Tnx for the nice guide...
I have played an AR/Elc blaster to L50 and i keep playing with her a lot. AR is fun BUT, i do not recomend electricity manupilation as the secondary power. They do not match good, for a better sinergy go for energy or ice.
For the powers i do not agree all. Beanbag is not necessary at all if u are a team player. so i recomend not geting it at all.
For munitions, i also disagree... it is nice for single atrget blasters (sleep grenade etc) and for dmg we have enough of that. Force is the best according to my observations. Repel them to a corner, blast'em with your aoes. Use force of nature to atack AVs and monsters or entering a crowd.
Tnx for the info....
I have been looking for another AR/Elec blaster's thoughts on the set, and I really appreciate the guide.
For the most part, we agree on the powers. I've got a different opinion on a few things, and I'll go into them, as I usually play alone. Surprisingly, Burst is a major part of my playstyle.
I've specced out of snipe for a while, and I don't miss it. AR and Elec make a strong 'Close Game' while having potent attacks (at longer range than most blaster bolts) in slug and burst to allow pseudo-sniping and aggro management at distance.
Burst (mainly slotted for range) is my pull, letting me bring opponents to me with less chance of bringing a whole mob. In the numerous office and cave missions, the longest distance one has to make a shot is typically within burst range, and if things go sour, having snipe (because of interruptability and the stationary setup time) is rather dangerous when a running battle begins.
Burst becomes much more useful by the 20's, and Snipe should be dropped in the first respec unless you like having an entire Striga isle Skyraider Squad fly at you.
Take a tip from the Raiders. Primarily use Burst and Flamethrower. If you can make a field generator, do that, too.
What Burst can do for you:
-Slotted for range, becomes a replacement for snipe as a pull with less aggro generation.
-Lower End use is great for desperate situations and is always highly valued to get that last bit of damage in when you've got just one more Archon in bad condition about to smack you around.
-Fast execution and recharge means that running battles are survivable, particularly when combined with slug.
-DoT surpresses drop setting, such as a Raider's ability to raise a generator.
-Longer base range means that a foe can be continually pounded from a distance outside of the foe's range. This peters out quickly, but it's nice in earlier levels.
Snipe is, in the early game, essential. Being able to do a large amount of damage to a single target is as best as you can get until flamethrower (AKA Holy Torch of Justice) becomes available.
I got beanbag early; it's usefulness is currently (at lv 27) down because of the utility of the buildup, flamethrower and shotgun combo, but I expect it will come in handy later on. I may respec at some point to order my powers more conveniently for slot distribution, but it's an excellent power no matter when it is taken. If I do so, I'll pick up charged brawl instead, and make a small blapper attack chain.
On my first build, I focused so heavily on AR that I had missed the joys of Havoc Punch. This power is awesome, and it is my favorite ability. Ever. High damage, chance to sleep, knockback, and endurance drain makes it decidely nasty when it hits, and when combined with buildup, it becomes very fun to BU+FT+ then HP the surviving boss or Lt. to drop the full group at once. I'm looking forward to next level, where I can experiment with Thunder Strike.
The AR set is designed to allow engagement of groups without being IN the groups. This gives it a significant advantage over other primaries in survivability, despite the lower damage.
This means that the AR/*.* is best suited for missions, where chokepoints can quickly turn a rushing group into a barbeque, a bullet repository, or a barbequed bullet depository. This is also true in a team situation, where a controller's hold or a tanker's aggro can keep foes bunched up and easily turned into a DoT extravaganza that the whole family (except for the targets) can enjoy without chokes.
Regarding powerset synergy:
With Stamina slotted with 2-3 DOs, I've found that Electric fence+ignite+ignite+ignite+fence (etc) allows me to defeat a single minion or LT with no cumulative endurance loss. Zip. These low-end powers refresh very quickly even without hasten active, and can let you destroy several minons in short order (with HP to control those who close distance)without expending buildup. I have not yet tried ignite in a doorway, but I can certainly say that its effects are helpful in the pre-core respec trial setting.
I don't know if this will work as well on bosses once I get shocking grasp and freeze from munitions, but it could be enough to put up a full DoT death for most utt-buglys.
Great guide. I'm glad to see someone else uses "Cap and Zap".
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Sometimes you can't find a team and Beanbag is great for disabling lieutenants. Even in a team, Beanbag is useful if your AEs draw you aggro, you can whack a lieutenant with it and run away. Plus it's just fun. 
Munitions Mastery was just a thematic recommendation. You've already got an AR. It just seemed to fit best.
As for Sleep Grenade.. I've used this power a fair amount, and it's just not useful. It does an extremely minor amount of damage, and that's worse than no damage at all. The accuracy is pretty poor, and anyone you miss will be aggro'd because you dealt damage to his buddies.
As for sniper rifle vs. slug... I hadn't really considered that. My first blaster was Elec, and his snipe was just another attack that I had to take. I didn't get a choice in what attacks I wanted, heh. Since my AR/Elec spends a lot of time at least somewhat close to the combat (Flamethrower/Buckshot/FA cones) Slug is probably a better idea than Sniper Rifle after a while. I think I might use a respec for that.
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Slug will never match snipe for sheer damage; however, it is much more survivable.
I've played with Thunder strike.
I don't want to play with it any more. Too slow for the damage it causes. It's a radial scatter, like the (IMO) useless M30, which can keep you from using your primary AoEs to best effect. The disorient just lets your foes get further away from your kill zone.
Also: This may be a glitch, but if you use whirlwind, you can move while using flamethrower and full auto. And since the cone is set at the beginning of the attack animation (which looks really goofy), you are free to retreat around a corner and ready your next AoE. As long as you don't hit a foe with whirlwind, it takes relatively little endurance.
I'm at level 30 now, and I'll stay there for a while until I get the Hess TF done, thus finishing Striga. That means my take on the remaining AR/Elec powers will be delayed while I try to find a team to take out Burkeholder.
I assume that the LRM is another radial scatter power, right? Is its range comparable to snipe?
Could it be used to damage at a distance in a way that will cause a mob to bunch up? Can it one-shot white cons with buildup active?
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Thunder Strike is a good "get away from me!" power. Plus, the damage is pretty good once you've got it slotted. At the very least, you can take it over Lightning Clap if you were considering that. You will crush one enemy with significant damage and throw the rest away from you. Before you drop the power, test it with slots first. By now, many of your attacks are 4-5 slotted, with multiple damage SOs, and a new power just can't compete, damage-wise, until you get some SOs in it. Admittedly, TS is still much less endurance-efficient than say, Havok Punch... but it's still pretty good damage, and it looks *cool*.
Whirlwind eliminating animations has been known for a little while now. It's a really good way to get around the long animation of say, Full Auto and allowing you to move away (can't attack, the power is still running however). I don't do it because it just smacks of exploiting, heh.
LRM's scatter is away from you. Which is actually what M30's scatter is. It's not away from point of impact, it's away from caster. The damage is pretty good, and the range is definitely regular snipe range (120' I believe). With enough damage slots and Build Up, you will indeed one-shot a large bunch of 0/+1s. The radius of the effect is pretty surprising too.
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nice guide....im 49 ar/elec...must say not much of us around.
i like your build but i did change my build a lil bit from yours.
and it is very good in PvE as well as PvP which I like.
First off all my attacks only have 5 slots. Only because Im gonna try to HO myself out...this helps in reducing the number of slots needed to max our dmg and makes it possible for me to put slots in other powers....
Powers:
I took burst and slug. Burst I slotted with 1 Acc and 4 debuff. Its a pretty nice debuff as well each time it hits you can see that it does more dmg each time...one of these days i will have to bust out my calculator and figure how much more dmg i am doing do to the debuffs....
Slug slotted 1 acc 4 dmg.
I slotted elec fence with 2 acc and 2 immobilize. This power is great for use in combo. and it adds an extra 3 magnitude to your holds....
I took Ignite. And boy do i love it....I believe it has the most bang for the buck in the entire game. It costs basically no end and it does more dmg then a fire tank's burn. It also recharges VERY fast.
Now take electric fence and combo it with Ignite. Its funny when enemies and heroes alike are immobilized and can do nothing but get burned and remain still. I also combo ignite with cryo freeze and shocking grasp.
i took tp foe for the simple fact that i can tp an enemy and combo it with havok punch, charged brawl, thunderstrike, slug, Full Auto in one chain. heh. that should be enough to take down a 50 non HO regen scrapper. and its enough to take down an even con boss.
i 6 slotted hover, have tp, concealment and fitness. Again no hasten.
anyways that's all from me
I've heard some good things about Ignite, and immob/holding enemies in the patch is certainly viable.. but I just tend to kill enemies far too fast with Flamethrower and Full Auto to even really need to worry about getting a bunch of enemies into a patch to kill them.
Burst is a *defense* debuff, not resistance. You should be hitting more often, not doing more damage.
I did recently respec out sniper rifle for slug, and I'm definitely liking it. Not having to stand still for 4 seconds for the aiming time is doing a lot for my combat mobility and dynamics. And I can still kill minions with a burst/slug combo, so I'm not missing too much. At the earlier levels though, Sniper Rifle was definitely helpful for the sheer damage it did, but now, I'm thinking Slug is a good replacement by level 30 or so.
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Toldja. Well. Sorta.
You can almost make a constant attack chain with slug-burst-slug-burst etc.
My Motto: "Debt is merely another Goal."
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Is there an update to this guide?
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The AR/Elec Guide to Ultimate Destruction
This guide is written for those of you who like to do DAMAGE... and lots of it. This guide will follow a certain philosophy regarding the two powersets. The AR set is primarily used for AE damage, while the melee attacks from Electric Manipulation are your strong single target attacks.
Level 1: Burst or Slug, Electric Fence
Burst OR Slug will be your main single-target attack from AR. I'd say take one or the other, and here's why. For the most part, you will be using AE attacks to deal with your enemies. This attack will be used on the remaining survivor or two while you close in. Your melee attacks do far more damage than either of these attacks. I prefer Burst because of the slight -def secondary ability, and it recharges faster than Slug, and costs less end. Eventually you'll want 5 or 6 slots in this power.
Slotting: 1acc, the rest dmg.
Electric Fence... you're required to take. It actually does moderate damage, surprisingly enough. It's a single target Immobilize. You can use it as a little extra Single Target damage every now and then. I wouldn't slot it though.
Slotting: 1acc
Level 2 and 4: Buckshot and Charged Brawl, either one at either level
Buckshot is your first AE attack. It does more damage than M30, and the cone meshes fairly well with Flamethrower. Before you get Full Auto, buckshot is great used after a flamethrower. Many of the people charging towards you after you set them on fire will be blown backwards by your buckshot. I also occasionally use this against a single target to finish them off, because the endurance cost isn't bad. 5 or 6 slots in here.
Slotting: 1acc, the rest dmg.
Charged Brawl is a rather powerful melee attack, more useful in the early levels, but still sees use later in the game. In the early game, I found this attack, unslotted, was doing more damage than Slug with 3 Training: Damage enhancements. So it will definitely help you take down lieutenants and bosses in the early game fairly rapidly. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, you won't be able to afford many slots into this.. they'll go into the other melee attack powers, but it still does a pretty good amount of damage even with only a couple slots. And it's fairly cheap on endurance. 3 or 4 slots should do it.
Slotting: 1acc, the rest dmg.
Level 6: M30 Grenade
M30 isn't a fantastic attack, but it's a good long-range attack that does AE damage. Sometimes I like to perch on high places and snipe at enemies, so I'll cycle through Burst, M30, Sniper Rifle in relative safety as my team engages in the melee. The damage is less than Buckshot however. Also, the knockback frequency is very high, so be careful when you're firing this into a group of enemies that your team is engaged. You'll probably piss them off. It is good however, when soloing. Flamethrower sets the enemies on fire, then you use Buckshot and then M30 to add some more damage, and keep your enemies on their backs. 4 or 5 slots should do it.
Slotting: I think you know by now.
Level 8: Pre-requisite for travel power
Whatever travel power you like. My AR/Elec, Function 14 is a teleporter. Recall Friend is incredibly useful, and Teleport is very fast once you reach level 22 and slot SOs. But Combat Jumping or Hover would go quite well here. If you wanted to be a Superspeeder, you could get Flurry or Hasten if you wanted. This guide is built on the assumption that you *don't* have Hasten, however. It's not necessary. By level 32, you'll have *nine* attacks.
Level 10: Havoc Punch
This power is GREAT. It does lots of damage, almost as much as sniper rifle. It's mostly smashing, and some energy damage (about 1/5). The endurance cost is moderate and the animation is fast. Eventually, 6 slots.
Slotting: The usual.
Level 12: Sniper Rifle
Long-range, high damage, interruptable sniper attack. Useful for attacking bosses and lieutenants, particularly after a Build-Up. Since it's interruptable, you need to time it properly when you're solo, but if you have a team, you ought to be able to use Sniper Rifle without much fear of being attacked. 6 slot this quickly.
Slotting: Sniper Rifle has an inherent accuracy bonus. You could 6-slot damage. However, I felt that it didn't seem to be enough, so I slotted 1 Acc into it. Try it with all damage first, and if you feel it's missing too much, put in 1 Acc.
Level 14: Travel Power
Whatever you opened up at level 8. If it's Teleport, slot 1 end rdx, 1 range, and you should be good.
Level 16-24: Somewhere in this range, get five powers. Build Up, Flamethrower, Sprint/Hurdle, Health, Stamina.
Build Up is incredibly useful. Build Up + Flamethrower + Full Auto will annihilate all minions and lieutenants in an enemy group. Build Up + Sniper Rifle + Charged Brawl + Havoc Punch + Thunder Strike (Yes, they will all fit) will kill a boss. Slot for recharge. You will want 2 or 3 slots total in here, so it comes up more often.
Flamethrower is your main AE attack. Six-slot this rapidly for all damage. The inherent accuracy seems to be better than sniper rifle, so 6 damage ought to be enough. Especially if you use Build Up frequently before this power. I would strongly suggest getting this at level 18, since it's so awesome, but if you *really* want to get Stamina at 20, then get Flamethrower at 22.
Sprint/Hurde, Health, Stamina are self-explanatory. Endurance is good. I suppose you could get away with not getting Stamina if you slotted a *lot* of endurance cost reducers in your attacks... but I wouldn't recommend it.
Level 26: Stealth
Concealment is simply useful. You can position yourself so you can fire your AEs better, and you can sneak closer to bosses to unload melee attacks. Excellent in teams, because you're less likely to draw aggro as you move into position. If you don't want Stealth... feel free to try something else, like Ignite. Ignite is difficult to use solo, you need a team to effectively use it. There also isn't a lot of slots to spare for another attack, though.
Slotting: 1 defense buff. Don't slot endurance reduction... the endurance savings is minimal.
Level 28: Thunder Strike
Your third melee attack. This used to be worse than Havoc Punch. Issue 4 has improved it, so now it does slightly more damage than Havoc Punch, and is guaranteed to knockback everyone in front of you in melee range. The endurance cost is quite high, and the animation time is long, but it's still a useful power... plus it looks damn cool. 4-6 slots.
Slotting: The usual.
Level 30: Beanbag
A ranged disorient. NOT a damage power. Around level 30, this becomes extremely useful for soloing, because you'll start running into more difficult foes, and lieutenants and bosses tend to be mezzers. Or just painful. Beanbag can disorient a lieutenant in a single shot, taking them out of the fight for a little while, while you destroy the minions with your AEs. Then you can bring your powerful melee attacks to bear on the LT. It takes two shots to disorient a boss, and the duration isn't really long enough to stack with any effectiveness.
Slotting: 1 acc.
Level 32: Full Auto
A fantastic power. Six-slot this as soon as you can (that is, all the level 33 slots, and 2 slots from level 34). The damage is amazing, and you can get a lot of people if you position yourself right. It's a narrow cone, but with Stealth, you can get good positioning to catch the most people possible. Be aware that using this power will root you in place for a few seconds while you're firing, unable to move or use inspirations. Flamethrower and Full Auto will be your primary method of attacking groups of enemies.
Slotting: DAMAGE! ALL OF IT!
Level 35: Power Sink
With the amazing efficiency you get out of your AE attacks, you actually shouldn't have much problem with endurance. However, in large fights, or when fighting enemies higher level than yourself, you may dip low. Power Sink is an AUTO-HIT power that drains endurance from foes and gives it to you. 3-4 enemies is enough to top you off. It recharges often enough. You shouldn't need to use it often anyways. 1 or 2 slots is fine.
Slotting: Rechargers.
Level 38: Shocking Grasp
Melee range hold. Does moderate damage, but is best used as a Hold. Since it's Magnitude 3, it will hold a minion or lieutenant in a single hit, but NOT a boss. Slotting for this is up to you. If you want to use it primarily as a Hold, just add two or three slots to it. If you want some damage too, six-slot it.
Slotting: 1 acc, 2-3 Hold duration, the rest damage.
Epic Power Pools
These are up to you really. I feel Munitions is the best fit for this kind of blaster, since there is no elec pool. Something with a Hold power is best, so you can hit a boss with it, then Shocking Grasp the boss, and he'll be held.
Assuming you get Munitions...
Level 41: Cryo Freeze Ray
Ranged Hold. Minimal cold damage. Can stack with Shocking Grasp to hold a boss. Should get 2 or 3 slots.
Slotting: 1 acc, 2 Hold duration, maybe 1 recharge if you want.
Level 44: Body Armor
I might have said Sleep Grenade at one point.. but no. Sleep Grenade might be useful for holding off additional enemy groups, or sleeping ranged attackers while your team deals with melee fighters.. but the sleep duration is short, and the accuracy is crap. I've used it. Get Body Armor. The damage reduction you get isn't a lot, but it costs you zero endurance, and the 22% Smashing/Lethal reduction you get when six-slotted may save your life.
Level 47: LRM
High damage, AE snipe attack. Long recharge, but fun. Use with Build-Up. Six-slot.
Slotting: 4-5 damage, the rest rechargers.
Level 49: Up to you, really. Whatever floats your boat, heh. I'm getting Combat Jumping.
General combat advice
Try to find a team. This guide is low on defensive abilities (well... except for killing everyone before they kill you.. but all blasters try to do that). In a team, you can most effectively use your AE abilities to kill off large groups of enemies that will appear when you're in a large team.
From level 20-34 or so, soloing will be very dangerous. Enemies do a bit more damage, and flamethrower's DoT is somewhat slow. You may be killed before your enemies burn to death. Once you get Full Auto, your survivability will increase drastically.
Overall, you want to use Flamethrower + Full Auto to kill enemy groups. Throw in Build-Up ahead of time if they're higher level than you. Sniper Rifle, Burst, and your melee attacks will finish off stragglers. Use Buckshot and M30 in conjunction with Flamethrower if Full Auto has not recharged yet when you encounter another enemy group. Also use Buckshot and M30 to keep enemies away from you.
Regarding Lightning Clap: I got this at level 30, then respecced into Beanbag. Very rarely did a large number of enemies survive my AE attacks to close into melee range with me. Usually it's just 1, maybe 2 survivors. They get killed with melee attacks. I never found a need to knockback a horde of enemies away from me. The disorient chance is *very* low. Just get beanbag.
Regarding Lightning Field: Damage-wise, it's not worth it. Anything in melee range of you is going to get annihilated by your melee attacks. And your Assault-Rifle AE attacks are far superior. You could try to be a endurance drainer, if you six-slotted power sink for endurance drain, then slotted Lightning Field for endurance drain as well. But this Guide is built for maximum damage.
Regarding Hasten: It's not necessary for this build. You have a wide variety of attacks to draw from, you'll never be short on attacks to use. Full Auto recharges in only 25 seconds.
If you're *still* reading this, here's my build on Function 14.
Exported from version 1.5A of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh
Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Assault Rifle
Secondary Powers - Support : Electricity Manipulation
01 : Electric Fence acc(01)
01 : Burst acc(01) dam(3) dam(5) dam(9) dam(17) dam(36)
02 : Buck Shot acc(02) dam(3) dam(5) dam(9) dam(27) dam(36)
04 : Charged Brawl acc(04) dam(7) dam(31) dam(50)
06 : M30 Grenade acc(06) dam(7) dam(15) dam(17) dam(37)
08 : Recall Friend inttim(08)
10 : Havok Punch acc(10) dam(11) dam(11) dam(23) dam(34) dam(40)
12 : Sniper Rifle acc(12) dam(13) dam(13) dam(15) dam(25) dam(31)
14 : Teleport endred(14) rng(21)
16 : Build Up recred(16) recred(36) recred(46)
18 : Flamethrower dam(18) dam(19) dam(19) dam(21) dam(23) dam(31)
20 : Swift runspd(20)
22 : Health hel(22)
24 : Stamina endrec(24) endrec(25) endrec(27) endrec(37) endrec(43)
26 : Stealth defbuf(26)
28 : Thunder Strike acc(28) dam(29) dam(29) dam(39) dam(43)
30 : Bean Bag acc(30)
32 : Full Auto dam(32) dam(33) dam(33) dam(33) dam(34) dam(34)
35 : Power Sink recred(35) recred(37)
38 : Shocking Grasp acc(38) hlddur(39) hlddur(39) dam(40) dam(40) dam(43)
41 : Cryo Freeze Ray acc(41) hlddur(42) hlddur(42) recred(42)
44 : Body Armor damres(44) damres(45) damres(45) damres(45) damres(46) damres(46)
47 : LRM Missile acc(47) dam(48) dam(48) dam(48) dam(50) recred(50)
49 : Combat Jumping defbuf(49)
-------------------------------------------
01 : Brawl Empty(01)
01 : Sprint Empty(01)
02 : Rest Empty(02)
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