the same powers. Some difference are; I have hover and fly. Fly+ stealth also seems to be almost invisible (unless you run into them). I chose fly for easier travel. I had ss until respec. That was great, just a personal choice to go with fly. Also, I chose flares for those times when you are fighting higher levels and don't want to get the whole bunch on you because lack of damage to them (very handy). I am not commenting to discredit your choices. I am thinking more along the lines of helping other fire/fire blasters move up through the levels easier. I love watching groups fall after 2 shots. You have come up with imo a very great combo. I wish I had read your post before respec, it would have helped me alot in slotting. Granted, it still helps. Alas, I made the fatal mistake of not choosing aim, build-up and hasten when I should have ( can't wait for 34 to respec again.....lol) so now, debt and I have become good friends. Your comment about getting out of LOS, best advice I've read for fire/fire, or any pulling blaster to be honest. I just wanted to reply to let you know, good guide. Just one mans opinion.
Flares, Combustion, Fire Sword .... doesn't matter, they all suck. I usually recommend Flares since it's ranged and cheap. Combustion often equals a quick melee death and Fire Sword does meh damage for the end cost.
No Fire Sword's damage never, ever becomes spectacular. It's a holdover from the Blaster melee lines of yore that should have been eleminated along w/ Energy Punch, Charged Brawl. Just like a Fire/Fire tank your other attacks are just to awesome and enhancement slots too rare to be worrying about Fire Sword or Combustion.
I would take Build-Up at 16, Hurdle at 10, and RoF later. Perma-Hasten and Build-Up w/ 3 slots = Build-Up every 24 seconds starting a lvl 22. 10 seconds of Build-Up, 14 seconds of downtime. Starting every battle doing 100% more damage is better than the occasional crowd control issues IMO.
Also you would hit a better damage output putting 6 damage in all your attacks and rotating Build-Up/Aim so one or the other is always running. W/ Build-Up + Aim + 5 damage SO's your wasting 20% of Aim's potential damage increase for one thing since Blaster damage is capped at 400% and your wasting Build-Up's ACC increase against anything but bosses.
And take Burn as soon as it's available. It's the best self-mez protection Blasters can get.
KingHippo I don't understand, How would you take RoF (assuming you mean Ring of Fire) later, it is all that's available for secondary at level 1. As far as flares, combustion, fire sword decision, I choose flares, not much damage even 3 slotted. But, it does keep your opponent occupied while your waiting for fireblast to recharge. It has saved my butt many times. Like I said though, I didn't know at respec what I know now. Hopefully the respec comes with isssue 3. I'll be so happy.
This is wrong
"I would take Build-Up at 16, Hurdle at 10, and RoF later. Perma-Hasten and Build-Up w/ 3 slots = Build-Up every 24 seconds starting a lvl 22."
3 slotted Build Up with Prema Hasten is 35 seconds
6 slotted Build Up with Prema Hasten is 25 seconds
6 slotted Build Up with no Hasten is 30 seconds
Tested on Live and Test server
I have and use 6 slotted Build Up with Prema Hasten
As for StarZero your build is your build but it is under powerd.
- Fire Breath learnd to be used right max slotted with all Damage will do double in not triple the damage of Fire Ball.
- Rain of Fire is good at low lvl but only useful for making Mobs run away at high lvl.
- Don't think about Combustion take Fire Sword Circle instead way better.
- Stealth if you want good Defence Max slot it for around 16% with Hasten on for just over 20% it makes things miss you alot more.
- Blaze slot 1 Accuracy 5 Damage hit with Build Up will take out a +1 Minion in one shoot.
- Blazing Bolt if you like it good, I like it I just don't have it anymore. Why you ask because I take out groups not single targets.
Only time it's a single target is when it is a Boss I didn't do Bosses very well before lvl 38. Now I can take out a Boss 2 lvls above me with little fear.
It's your build and I'm not saying you should change it unless you want too. Just have fun.
As a lvl 40 fire/fire blaster I have a few suggestiong and points to make. Overall I'd say your assessment was good however.
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Ring of Fire: In the early levels, I relied on this quite a bit to keep foes out of arms reach. Later levels, I very rarely use this. I didn't bother throwing any extra slots on it, and many times any enhancements in it are red.
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As far as ring of fire goes it is indeed not the best power in the secondary pool but in a pool that lacks good powers (and being a power that you forced to have) I would not negate the possible importance of it. In a high lvl senerio, for example a crey tank, ring of fire can come in handle. I have it two slotting one hold and acc.
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Combustion: Ok, this one I'm not overly sure of.
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To clear this one up let me just state DO NOT TAKE THIS POWER. There are alot of people that will disagree with this, however, a blaster is only ever two hits away from death. In order to use combustion you must be really close. You never want to be that close.
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Rain of Fire: I have seen a lot of people recommend to bypass this
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And I would be another one to do just that. In saying that, Rain is an ok power and if you really want it that is fine. However, rain will make your tank and controller teammates upset (since it will awake mobs and fear mobs away from tanks) plus if you solo alot rain will simply make it much more difficult to use you AOE's. Fire blasters are not single target blasters and with Rain that is what you become. If you use rain as a "Oh crap" weapon I would be willing to bet that you'd still be better off having the mobs in a tight area to use fire ball and fire breath.
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Fire Breath
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I think your missing the point of the fire blaster here. The best combo for a fire blaster is Aim+Buildup+Fire Ball+Fire Breath. Use that combo and you are a blaster master 
. In fire breath I have 5 damage and 1 acc. This is a PRIMARY weapon and a must have. Now some people might comment that fire breath should come first in this combo. Either way will really work most of the time, however, fire breath has a high tick damage count which is why I use it second. Using fire ball first will normally get me the first hit a damage (which is the most) and one tick. If I click fire breath once fire ball is used, Fire breath will then get the three tick damage which is more than what fire ball would get in three ticks.
Some other general comments:
1. Get buildup much much sooner. As a matter of fact get build-up as soon as possible. Use three recharge enhancements in it and use it as often as possible.
2. Aim is a very nice compliment to buildup. I have two recharge enh's in it and that seems to work well. This is also a must power.
3. Blaze and Blazing bolt are also great powers to have. Blaze's range is poor but its damage is great. Great power to use on red's and bosses. 5 dmg and 1 acc. Blazing bolt is also a must have (same slots as Blaze). This is a great power to startup a fight with. Use stealth and SS so that you are invisible get close to the boss, hit blazing bolt on the boss the fire ball+ fire breath and the mob will fall.
4. Inferno: Inferno is that ultimate power in the fire/fire blaster set. Inferno will take out a group of purple minions on one shot. When I got inferno I used it alot while hunting in Bricks (mainly the crey groups in the lower left corner) and it did not dissappoint. I slotted inferno with 3dmg 3recharge and that allows me to use it on every other mob. Now, the endurance cost is great so you either have to carry around end with you or simply get consume. Consume is another power that people just stay away from for some reason. But inferno+consume is a great combo.
5. Burn: I like burn. Burn is great as a defensive weapon. Mobs will not enter melee range (plus it is a good way to not zzzzzzzz). I just have the initial slot with dmg.
Hope this helps some. Just my opinion really but I find it works well. Good luck.
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Using fire ball first will normally get me the first hit a damage (which is the most) and one tick. If I click fire breath once fire ball is used, Fire breath will then get the three tick damage which is more than what fire ball would get in three ticks.
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What the crap is all I have to say.
You must just not understand why Fire Breath is used first period.
Lets see if I can help you.
With Fire Breath you get 3 ticks all equaling that of the first so your damage output is higher then Fire Ball but it takes time for the ticks right. Fire Breath is also a Cone so making it your first attack gives you that little bit of time to line it up to hit the whole group.
Just logged in and tested
The different ways; which are Fire Breath, Fire Ball then Fire Ball, Fire Breath.
So you use Fire Breath hit for Tick 1 use Fire Ball, Fire Ball hits right after Tick 2 from Fire Breath and then Tick 3 hits killing everything that hasnt dropped yet.
Compared to Fire Ball first which says a big Hello to the group giving them more time to attack you. Fire Breath starts and now you have to wait for the animation and then the 2 Ticks after the first one which means you are being attack for a lot longer.
Difference in your health bar is going from ¾ from Fire Breath, Fire Ball combo to ½health from Fire Ball, Fire Breath.
___
For got your little
"2. Aim is a very nice compliment to buildup. I have two recharge enh's in it and that seems to work well. This is also a must power."
The only time Aim is a must have is when you don't get Build Up like with Devices as a Secondary.
Spend those extra 3 enhancement slots on Build Up for a total of 6 and get another power. Only take Aim if it is one of your lvl 40 powers and you don't want anything else.
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You must just not understand why Fire Breath is used first period.
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You must not understand my point. Fire breath's tick dmg is far greater than fire ball. Why loose an entire tick of fire breath dmg.
And yes, if you have ss and stealth I would of course line up the mob correctly before you start the attack. Position yourself so that the cone get max dmg. And if your taking that much dmg by using the the combo in reverse I'd say you'd need more practice.
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The only time Aim is a must have is when you don't get Build Up like with Devices as a Secondary.
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Completely false. Or "What the crap is all I have to say." Aim not only has a acc bonus but it also has a dmg one. I just test aim+buildup+inferno and it will kill +3 mobs at a much better ratio than buildup+inferno. Not to mention that since fire secondary is full of powers that you simply should not get, what in the hell would you get besides Aim?
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You must not understand my point. Fire breath's tick dmg is far greater than fire ball. Why loose an entire tick of fire breath dmg.
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So another words you like to stand around taking more damage because you want to make use of your 3rd tick from Fire Breath, that makes sence. But why the crap would you want to when you can already have them dead(arrested) and move onto the next group? And you don't lose that last Tick unless you are attacking things lower lvl then you.
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Not to mention that since fire secondary is full of powers that you simply should not get, what in the hell would you get besides Aim?
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Well not my fault you don't like your secondary, as for Aim grab Power Pools instead. I take 5 powers from my secondary which is 1 more from your if I didn't take Fire Sword.
As for your little Aim + Build Up + Inferno and taking on +3lvl Mobs with just Build Up I do +4 and with a few Luck Inspirations I can do +5 with Build Up + Fire Breath + Fire Ball + Inferno but this has a High chance of you dieing but then again so does logging in and using the wrong combo on a group of mobs.
So lets talk about your Aim and Build Up
Aim 100% boost to Accuracy and lets say 33% to Damage
Build Up is 100% boost to Damage and 33 % to Accuracy
So you hit Aim 100% to Accuracy and then Build Up 100% to Damage. Oh wait what happened to the second half of both your Powers, well Aims damage boost and Build Ups accuracy boost both got canceled out because they don't stack past the 100% mark.
Your not ok with losing 1/3rd (3 tick) of Fire Breath and finishing of Mobs fast but you are ok with only using the first effect of Aim and Build Up and letting the second half go to waste.
Ya that makes perfect sense but I dont wish to carry on this flame fest, your Fire Blaster will get burned.
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- Don't think about Combustion take Fire Sword Circle instead way better.
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Amen.
How much damage firebreath and fireball do, whether it's instant or DoT, is not the only factor in deciding which one to use first. The animation time, both before and during the attack, is also a factor.
Fireball is pretty much an instant animation attack, and the time it takes to start delivering damage depends purely on distance, but when you're close enough to hit them with firebreath instead, then fireball is certainly much faster than firebreath, I'd say maybe half a second at most when used from firebreath range. Firebreath is much slower, it feels like it's a full two seconds of animation from the time you press the button until the mobs feel it.
Then there is the length of the attack itself. This is the amount of time you have to wait until you can make your next attack. After you throw a fireball, you can make your next attack rather quickly. With firebreath, you have to wait for the animation to run its course. The total length of time from the moment you press the button until you can make your next attack feels like five seconds: two seconds of animation before the attack actually begins and three seconds of breathing fire.
I don't know which order is the best. But I'm in the habit of using firebreath first, because it's a cone attack and I want to have the mob group lined up perfectly in the cone when I use it. I can't do that as easily if I get their attention with a fireball first.
Word. I play my blaster as a concept character as well. I also play IC, which I think more people should do. However, I love the rain of fire. When those [censored] tankers block doorways where I cant seem to get a target. I rain just on the other side of the door. so the rest of the team can squeeze past the big guys. I also use fly tog et the hell outta the way. unfortuanatly, i started slotting stuff before I ever realized what they actually did. Thank God for respecs. I dont like to many of the seconday fire powers.
Longboard is still a beast when it come to dishing out damage. PLUS, I look good.
Amen. Heck with the ticks aim+buildup+fireball+flamesword circle......Is anything left standing within range?? Granted FSC's aoe range isn't even close to that of fireball but the dmg animation is instant and you recieve the animation lag after the attack not before. If anything's left standing mainly due to out of range of FSC then it'll prolly get a shot off before you can blaze it out of existance. But heck burning everything in sight is a Fire/Fire blasters delight. As for circle of flames it's a tactics weapon. Sometimes nice being able to root a baddie to keep him from continuing to run at you with melee-style intentions.
Alas Mobility is a blasters best friend. Before my first respec at 28, I'll admit I didn't take any of the fitness pool powers. I had instead taken the healing pool instead so as to be able to heal myself away from battle and a lil less down time while solo'ing. After respec I took the fitness pool powers of swift health and stamina. I was amazed the difference stamina made with only 2 slots.
Since issue #3 went live and bosses are just not quite so easy to kill. The best boss killer combo i've found is aim+buildup+blazing bolt+blaze+firesword these attacks are slotted for the most dmg I can do, as finding yourself in melee range of a baddie it is nice to know that you can kill anything minion-esque in simply 2 hits with blaze and firesword with minimal slotting this can be accomplished.
I'm still holding on to my free respec since I took flares with my first one and adamantly dislike the dmg to animation ratio. Was considering fire breath but I'm not going to unslot attacks that work fine with what is in them as flares only has one slot in them.
Burn is an amusing power great to keep this up during fights against "things that make you go zzzz" but only when your not solo'ing.
Tactics and Mobility are what makes a blaster either a GOD or a blot on the road to minion-ville.
Fuery lvl 35 Fire/Fire Blaster "Justice"
Builds are good but it takes talent and skill to use them.
my powers: fireball, Fire blast, ring of fire, Fire rain, SG, jump kick, firesword, fly (no hover), blaze, burning aura, firebreath, and Air superiority. for a lvl 23 fire/fire blaster they are just fine. I stay back and burn enemies like ants under a magnifying glass. If they get close i normmaly go ing to a state of panic ad turn on blazin aura, the hit them with ring of fire, if that doesn't work, i bust out blaze and firesword. not musch lives after that. the only problem is im normally eating cement as soon as they touch me. I got the tough badge at 15. I was born a tank.
~the poster formally known as GI_Shmo~
Champion- Always BS/WP Scrapper, Difficult Bots/Dark MM
Infin- Peace Pirate PB
Any good fire/fire builds out there?
My Fire/Fire Build:
1 - Fire Blast - Good single target blast, didn't get it 6 slotted til 39 or 40 though.
1 - Ring of Fire - No choice here, never used it after like lvl 6
2 - Fire Ball - One of your bread and butter attacks, 6 slotted ASAP
4 - Flares - it's a question of another ranged attack or a big honkin sword. Currently no additional slots.
6 - Hasten - your next 5 slots should go into this
8 - Fire Breath - another bread n butter attack, 6 slot ASAP
10 - Hurdle - first step on the way to Stamina
12 - Aim - I went ahead and took it here, slight boost to damage also
14 - Superspeed
16 - Health
18 - Blaze - Great single target attack, get this one 6 slotted
20 - Stamina - Your next slots shouold go into Stamina to get it 6 slotted
22 - Build Up - great for increasing damage and a slight boost to aim
24 - Stealth - you wanna be a tricksy little blaster don't we?
26 - Blazing Bolt - powerful sniper blast, can take out orange minions with Aim and Build Up.
28 - Consume - Awesome power for post-Inferno endurance, provided there is something still standing, I use this a lot.
30 - Grant Invis - Just a bump on the road to Phase Shift
32 - Inferno - One of the most awesome powers in the game. 3 recharge and 3 damage plus Aim and Build Up hits the damage cap I believe. You wont need any Acc. in it with Aim and it recharges in a couple minutes with 3 recharge. I can take out +3 minions and leave the LTs with a sliver. Pop Consume and mop up.
35 - Hover - Burn sucks since it no longer provides status protection. Hover helps you get out of melee
38 - Fly - you will want Fly if you ever plan on going to the Shadow Shard
41 - Char - You can finally get your APPs. I chose Char over Bonfire. It can be used to stop that nasty LT breathing down your neck.
44 - Fire Shield - I plan on taking this at 44, provides good Smashing/Lethal protection.
47 - Phase Shift - an "Oh $h17!" button
49 - Rise of the Phoenix - just because.
There it is. Quick and dirty since I'm at work. I might come back and add slotting later if I have time.
Ziggy, I think your build is a pretty optimal Fire/Fire build. I don't think you need to take Blazing Bolt at 26 unless you really want to though, seeing as Fire/Fire is geared more towards AoE and sniping should be the least of your concerns.
If you plan on slotting it, don't worry about the activation redux, just go for 1 acc and rest damage like the other attacks. An alternative route you can take for Flight Pool is six-slotting Hover with Flight Speed and not take Fly, which allows a decent speed and great for combat. You'll have to slot Inferno a little later, if you take it late, but I took it at 30 and had Inferno 6-slotted by 37.
Stealth is a great pool to take, but don't bother slotting for Defense bonus. If anyone is wondering why take Grant Invis rather than Invis, if you have Stealth and Super Speed, you have 100% ( I think) stealth right there. Invis isn't necessary. The gem in this set is Phase Shift, anyway.
Single target-wise, stick with slotting Fire Blast and Blaze, use those as your main attacks. If you took Flares, please, for the sake of your build, do not slot it. Some say it's a good filler, but it is not worth the slots. Burn isn't worth taking anymore unless you want to try and drop one in when a group is held. No more status protection, so I dropped it from my plan.
For APP I'd agree with Ziggy again. Char is nice, I'd skip Bonfire. Fire Shield has some nice resists and Rise of the Phoenix is alright, if you just want a goof off power. As long as you slot your AoE and take Aim and Build Up, you should be fine.
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The animation time, both before and during the attack, is also a factor....
With firebreath, you have to wait for the animation to run its course. The total length of time from the moment you press the button until you can make your next attack feels like five seconds: two seconds of animation before the attack actually begins and three seconds of breathing fire.
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This is not my experience with Fire Breath. I align the enemies for optimal damage and start the attack. About the time of the 2nd tick I am able to move or, as I usually do, hurl a Fireball into the center of the mob.
I was quite surprised as well. But what this means is, with Fireball's quick animation, that the 3rd to 4th tick is the endgame for my targets.
Just a few comments...
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Aim 100% boost to Accuracy and lets say 33% to Damage
Build Up is 100% boost to Damage and 33 % to Accuracy
So you hit Aim 100% to Accuracy and then Build Up 100% to Damage.
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When throwing numbers around, please make sure they're the correct numbers. See below:
Blaster Aim - +62.5% damage, +100% accuracy
Blaster Build Up - +100% damage, +50% accuracy
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Oh wait what happened to the second half of both your Powers, well Aims damage boost and Build Ups accuracy boost both got canceled out because they don't stack past the 100% mark.
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This is completely untrue. Resistance has a hard cap programmed in; 90% for tanks, 85% for dwarf form kheldians, 75% for everyone else. Defense has no cap. With defense vs. accuracy, it becomes a matter of who can pile the most on. An arms race, so to speak. If your modified accuracy is higher than their modified defense, you hit. This is also the reason SR scrappers and ice tankers generally won't be able to tank as well as others of their ATs (there are always exceptions). When fighting higher level mobs, you innately take an accuracy hit due to them being higher level.
Debt is temporary, prestige is forever
My Screenies and Videos :: My Toon List
Boy, to have known all this stuff going in would've been tanfastic. I've got a level 17 fire/fire blaster and it's been working pretty well for me so far... but I *do* seem to make a lot of trips to the hospital... As of right now, I've been alternating between primary and secondary powers, never skipping any. So, on the primary side, I've got:
Flares
Fire Blast
Fire Ball
Rain of Fire
and for secondary:
Ring of Fire
Fire Sword
Combustion
Fire Sword Circle
My travel powers include fly and hover... Like others, my character is a concept character so I don't want to go too crazy in which pools I choose from... but what would you guys suggest I do next? Should I start looking at other pools entirely, or just keep doing what I'm doing?
This is the build I went with after 2 respecs.
Slotting order was kind of tricky.
Mostly I keep her in Hover, which is so damn manueverable with all six slots in Flight.
On the right group, I use SS,Stealth, move to center of OJ mob, nuke, phase shift, run way eat a blue and move on.
Only defense buff is stealth if I have it up, and hover, so moving in for blaze can be tricky, but it will drop a yellow LT with build up, an OJ minion with aim.
I dont have flares or ring of fire on the tray, and hardly ever use blast. Blazing bolt is situational, but strong, and it's easy to make work against purple bosses with hover and stealth going.
Hope consume helps with the post nuke stamina.
FWIW, When I did arena on test, I had the most kills (and probably the most deaths) in each of 7 matches of 4-4 and got owned by quite a few solo's.
Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Flares /Acc
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Ring Of Fire /Acc
Slot[03] Level 2 : Fire Ball /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[04] Level 4 : Fire Blast /Acc,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Stealth /Rchg
Slot[06] Level 8 : Fire Breath /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[07] Level 10 : Grant Invisibility /Rchg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[09] Level 14 : Super Speed /Run
Slot[10] Level 16 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[11] Level 18 : Blaze /Acc,Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[12] Level 20 : Swift /Run
Slot[13] Level 22 : Health /Heal
Slot[14] Level 24 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[15] Level 26 : Aim /Rchg,Rchg
Slot[16] Level 28 : Phase Shift /EndRdx
Slot[17] Level 30 : Hover /Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly,Fly
Slot[18] Level 32 : Inferno /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[19] Level 35 : Blazing Bolt /Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[20] Level 38 : Consume---dont have it yet so I dont know how to slot it
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
I'd be curious to know where you went after 38. I started playing and I am totally lost. People are a little intimidating in this game compaired to others I have played, so when I ask questions in game I usually don't get a friendly or straight answer. Not to mention they take what you pick on your character too serious. It should be about fun, but maybe these days being 133t in CoH on your resume, gets you high paying jobs, the perfect signifigant other and high society status.
Anyway, if you or anyone can post your recent fire fire builds, I would be really interested. I'm not too good with the acroynmns yet or anything, and the documentations tough to get right since half is outdated. Thanks.
Hey ZIggy,
out of the 3 builds I saw in this post I like what you did the best. I have a lvl16 FF blaster. havent played him for a while and im re-discovering how much fun he is. 2HOT is the name.
I was hoping that I would find better guides on the type of blaster and I'd like to read more on how you slotted yours FFB.
Thanks
A couple thoughts:
Definitely do Firebreath, then fireball. Firebreath is a lot less forgiving than fireball, and it has a long animation. If you do Breath first, you're very very likely to get most of your targets, and you'll get a second or two before they aggro. Then you follow with ball, and most fall down. If you fireball, then firebreath, you're gonna get unlucky, and hit the one guy that's charging your tank, and spend the full power on just him.
I didn't take flares, but I'm fire/nrg, and there are some nice nrg options. One thing I considered, though, was flares + a few range enhancers. It seems to be a consensus that pulling with the lowest damage attacks is the best, and flares is one of the smallest ones out there. Get it extended a bit, and I think you've got a psuedo snipe. I haven't tested that, though - it's all theory.
The Pyromaniac's way of life,
Introduction: The information provided here is based on learning a bit with my Fire/Fire blaster, Solar Burn (liberty). At the time I'm writing this, Solar Burn is currently level 32 and I'm having a blast (pun intended). Solar Burn is a character concept, and I have been choosing power pools, abilities, and so forth in line with the character concept. I didn't choose abilities with the purposes of maximizing his capabilities, but wanted to explore some of the capabilities of a fire/fire blaster.
The decisions that I made, and this document, are provided to provide information, alternative viewpoints on a few minor things, and perhaps some comic relief for those of you who foresee current and future issues with my design ). One consideration is that Solar Burn is only level 32 at the time I am writing this, so there are many powers that I haven't bothered to slot yet. They are just a lower priority then other powers (in my mind)
Level 1: Fire Blast: This will be the most used attack you have for a long time. It does great damage, low endurance cost, good range. Slot it well (1 accuracy, 5 damage).
Level 1: Ring of Fire: In the early levels, I relied on this quite a bit to keep foes out of arms reach. Later levels, I very rarely use this. I didn't bother throwing any extra slots on it, and many times any enhancements in it are red.
Level 2: Fireball: This will be another heavily used attack. I recommend max slotting it as early as possible, 1 accuracy and 5 damage seems to work well.
Level 4: Combustion: Ok, this one I'm not overly sure of. I rarely use it. I might have been better off with a single target fire sword, but the fire sword doesn't quite fit my character conception. I'm sure fully slotted it'd be fine (and I may do that in later levels), but for now it sits idle. Perhaps Flares would have been better.
Level 6: Stealth: I took this for primarily two reasons, it fit the character concept, and I have very young kids in RL, and liked the ability of being somewhat safer going on lengthy AFKs in dangerous areas. I have absolutely no regrets in taking stealth. It provides a minor defense, combined with Super Speed it is 100% invisibility, without the disadvantages of true invisibility (can't attack). There are very few foes that see through stealth + superspeed. Even better, the slowdown effect of stealth is negated by superspeed. This combination gives you the ability to get a heavy first strike. I haven't bothered slotting this at all.
Level 8: Fire Breath: I was hesitant in taking this at first, but it really has become a staple of my AE blasts. Lead off with Fire Breath, followed by a Fire Ball. It is marginally less useful then fireball, and I would focus more slots on fireball/hasten/stamina/fireblast/blaze/blazing bolt. At level 32, I have one accuracy, two damages, and a cone extension (very useful).
Level 10 Rain of Fire: I have seen a lot of people recommend to bypass this, and I can understand the rational. The rain has a large area effect, does minimal damage overall, slow movement effect, and causes fear (basically everyone in the area slowly runs away). While this seems anti-thetical to the goals of AEs (gather them close, then AE), I look on it a bit differently. The Rain is a crowd control power. It is useful when things are going REALLY WRONG during a fight, gives you and your group mates a chance to regroup (or retreat). It can be used to split up a really large group of foes so you can take them on piecemeal. I have no regrets taking the Rain, and many group members have commented that they were surprised that a blaster had a crowd control power. I don't use it often, but many times that I have used it, it's prevented a lot of debt. I haven't bothered to slot this at all.
Level 12: Hasten: Hasten provides a minimal defense, and lowers the recharge time of all powers by around 50%. The goal I have for Solar Burn is to (in general) not take defensive power pools, but be able to knock out foes before they can knock me out. Faster firing is very useful for this, especially in conjunction with the fast animation, high number of attacks, and the combination of build+aim at later levels. It is important to have hasten fully slotted (6 slotted) by level 20. After level 20, all of your slots will be going to stamina. At the time that you have stamina 6 slotted, a 6 slotted hasten is highly desirable.
Level 14: Superspeed: It's fast. Many areas of the city are very difficult to get around (faultline, terra volta, etc), but I still really like it. After I got stamina, I never turn off Stealth and Speed (basically perma invis very fast movement). Some other advantages of invisibility (stealth + superspeed) is lower agro when in a group. It appears that foes right next to you will not agro unless you fire at them. This means you can be very careful to only blast at the targets surrounding the tank, and any wandering foes, nearby groups, etc will go after other soft squishy VISIBLE targets, not you ). No slots as of level 32.
Level 16: Hurdle: Solar Burn is going the SuperSpeed route for travel powers. Hurdle definitely improves the jump height of normal travel, making things just a bit easier. The other option (swift) just didn't seem useful (if I want to go faster, I'll turn on superspeed). I haven't bothered slotting hurdle.
Level 18: Health: Required for stamina, no slots.
Level 20: Stamina: 6 slot this as soon as possible, work with your contacts to buy endurance recharge SOs as soon as possible. Endurance drain is a huge problem with blasters. I generally make sure that Stamina and Hasten have fully slotted SOs, followed closely with accuracy and damage SOs for the blasts.
Level 22: Blaze: A very short range, high damage attack. Fill the initial slot with an accuracy, and add to slots when you can.
Level 24: Build Up: Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. With perma hasten, recharge time is around 45 seconds. With full stamina, endurance recharge (from empty) is under 45 seconds. So double up the damage, blast away for 10 seconds, and watch everything drop. Haven't bothered slotting this yet.
Level 26: Blazing Bolt: Combined with Build up and Aim, this will be used as a first strike many times (when not AEing). Take out Orange Lts in a single shot. Fully slot this immediately. I only used damage, as I rarely use this without aim+buildup. No reason to put an accuracy on this one. If you are on a team and you are careful choosing targets, you can use this attack quite often throughout a combat.
Level 28: Aim: See buildup. no slots.
Level 30: Whirlwind: Ok, this one was for character conception. It basically throws anyone that you are RIGHT ON TOP of up in the air for the few seconds it takes to drain your endurance. Don't even think of taking this without good endurance regen. Slot it with at least two SOs (end lowering). So what effect has this power had? It's another minor crowd control. Have a red boss that's leveling your group? Take it out of action for the next 30 seconds. You can still fire at the boss, or anyone else targeted while spinning. Plus, you can set it up as a neat form of changing costumes (set up a macro, spin, change costume, end spin).
Level 32: Inferno: Build Up + Aim + inferno can wipe out a group of yellows in the nearby area. I haven't tested it much against larger groups, but the few occasions where I have used it, it has done pretty well.
Slotting: Fire/Fire blasters should really plan out when what they are going to slot quite a bit in advance. Most people will immediately slot stamina as soon as they can. If you get stamina at level 20, that means the slots gained at level 21, 23, and one from level 25 will be used up by stamina. At 26 you get the sniper attack. That means slots at level 27 and level 29 are spoken for. So if you haven't fully slotted hasten by level 20, there are going to be few opportunities to fill it in (or optionally other slots to stamina and/or sniping won't be available).
Pulling: Fire/Fire blasters are actually very good at pulling. The fire blast attack is unlike most other blaster attacks in that the effects aren't simultaneous with triggering the attack. It takes a small amount of time for the fire blast to reach the target, and you are able to move during this time. If you fire at an opponent and immediately move behind an object, that opponent might not be able to fire back, and will start moving to get you back in line of sight (LOS) in order to fire at you. You can control that movement to pull foes to your group. You can also use this to pull a large group of opponents. One fatal flaw that most blaster pullers forget is they need to stay out of LOS for a considerable amount of time. You need to give the tanks, scrappers, and less intelligent squishies time to gather all of that agro. When things are under control, then pop out and start AEing. Too many pullers target a group, move next to the tank, then are surprised when the 8 foes come around the corner, ignore the tank, flatten the pesky blaster, and go on looking for more targets. The blaster needs to remain out of LOS while the tank gets agro. Standing next to the tank won't do.
For Solar Burn, I made some choices that I'm sure other Fire/Fire blasters wouldn't make, such as...
A: Consume: I didn't take consume at level 28. Consume apparently does minor dot damage to nearby foes, and delivers endurance back to you. With Stamina, I really don't have endurance problems. I will eventually take it, but that will be quite a bit later.
B: Fighting Power pool (tough, weave), other defenses such as combat jumping and/or acrobatics: I currently have no plans on taking these either. At 35 I will take burn, which should protect against some status effects. I currently have some minor defense with stealth and hasten. Basically I'm planning on either dropping the foes before they can get in a heavy hit, or journeying with less squishy members of my super group. If nothing else, can always try to whirlwind nuke (or rain/fear) the more troublesome opponents.
C: Lesser used melee ranged attacks in secondary fire set: I will eventually get these. I suspect that the close range / melee abilities have higher damage possibilities to make up for their disadvantages (in that melee range is inherently dangerous, and that foes rarely seem to stay in range in group settings). I don't have any plan for a fourth power pool at this time, but that may change as I level.
D: Having a couple of minor controlling type powers (rain and whirlwind) gives me some other options in unusual situations. Have a red boss looking to flatten your defender? Use whirlwind as a distraction. Need a 5 second break to get everyone reorganized? Use the rain to send all your foes running for a short bit. Rain and whirlwind make up for the fact that none of the fire attacks have any knockback, disorient, or anything like that (except the immobilize in ring of fire). Sometimes pure damage won't take out a foe in time to save a teammate (and rooting the foe next to the defender isn't a very friendly gesture either). Having some control type capabilities really expand the role you can play on a team.
The Fire/Fire set has some nice abilities. At level 32, I can (solo) drop a group of 6-8 yellows in under 5 seconds, with Aim+buildup followed by the breath, then fire ball. If there is an orange or red boss in the middle of the group, I follow up with a whirlwind + single target attacks, dropping him on another 10 seconds or so.
In group situations, your AEs will be noticed by everyone. I have grouped with two types of AE blasters. Type one (more prevalent, unfortunately) follows the tank and starts AEing everything seconds after engaging. Type one blasters are noticed for the amount of time they spend running back from the hospital and complaining about debt. Type two AE blasters are those that are patient. They wait for the tank to have good, solid agro on a group of foes, then unleash the AEs. They are noticed when the tank realizes all of his opponents are dieing (errr, are being arrested, or whatever) very, very quickly.
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Solar Burn Fire/Fire Blaster, Liberty Server.
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