Even if said before, never hurts to post again:
*Other blasters are your friends. By far one of the most pleasant experiences was an all blaster squad of 6... So much damage flying around the mobs had no time to retaliate. No one died, and the mission was incredibly fast. So we did 4 more...
* Corners are your friends. Not only do you break line of sight, but the AI loves the short route from A to B. So if you can put a round of caltrops at the corner and maybe an application of Burn or some other PB AoE, you will have some serious time to rip off a few extra attacks that make you twice the force you were prior...
*Cover others backs, especially your blaster brethren. That whole do unto others thing is its own powerful ally. Among all the ATs, we actually have more capacity to bail someone out of a sudden jam than most. Share you inspirations if you aren't using them, give away SOs if you can't use them. The barter system builds stronger toons that the commerce in game. I personally have given away more hami-o's than I have kept for my self.
* (This one is merely opinion) Slotting for accuracy is silly. Of all the things in the game a blaster can slot, it seems to me this is not the first priority. Accuracy can never be a constant; there will always be a chance to miss. Damage occurs everytime you hit with no variable. Slotting Damage, Range and Recharge Speed all have better and constant effects on your ability to deliver. In the end, an insight here and there has a better effect on your chances than slotting. If you have extra slots after considerations of the other three, slot for accuracy if that makes you comfy, but you will see a dramatic shift in your ability to hopscotch thru opponents with extra damage in there.
*Last suggestion for survivability: Pick on the weak. Its not very heroic, but it goes faster and farther than spending your time chipping at rocks.
Luck to you, Blaster brethren.
[ QUOTE ]
* (This one is merely opinion) Slotting for accuracy is silly. Of all the things in the game a blaster can slot, it seems to me this is not the first priority. Accuracy can never be a constant; there will always be a chance to miss. Damage occurs everytime you hit with no variable. Slotting Damage, Range and Recharge Speed all have better and constant effects on your ability to deliver. In the end, an insight here and there has a better effect on your chances than slotting. If you have extra slots after considerations of the other three, slot for accuracy if that makes you comfy, but you will see a dramatic shift in your ability to hopscotch thru opponents with extra damage in there.
[/ QUOTE ]
I strongly disagree about not slotting an Accuracy. The only reason I wouldn't is if I had a slotted Targeting Drone or Tactics running. Even with Aim and Build Up it is importaint to add 1 SO Accuracy to your attacks.
/dev speaking here. Trip mine is your friend! When you see that purple boss lurking at the end of your mission laughing at you, dont quit, PREPARE!
Go to the nearest corner and plant several trip mines, when 3-5 mines are down, throw some caltrops and snipe the boss. When he turns the corner he is in for a BIG surprise : ).
It help dramatically if you slot Trip mine with 2 accuracy SO's since you will normally be using it against higher level enemies and TD doesnt affect it.
If no corner is available, caltrops and an Auto Turret work Nicely when available.
Something else to consider is Power Push or Power Thrust and Trip Mine. I prefer Power Push to knock back bosses into a death field. You can then take out minions at your liesure.
You will have to experiment with which villains are vulnerable to knockback and practice a few times on small mobs to get the distance of the knockback down. Some bosses just get knocked down.
Here's a little something Maiden Mystica, my Fire/Dev Blaster, uses whenever her XP counter gets close to 2:00:
AoE attacks on mobs of -1 & -2 Minions
-1 and -2 Minions give crappy XP. However, I can eyeball a mob of 6-8 -1 Minions, line up just right, sprint up and unload with Flame Breath, follow it up with Fireball and drop the whole mob. EVERY time.
One -1 Minion is crappy XP, but EIGHT -1 Minions ain't half bad XP at all. Not too many groups later the Level Up music sound nice and sweet.
And this examply just reenforces the idea that, as Blasters playing solo, we are Bottom Feeders.
We want out prey to run -1 to -2 consistantly so we can kill them and kill them fast, and if they do happen to get into HtH or take a few pot shots, then they can't drag us down. At least, not too quickly...
Ohms says this all the time but "All AT's are support AT's". If the defender that has been keeping you alive the entire mission is cornered by 2 lt's then you should switch the situation. Pull the aggro off the defender and let him do his job while you do yours.
Also, blasters in teams can be huge assets as well as huge annoyances. Tankers hate Rain of fire, Rad's hate when the anchor goes down prematurely, Melee hates chasing an enemy around for a the whole fight because the blaster likes the way Knockback looks.
Knockback is a great tool when used wisely. Keeping people pinned in corners or stacked up on the ice patch instead of off it can make the rest of your team very happy.
Running can very well save your life most times, but don't be too eager to put on your track shoes. Blaster's are the primary damage dealers, taking off early can doom your teammates to a faceplant while stickin around when things look bad may turn the tide of a battle.
Debt is your friend, your lover, your security blanket. The most dangerous thing in paragon city is a smart but equally bloodthirsty blaster at the debt cap.
I don't have much to offer in this thread but I've noticed the "rule of 3"/"buddy system":
It takes about 3 shots to down the minions you'll be fighting - especially on a team. 2 shots tends to leave 'em in "sliver of health" territory.
A blaster has, generally, 1 or 2 good AoE's.
Two blasters, have, generally, 3 AoEs between them.
If you're facing a minion-heavy group, you can reduce it to a couple of crispy lieutenants and one or two lucky minions in the first. . .oh. . .3 seconds.
(Timing is important on this one. Practice with your buddy on small groups first.)
It's another tactic in the arsenal.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Have no fear.
Go into every situation with the firmest belief of I WILL WIN.
As many have said before me, adaptation is the biggest part of being a 3B. But part of adaptation is learning to take risks.
Push thresholds. If someone out there is saying "You can't possibly do that!", open their eyes to a new way of thinking just by doing it. You're a damn arsenal and you know this in your mind, heart and soul. Open up with everything you've got. You're a Blaster and we don't wear kid gloves.
Now I'm not saying go into what looks like a pavement eating contest with a fool's bravado. Take into account what's around you and the tools to do your job. Just like a housebuilder, you're only as good as the tools you use and your knowledge of them. If you know them well, you'll be a force to be reckoned with.
One game-mechanic suggestion:
Learn how to jump-shoot. Turn arounds, fade-aways, hook shots, even dunks (jousts). You should only stand still to shoot if the enemy is under a status effect, or if you're in a team and well protected.
In every other situation, jump as you shoot, and jump in the direction that you want to end up. Pull by jumping out of sigh as you shoot, and even if you aggroed everyone, you won't get insta-shot. You may get insta-shot as they reach the corner, but that gives you a bit of time to eat Lucks or just to run, or for your teammates to pull aggro.
Jump backwards as you're fighting enemies. Jump over them if you have Hurdle + CJ. CJ allows you to redirect your jumping after you're in the air, and for that reason alone I highly recommend it.
Learn to jump, and you will learn safety. Hovering may be safe in some ways, but in others, if you shoot while hovering, you're stuck in a stationary position. Jumping allows you to move out of sight as you're unloading Full Auto on a crowd of baddies. If they aggro on you, at least they're not shooting you while the 6-second FA animation plays out.
Learn to jump, and most importantly, learn to jump behind corners.
Plan ahead, especially for when things don't go as planned. Consider what you will have to do when that openning snipe misses. Always have a Plan B (which can often best be run away).
In my case, I almost always lay down an ice patch before an attack. It gives me a place to escape to or run foes though as defensive manuevers...
Triage all foe mobs you are considering to attack, and don't be afraid to pass on groups you either feel might be too powerful or you have a bad feeling about. Learn the unique characteristics of the foes you fight, and realize not all same-conning foes are alike. As a rule, the lower the level with the same con the harder the foe (since this means its either an LT or boss). Con EVERY foe in the group, sometimes more than once. Look out for hidden foes (which can often be hiding in things and be the highest ranking member, such as a boss). Look out for conning using keyboard (double check visual, adjusting position if necessary), as you might think there is one foe of a type when there are two or more 'in a row', and you just thought the keyboard didn't respond! 
On accuracy enhancement: I like to 1-slot my single-target powers and don't put accurancy into my AoE's. My logic is that AoE's will usually hit something, but if single-target misses at all it misses completely. But I think it's perfectly reasonable to also slot AoE's for accuracy. In fact, I slot inferno (my nuke) with 1 accurracy just for insurance (and I have noticed it now misses only maybe 1 foe in 20 or so, and I always use BU+AIM beforehand).
And I don't slot my snipe for accuracy. But blazing bolt (snipe) has accuracy enhanced naturally. When it hits it needs to be as powerful as possible, and it's true strength is its range. It is currently 5-slotted for damage, and I plan to fill the 6th slot with a range extender (which will put it at 180 feet)...
I.
...
18. All warfare is based on deception.
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we
are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder,
and crush him.
21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him.
If he is in superior strength, evade him.
22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to
irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.
If his forces are united, separate them.
24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where
you are not expected.
...
III.
...
17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials
for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when
not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior
and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same
spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take
the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is
not interfered with by the sovereign.
...
IV
...
11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is
one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.
12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation
for wisdom nor credit for courage.
13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty
of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is
already defeated.
14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into
a position which makes defeat impossible, and does
not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist
only seeks battle after the victory has been won,
whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights
and afterwards looks for victory.
...
V
...
10. In battle, there are not more than two methods
of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two
in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn.
It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end.
Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?
...
-Sun Tzu on the Art of War
Know when you have to run, and when you have actually taken control of a situation, A good blaster should impress people both with his/her ability to lose life incredibly fast, and his/her ability to come out alive when they've been running around with critical life.
Know when it's too late to run, if you've commited too much of your life, too many inspirations, drawn too much aggro, running will only get you shot in the back... know when you've crossed the point of no return... blasters die... if you know you can't escape it, go out with a bang... you can usually get off 2-3 powerful attacks in the time it takes you to get shot in the back. many defenders... don't want to run away from the battle either to rez you... If your enemies have defeated you... atleast you can make the hurt for it.
If you have not passed the point of no return though... know how to escape...
Interesting situational strategy, feeds off my "know how in control of a situation you are thoughts" as well as the
[ QUOTE ]
18. All warfare is based on deception.
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable;
when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we
are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away;
when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
[/ QUOTE ]
if you aer down to one or 2 enemies, but almost no health... approach fast and hit hard... and by approach I mean APPROACH... if you get right in their face most enemies will pull out their melee weapon, then draw back and circle them, they will keep their melee weapon out as though it'll be some use... run in circles and ride fire blast, or your equivalent of a good range good attack speed good dmg is not a requirement... as long as your opponent is treating you as a melee character and you are on the move like that... they cannot hit you... sprint or swift is strongly recommended so that even with the rooting effects of powers minions won't catch up to you...
adapt as needed
actually impressing people with your ability to lose life isn't something to aim for but it'll happen frequently... don't let this be your weakness though...
Defense: Okay, here goes... You're squishie. Squishie as hell. Don't go overboard thinking defensive capacity will save you. It won't. As a Blaster you are your best defense. Accept it. But if you have access to something like Cloaking Device, take and slot and use it and love it. With Smoke Grenades or Superspeed, Cloaking Device gives you total invisibility... until you fire. Stealth/Invis is there for the pre-fecal matter hitting the rotary cooling device planning, not to keep you alive whilst said matter is hitting said device.
Planning: Which moves us on to planning. Do it. Learn to do it on the fly. Soloing a */Dev Blaster allows you to do all sorts of nastiness before the fight starts, but most teams aren't going to have the patience for that, so learn to do it quickly. Scan, and I mean a lot. Wave that cursor around. Prioritize the up-coming mobs. Which ones need to go down first? Which power are you going to use? An Aim+BU's snipe? Your nuke? A hold or stacked-hold? Pop quiz, Hotshot. Be the first guy or gal that spots that nasty mezz'r or Sapper. Trust me, this is a valuable skill to have and to bring to a team. Ask anyone running a Kheld how important it is to find the Quantum or Void. Here's a bind a couple binds I use...
<ul type="square">
/bind F6 "say $target located."
/bind F7 "say $target in my sights. Ready."[/list]The first one let's folks know you've found such-n-such. The second one let's folks know what target you plan on dealing with first, and that you're ready when they are. Here's a little keybinding tutorial I came up with.
Patience: Have it. Don't be the first one to take the shot. If there's a Tanker on board follow him or her. And I don't mean so damn close that you're both wearing the same tights... you know, unless the Tanker's Iron Vixen or something. Tankers get shot it. No really, it's true. Some of these shots will be of the AoE variety. Don't be next to the Tanker when these come inbound. Let the Tanker (or Scrapper) gain aggro before you do anything. When cruising thru maps I'm right there with the lead Tank. It's a good habit to have.
Bag o' Tricks: These are a staple for me. I like having something more than just raw firepower to bring to the team... although that's a damn good thing to have as well. Don't shy away from powers (like Tesla Cage) just because they don't dish out a lot of damage. Holds and acccess control powers are your friends. Powers like Recall Friend and the Medicine gizmo are great powers to have. Then there's one of my longtime trick plays... TP Foe. 'Port Sniping is a great artform for a Blaster to pick up. Too damn bad PvP's come along. Now every-damn-body wants this power. A power that used to get ignored or laughed at.
Hmm... that's about all I can think of at the moment. If you've any questions ask. That's my last bit of advice... Ask Questions. Ask questions on the forums, ask questions in-game. If it's your first time facing a certain mob-type, ask folks if there's anything you should know.
I love this thread hehehe. I have 2 rules which has been expanded to 3 now.
[ QUOTE ]
Rule 1: Hide behind the Scrappers and Tanks.
Rule 2: If there is no Scrapper or Tank hide behind a wall or the mission door.
Rule 3: When in Melee see Rule 1 and 2.
[/ QUOTE ]
I've played a MA/SR to 50 so you might as well say I played a "blapper" already.
Solo Play tactics.
NEVER!! EVER!! give up range. You have range and you sure as hell don't want to ever give it up. If you can snipe a troll from half a mile up then good for you. Always take the snipe then get the hell away if they can come after you. If they can't come after you then it really sucks to be them doesn't it hehehehehe
Always plan your approach and escape. Nothing will face plant you faster then running around a corner and getting jumped by a mob.
Team tactics.
If you have a strong offensive line then plan the first strike. You can target and dmg something severly so pick what dies first. Taking out the guys separated thins the herd. Do NOT snipe a mob because they will run past teammates to get to you.
When using heavy knockback by all means plan it so the guys go sailing at the tanks and scrappers. Pretty much the equivalent of kicking a rabbit to the wolves.
Study the team as you play. A blaster can be damn deadly supporting the frontline and playing squishy defense. Figure out your role and adapt to it. Always assume you are playing squishy defense after all you are a squishy.
If the team is sloppy in protecting the squishies then YOU protect the squishies. There will be fewer enemies going after the backline unless they heavily draw aggro. If they heavily draw aggro then you do not know this person and should not be anywhere near him/her. I'm sorry but I can get myself killed all by myself and don't need any extra help.
If the team can lock aggro well enough that you don't have half a mob playing smash the squishies then support the scrappers and tankers. A scrapper or Tanker should be drawing more aggro so drop their opponents from as far away as possible. From previous experience as a scrapper I like it when things are getting killed that are attacking me. I can't see any scrapper complainging when the thing he is attacking dies. Though don't make him waste attacks. That WILL piss him/her off because they could have used that attack on a new opponent. Once this strategy is used Scrappers will leave you the slivers to deal with and easy kills are good kills.
(Virtue/Champion) Neil Fracas: Inv/SS
(Virtue) Gideon Fontaine: MA/SR (Sc), Generic Hero 114: Ice/Cold, Marcus Tyler AR/En, Project F: Spines/DA (S)
(Champion) Jenna Sidal BS/SD, Generic Hero 114: En/En (Bl), Loganne Claws/WP (Sc)
Learn how to work with your team, not against them. Do you know what various Defender/Controller anchored powers look like? Blasters can quickly thin out enemies outside of the toggled debuffs to make sure that all the badguys are kept weak as kittens.
If your team is light on control powers, talk to your group about target priority. Stack your Tesla Cages with someone else's Char to lock that Boss down instead of waiting for your powers to recycle on their own. Drop your Caltrops on the Tanker's Mud Pots. Don't randomly knockback waves of enemies all over the room. Use single target attacks to finish off what the Scrappers started.
If the team is having a rough time at first, be the one to bring up planning. Ask the other teammates if they perfer you whittle down minions fast or focus on Boss killing. Does the Tank plan on herding the room or is the team going from group to group? Which flavor of Defender are you working with (and do you know the difference)? Does your team know what other tools you can bring to the table besides more damage (*/devices, Medicine pool, TPFoe, control powers from your APP)?
Here's a bit of advice that I failed to mention before.
If you die once, dust yourself off and give it a second go-round.
If you die any more than that, log off for a while. You're a Blaster and you tend to buy the farm easier than most. I'm not saying give up altogether, just give yourself some time to reflect on what it is you may or may not be doing to get further ahead as a Blaster.
When Alone:
Faultline, when you can get there, is great for early levels. This is because there are places where a hero with super or combat jumping can overlook a big pit of Vahzilok and snipe them without worrying about excessive retailiation. If the heat comes on, back up, removing line of sight and preventing further damage while you recover.
There is rarely anyone in faultline to complain, which means you are not going to get anyone annoyed with you picking off weakened enemies.
In more general terms, while you have the advantage of combat jump to scale buildings, warwalls, steep inclines, etc. USE IT. Any chance you can get to prevent a foe from entering melee range is a chance worth taking. With your own (usually superior) damage output and higher HP, you minimize risk at the expense of keeping your own melee skills out of action.
Know your attack chains and their applications. If you miss a shot, will you be in danger of melee? Can you get another attack off to preserve your space? Or should you queue your fastest melee attack to trigger when the near-dead foe gets close? Know the damage output of your powers in relation to your foe's hp, and you can be more efficient with your endurance.
And if you miss twice, pound on the damage power closest to respawning. If you drop a foe before they deal damage, only the animation of the hit occurs, but you remain unharmed.
When you use build up or any power-enhancing power (aka 'overdrive'), try to already be in range or less than three seconds away from range, your intended target(s). Perform last-second position tweaks if needed and fire off the rest of your attacks quickly. This is especially important for AoE attacks, where the aggro you draw should be put down well before it reaches you. Then, even if you miss a few, you still have your overdrive to deal more damage or another few shots at range.
Slot at least one melee attack heavily for damage and accuracy. With luck, you won't need it, but if you do, it's your final line of defense, and it better be powerful enough to stop or seriously inconvenience whatever backed you into a corner.
Know thy enemy. Trolls and council and Rikti close distance when possible. Family gunners do not. They will happily chew you to bits from a distance, so break their line of sight to pull them within YOUR range, where the field of play is much more tilted in your favor.
Consider slotting one of your early primaries as a pulling power. That means a lot of range enhancers and recharge enhancers. As mentioned elsewhere, it's a good 'taunt' without a tank.
When on a team:
TALK.
This cannot be stressed enough. I don't mean chat about your life, but talk about the next group. Form a plan and get everyone to agree. This will get everyone into a role more quickly, regardless of their skill level. It is a rare case where people will not listen, particularly after they bite the floor once or twice.
If a teammate is in trouble and you can afford to take a hit or two, strike their immediate threat with everything you've got, then make a break for it. The time that you (having practiced getting away from danger... usually) can keep the enemies occupied means that your teammate can come back up, and launch an attack from behind.
Organize your screen so that you can have all the windows (Chat, target, map, team) open at once without being too restricting of your view.
Indoors
If you aren't engaged in combat, run in first-person, looking straight ahead, and hit tab repeatedly as you move. This will let you find foes before they see you (except for snipers), even if you are in a cave system. After the first few encounters in a mission, you will be able to guess the approximate positions and composition of the rest of a group, and plan accordingly.
Outdoors
When possible, keep zoomed out so you can see a sniper on a ledge and minimize confusion time when the hit occurs. If your pool powers allow you to have vertical travel, (and especially now that fly no longer debuffs accuracy), do air support for your team. Recon at distance and then hold position or come in from behind once the tank has all the foes bunched up.
My Motto: "Debt is merely another Goal."
"Wow Abalest--you manage to start a discussion even when you ain't given a topic" -Ghostman
Abalests on Infinity:
Miss Fulcrum
Dark Soul Golem
Power Drain
Here's a handy tip when taking aggro and running: don't head straight for the defender and wonder why they die. Badass ranged damage is often AoE...
I apologize to any defenders who bit the dust because I stepped too close.
Secondly, movement is not enough...smart movement is the key. Otherwise, you might as well be standing still. Make enemies unsheath melee weapons, only to run out of range, or make enemies rush around a corner. Hover isn't very manueverable in that regard, but the altitude and defense are pretty great, so slot it for speed! I personally use a combination of Stealth and Hover, but talk about slow! I have Hover 4-slotted with speed, and will add more soon.
Learn secondary effects of insps:
(this appies to all ATs)
Instead of using a Catch a Breath for...
Endurance conservation: ACC/DAM---if you hit em more often, or you do more damage, they drop faster, thus less end used.
Instead of using a Respite for...
Health: DEF/DAM---if you kill em faster, they can't deal more damage. If you avoid the damage, you'll live long enough to kill whatever's shooting at ya.
Finally, NEVER AUTO-TARGET. With some exceptions, this can be very, very bad. Typically, at the range a blaster can hit, there may be another group of mobs off to one side that is actually closer than the group your team is fighting.
Exceptions include snipes, which are interruptible, so hitting "z" will cancel the move. Also, in close range, auto-target and fire at will, though you still have a better handle on things if you manually target enemies.
I read this in another tip and decided to expand on it as it is a really good tip.
Talking with your teammates in groups is a very usefull skill to use as a blaster.
Typically a tank or scrapper is trying to lead the team because they are the first into battle. If at all possibly, you want to lead the group. Forming the group to begin with is a great way to make sure you are in the lead.
Why is being in the lead important? The number one thing that kills blasters is when a fight happens in a situation that he does not controll all the factors. Once the blaster steps out of the Heart of the Battle, their life is in the hands of the battle.
When soloing the blaster can pick and choose how he is going to attack mobs. In teams if you are not the leader you can make suggestions but often teams will ignore you if they are used to playing a different way. People rarely want to change their playstyle to something un familiar. Scrappers especially like to prove how scrapperly they are. I have noticed that female players tend to take advice and tactics into consideration more than male players.
To sum all of this up.
It's good to be the king.
First of all: really nice thread, lots of good advice
I can't come up with much that haven't already been said, but here's the little bit I can come up ith...
When you finally get you nuke at lvl 32, use it wisely. It draws INSANE ammounts of aggro, so be sure that when you have used it, everything around you is pretty much dead. Many people use Aim and Build Up right before they use it, but if you time it properly it's possible to get of 2 other attacks before finishing with the Nuke. That means that you can hit the enemy with both your cone-attack and the big AoE before you unleash the Nuke, and those 3 attacks combined usually=certain death to every single minion (the nuke alone should do that) but with the two other attacks before that you actually have a good chance of dropping leiuttenants too
Another thing, and this is only when you're on a team with a good tank. Don't be afraid to wait a little untill you attack for the first time. Give the tank time to get ALL the aggro, then hit them with all you got... Aim+Build Up and all the AoE's you can fire of before the buffs wear off. If you attack too early you risk ending up with unwanted aggro which can both get you killed and is sure to make the tanks job much harder.
And last but not least: Remember to be a *******! I never thought about it before I read the 3B Bible, but when I think back, the times I've been most succésfull with my Blasters have been when I have been a pure and utter *******!
Great thread Concern.
My advice is melee can be safe on occasion. Enemy melee attacks are slower than their ranged which gives me a chance to pop insps when needed and scrappers/tankers are more likely to aggro my target if it's still next to them. Standing next to the tank is almost suicide against large mobs with aoe. My place is dancing round the outskirts of melee taking out each target as fast as possible and if I need to take bosses on take them out of the main group with knockback and only if I know I can win.
All in all blasters are capable of wrecking almost any target with all the styles mentioned by all the posters. 
[ QUOTE ]
Quote: me
When you finally get you nuke at lvl 32, use it wisely. It draws INSANE ammounts of aggro, so be sure that when you have used it, everything around you is pretty much dead. Many people use Aim and Build Up right before they use it, but if you time it properly it's possible to get of 2 other attacks before finishing with the Nuke. That means that you can hit the enemy with both your cone-attack and the big AoE before you unleash the Nuke, and those 3 attacks combined usually=certain death to every single minion (the nuke alone should do that) but with the two other attacks before that you actually have a good chance of dropping leiuttenants too
[/ QUOTE ]
It just dawned on me that this tacktick is probably only useable for energy-blasters (which is the kind of blaster I am), but for that kind of blaster it is still extremely usefull 
I currently have a level 34 Energy/Energy Blaster.
She has no holds. No debuffs. No defenses (nope, not even Stealth! ).
However, she's a lethal killing machine in either solo or group and that's for one very important reason: I know her and I know her well.
This may sound like common sense, but I've seen far too many people not know their character.
-You should know how many attacks it takes to kill any given minion from -1 to +2 for every villain group you'll fit. Same with LTs.
-You should know what bosses you can and can't solo. I can tackle most things except for Council vampire bosses, personally.
-You should know when to panic and start popping Respites. I usually don't worry until I'm almost orange.
-You should know exactly what your range is.
-Also, for other Energy/Energy Blasters, know when to melee! You were given Bone Smasher (and later on, Total Focus) for a reason - use them! For me, AIM + Build Up followed by Bone Smasher and then Power Burst will kill any orange Lt. that's not specifically resistant. This is much quicker than the Aim + BU + Sniper combo and leaves me with more time to Power Blast and Power Bolt the minions accompanying them.
-Another Energy/Energy tip. GET POWER PUSH. For the love of god, I see way too many Eng/Engs without this most vital of powers - it's Power Push alone that allows me to take on most of the bosses I do.
-Know when to nuke. Running into the middle of a bunch of Red/Purple minions and Lts and nuking is bad, bad, especially when you don't tell your teammates what you're doing. :/ What I do is get buffs and make sure they have heals lined up on me and then I hop in and nuke, which generally takes out most minions and hurts Lts enough that it's easy for the rest of the team to mop up.
-Know when to use Inspirations when you're soloing! I tend to have about 6 Greens, two Break Aways, two Good Lucks, two Blues, and the rest I use as I get them. I know a lot of people who get a full tray and then only use them in dire situations - you increase your potential vastly when you're under the effect of inspirations, and they drop often enough that you can have at least 1 running at all times.
-And of course, most importantly - Know when to run! I do this all the time... in fact, I make sure that I have a clear path to the nearest elevator/mission door at all times in case the fit hits the shan.
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-Another Energy/Energy tip. GET POWER PUSH. For the love of god, I see way too many Eng/Engs without this most vital of powers - it's Power Push alone that allows me to take on most of the bosses I do.
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Amen brother!
Power Push is a real life-saver, and on top of that you can queue your snipe to start right after you have power pushed an opponent. They won't get up until your snipe is ready and fired at them (hopefully knocking them down once again). Same thing with Power Thrust, which has also saved my life more than once (especially before I got Power Push).
There will be many people that tell you how to be a hero. Listen and absorb, but come to your OWN conclusion on how to proceed.
A good 3B is a master of tactics because of necessity through trial and error. You can be told how to do something but won't truly know until you do.
Range is not a defense.
Melee is not instant death.
You must learn to hover before you can fly.