Here's my contribution to the 3B Bible. It's not 100% mine--I'm borrowing extensively from the popular webcomic Schlock Mercenary and the (increasingly misleadingly named) "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates."
So I give you the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Blasters."
Rule #1: Pillage, then burn.
Rule #6: If violence wasn't your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.
Rule #8: Mockery and derision have their place. Usually, it's on the far side of the airlock.
Rule #9: Never turn your back on an enemy.
Rule #12: A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head.
Rule #13: Do unto others.
Rule #16: Your name is in the mouth of others: be sure it has teeth.
Rule #21: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Take his fish away and tell him he's lucky just to be alive, and he'll figure out how to catch another one for you to take tomorrow.
Rule #27: Don't be afraid to be the first to resort to violence.
Rule #29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less.
Rule #30: A little trust goes a long way. The less you use, the further you'll go.
Rule #31: Only cheaters prosper.
Rule #34: If you're leaving scorch-marks, you need a bigger gun.
Rule #35: That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.
Rule #36: When the going gets tough, the tough call for close air support.
Rule #37: There is no overkill. There is only open fire and I need to reload.
Rule #38: Just because it's easy for you doesn't mean it can't be hard on your clients.
I know I posted this in the Legion of Freedom forums, but it was suggested that it belonged here as well. I also know I've probably missed a few, but a thorough read of the five years of comic archives should turn up any I've missed. Hope you enjoyed!
Adapt.
Play things by ear. Don't plan your character from 0-50. Odds are, your choices may not work out the way you want them to.
Pick powers because you need them or want them at the time you pick them.
You have three respecs. Use them if you need to.
Test things out. See what works for you and what doesn't. Experiment. Some combinations are unlikely, but definitely workable.
I hate to say something as cliched as "think outside the box", but really... Almost everything we have is useful somehow, even if it doesn't look like it on the surface.
40062: The World's Worst PUG
84008: Jenkins's Guide to Super-Villainy
230187: The Hero of Kings Row
No H8 - 08.04.10
@Circuit Boy - Moderator - Pride global chat channel
Great thread.. For what's it worth, here's my thoughts and agreements.
*Dont be afraid to specialise.
I'm a Eng/Elec blaster that has no AoE attack powers at all, apart from Nova and Electric Field. I focused on single target powers, and I'm all the better for it.Aggro is alot more controlled, and boss fights are more focused.
You might get told '[censored] didnt you take Torrent', but hey, your hero, your rules.
*Know you powers damage potential.
Dont go wasting extreme level damage on a villain that could be taken out with brawl.
So if you have two mobs in front of you and one's health is at a point where you lowest attack will defeat it, but its not recharged yet, move your target to the next mob and attack. When you lowest power comes round again, switch back and finish them off. This way you are always attacking something.
*Use what you have to your advantage.
Electric field may by pretty much useless: rarely hits, mininal damage, have to be in meleee etc. But it does have it's use.
Used after a boss is grasped and power sinked, that boss is not going to have enough end left to brawl, let alone fire an AoE at you. Allowing you to blast with relative safty.
*Manage you insps as the drop.
I dont mean pop them the moment they drop, but if they are useless in regards to what you are fighting, dont dump them, use them or pass them to a team mate. You/they get a buff for a while, and space is left open for those nicer much more needed insps. Nothing worse than looking at your tray only to find you've collected nothing but yellows, you have no lucks, and the boss is up next.
*Dont throw Recharge Reducers into powers without thought.
Early in the game, it's nice to have your powers recharge quick so you strike out alot more. But as you level up and you gain more powers, then you to be more flexible with your attack patterns. So you may not need them all to come back as quick as possible. Just quick enough so that (say) two power activations later they are ready again.
*Dont get 'Needed' powers if you dont want them.
Hasten, Stamina, Stealth, Tough, Combat Jumping.
They are all useful and can make a real difference in a fight, but if you dont want them, dont take them. As much as people will say they are 'needed', they are ways to work around them.
This doesnt mean dismiss them out of hand. Rationally weigh up the advantage / disadvantage they give you and make a good choice. Your choice.
Matrix Zero One : L50 Eng/Elec
Elemental Flow : L38 Earth/Storm
Lady Energy : L39 Peacebringer
Matoko : L25 MA/SR
League Homepage : [url="http://www.MatrixZeroOne.co.uk"]http://www.MatrixZeroOne.co.uk[/url]
[url="http://www.archive.org/download/The_Arena/TheArena.avi"]Arena Video : 11Mb [/url]
While teaming: Be in front..until the battle starts 
The contents of a mob are going to affect you more-so then any other AT <even squids!> Tab is your friend. Make darn sure you know whats coming up and prioritize your targets accordingly Know whos going to mezz or hold, whos going to make your day the worst.
Get a feel for the sizes of various AoEs, Kinetics often heal of targets near the tank for example, If you can get yourself in a sweet spot, the heal will hit you while you avoid the enemy aoes being thrown at the tank, also good for getting combat RAs / AMs without sacrificing your posistion The defenders Aoe heals and buffs are often bigger than youd think.
Solo: Always be aware of whos killing who.
Sometimes the safest course of action is to eliminate the threat Sometimes you will need to bail. Judging this is an art that old pros can screw up easily<I know I tend to error on the side of "eliminating the threat">.
Run to soon and your taking shoots in the back you didn't need to, nothing worse then dieing around a corner wondering if a disorient or a hold or damage wouldve saved you...running too late Is self explanitory.
If you have a snipe attack and are teamed w/ a tanker w/ Taunt, you have a good duo. You snipe/pull a mob and run out of sight. If the tanker times the taunt correctly he should be right in the middle of the mob running after you and grab all the aggro. You go back and finish what you started.
NEVER underestimate the power of knockback/knockdown. Combined w/ Power Burst, an enemy on its back can't fight back.
Use your Respecs wisely, the Test Server is your best friend.
That's my two cents for now.
Will only comment on Elc/Eng and Ice/Elc which are the blasters I played up to lvl 40.
The only way to survive when you have no mez protection other than inspirations and for that reason have no armour, is to use control.
Both the sets I have used luckily had control.
Short Circuit(One rch & Five drain) Area control power, shoot Aim and power boost and then run in with super speed and short circuit your enemies.
Now they will try to flee, provoke your enemies.
Begin to destroy all your opponents while singing "I am a blaster you know that you love me".
Now, Ice, use aim and bitter freeze, than freeze to hold bosses or possibly two lt, afterwards run in and fire invoke panic and keep the boss held with the quick freeze ray and shockin' grasp.
Invoke panic is your weak area control which could be replaced by an area sleep once you are in your early 40's and have access to epics.
Although it is weak, it can be stacked to control anything pretty much when six slotted and coupled with the use of aim.
The only thing it sucks with is Nemesis and robots.
However invoke panic recharges quickly and can be stacked.
You can replace it later with epic aoe sleep.
It also probably costs much more to activate.
Always keep your tray full of breaks and bloody respites.
You have no healing power and they are the compensation.
In theory, no rage will bring their damage anywhere to compare with this AT so live your life in the theoretical realm, knowing you are not wasting time on a gimped class but investing time on the most challenging one coh has to offer.
Trust me, playing tanks after blasters is like *giving candy to a bloody baby.
If there was only one piece of advice I could give you, is know the beast you are teaming with, they are not blasters and likely have no understanding of game strategy or worse blasters who answer the same notion, be ready as you may need to run and speak your mind.
Good blasters are assertive.
Yeah, well we are gimped and love it.
At least perhaps we are not gimped at mind.
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*Manage you insps as the drop.
I dont mean pop them the moment they drop, but if they are useless in regards to what you are fighting, dont dump them, use them or pass them to a team mate. You/they get a buff for a while, and space is left open for those nicer much more needed insps. Nothing worse than looking at your tray only to find you've collected nothing but yellows, you have no lucks, and the boss is up next.
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On the contrary, all yellows is a wonderful thing. Eating a couple of them before the boss fight will help your high damage count and your holds stick. I'm always irritated when I haven't been able to pickup at least a couple during the course of a mission.
Speaking of insps: On my Ice/Ice I generally load out with 10 total slots at this time. Two (2) heals, one (1) wake, and either seven (7) CaBs or six (6) cabs and one (1) luck. I worry about other insps as they trickle in. I eat CaBs like christmas candy, so I tend to load out a little heavy on them. I generally give up red pills to the scrappers, because I'm running Tactics. If the boss needs to come down in a hurry, then I'll rage out. Nothing more fun than seeing your damage hit triple digits on a purple boss.
The boxer's creed. "STICK AND MOVE....STICK AND MOVE" applies very well to my style of play. Just don't move into that pile of un-aggroed mobs hiding around the corner or you're going to find out what the carpet smells like (trust me, the Warwolves haven't been housebroken yet). The only stationary blaster is a dead one.
RANGE ... RANGE ... RANGE. I can't preach that enough to the blasters that hit our pick up groups. The healer is spending more time concentrating on the blaster that thinks he's a tank than healing the group. In my opinion, the blaster's primary function is RANGED DAMAGE. Defenders and Controllers are squishie too, so make it your mission to protect the squishies.
Typical layout in a good PUG - The tanks are at the bottom of the mob dog-pile, the scrappers are around the outer edge of the pile, the defenders and controllers have the middle position, (healing, crowd control, debuffing, buffing, etc), and the blasters are in the BACK ROW, within range of the Defender/Controller throwing damage around like it's going out of style. If a mob breaks away, make it your mission to take out the runners if it doesn't pull you out of position.
I'll add more if I can think of it.
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Drop your Caltrops on the Tanker's Mud Pots.
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Please, please, please DON'T do this. At least, not if I'm your tanker.
Mobs will run away from caltrops. When I'm running 'pots, I want everything to be as close to me as possible. When you drop caltrops on top of me, I lose my whole crowd.
A much better use of caltrops is to give yourself some insurance against anyone that peels off the herd and comes after you---toss them in front of you and those mobs will think twice about closing (or, at least, will be sitting ducks if they decide to do so).
My technique for soloing as an Ice/Ice blaster... Dont let them stand... and if they are standing they need to be in a block of ice
I start off every battle cloaked right into the middle of a group(If it is spread out I go for the bigest one I can find) and lay an Ice patch. Then I position myself so i can send a shiver in to slow them all down. I then unleash Ice breath first then unload my attacks... Usually target the biggest one not in a piece of ice and Build up and take him out then go to the next and use aim and take him out. I always cycle my aim back the the big guy stuck in a freeze ray and make sure he stays there. I always have an ice patch out it is essential for my techniques.
Then when there is a big group of minions I just unleash a blizzard take out minions and leiuts up to 2+ =)
Not a tech for everyone but it is good for bastards that dont like them standing up... I also think it is a good idea to NEVER EVER take cloak off... the extra defence is always good. And never be afraid to use insp. I use about 2-3 a battle if not more... Because I am a wuss =)
A few things I've picked up that might help some of you out.
*use the unmez (forget name) inspiration after you click a rez inspiration to avoid the dazed effect.
*if you get stuck in AOE slow or roots, phase shift is great for getting out of them before the rest of the mobs close in on you and get into melee. Just phase, back up, unphase and keep shooting.
*supprisingly enough with only one Acc SO in your low level immob ability (electric fence in my case) it lands probably 80% of the time against minions and Lts. Against bosses use it in combo with aim and build up to slow the boss then use your hold (tesla's cage is sweet).
*as an electric blaster lightning clap casts really fast and is great for pushing mobs away in a hurry when in trouble and does not cost much endurance. enough time to get off phase shift usually.
*pulling at max range while stealth is up makes it really easy to pull one mob at a time if you use a low damage attack. you can do it without stealth but I find it works better for me.
*pop off the unmez inspirations before you attack a mezzing/holding boss. it gives you a bit of resistance for a short time.
*adding a couple of range SOs to your immob/hold powers makes them a lot more useful against mobs that have long range attacks.
*add hold duration SOs to your liberally if you can spare the slots. it is a great feeling when your hold sticks to a boss or LT long enough for you to finish off the rest of his minion buddies.
*electricity blasters, almost all of our powers drain some amount of endurance so if you have room to move, then snipe and fall back and snipe and fall back it might take a while to kill a boss but if you can stay out of range long enough you will eventually drain him even if he has a lot of health he is a kitten if no endurance so often I care more about watching a boss mob's endurance bar then his health. Once his endurance bar is low then constant closer range attacks will keep him from gaining that endurance back and you simply chip away at them. This works well in missions too. Zone out and come back and the boss often has not gotten all his endurance back yet. If you have 3 or 4 blues you can use Thunderous blast to AOE nuke everything and empty a bosses endurance but it can be risky. Play with it.
*phase shift is a great power as is stealth. phase shift has a lot more uses then just avoiding damage. play with it, it's a fun power.
Let me just expand a bit on what StaticJolt said about immobilizes.
Although a single application of an immobilize will not root a boss, it will snare him (make him move at minimum speed) and this will allow you to move out of melee range. Most of the bosses in the game have strong melee attacks with a few in the late game having strong ranged attacks. While you can't do much against the ranged bosses in the late game with an immobilize (unless you root them then run around a corner and use rain or ignite) you can keep the melee bosses from hammering you or running up to you easily after one of their ranged attacks knocks you down.
Have fun!
While I'm fairly new to blasting (highest blaster is 23), I figured I'd add a little here.
The most important aspect of surviving as a blaster on a team is making sure that all team members are doing their job. I'll use two teams I was on yesterday as an example. In the first group, we had an awesome tank and equally awesome support characters. We all listened to each other and did our jobs as they were supposed to be done. I only faceplanted a few times, but I'm an AoE heavy Fire blaster so that's to be expected. If I had debt, it was always gone before the end of whatever mission we were on.
The second team was not nearly as good. The tank would constantly hang back on the edge of the group even after being told to charge in and stay in. Sometimes I would have to fire my alpha with only Freezing Rain for Aggro control, and we all know how much good AoEs do against scattered mobs. I ended up logging with a bar of debt, and the knowledge that if the team doesn't have a solid leader/strategist, I need to take that role.
For soloing, I have to echo the earliar comments in the thread: ADAPT THE BATTLE TO YOUR STRENGTH! While AoE is my blaster's main strength, she also packs a huge punch in melee range with Bonesmasher and Energy Punch. I've found that if I use SS+Bonesmasher+Build Up in a jousting fashion, I can take out at least one minion or possibly a lieutenent before I'm even being shot at. I often find myself in melee range after leading into a pack with Fire Breath+Fireball, and I can usually fire off Bonesmasher at the nearest target before my last buff drops.
Something else to keep in mind is, we heros can see around corners. Feel free to let the tank charge blindly into that pack of a dozen minions, he might even live through it. You won't. So sidle up to the corner, that's it, get close Metal Gear Solid-style. Now rotate the camera, and presto, you can see them, but they have no LOS for you. Choose your target and your tactics with this advance intel, without risking like & limb to get a headcount.
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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.
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Expanding on that: In general, anything that knockbacks or knockdowns is your friend. Power Thrust is a wonderful thing, because if an enemy is on his butt, he's not able to attack you til he stands back up. Better yet, the getting-up animation takes just slightly longer than it takes to charge a snipe. This is highly useful against enemies that have a "parting shot", because the Thrust puts all but the largest-area effects too far away to harm your frail little body.
Combine with some of the other tactics already mentioned, and you might have a scenario like this:
Peek around the corner, target that Nemesis Lieutenant. Prod him with that 1st tier attack power (which you've thoughtfully slotted some range enhancement to) and duck back behind cover (and if you've got the camera angle working for you, you'll see how many friends he's bringing, if any). Power up the Pink Pom-Poms of Pain, and when he comes around the corner, nail him. With practice, you'll get the trajectory right, and he'll fly back at a 90-degree angle, instead of back toward his buddies. While he's in the air, queue up your Snipe. He'll get to his feet just in time to whimper as he sees the shot coming. Odds are, he's fading away now, off to the Zig, and he just fired off that "Vengeance" buff on empty air. Congratulations, now you can pick off his little friends without any pesky +DEF +ACC buff making your life unnecessarily painful!
Lastly: Learn the undocumented abilities of your powers. For you Electric Blasters, for example: Lightning Bolt has a "voltage dance" animation that lasts a bit under a second. This is usually long enough to dash in and Power Thrust, keeping your enemy from fighting back. Thunderous Blast makes 'em twitch for longer -- over a second, I believe, though I've not timed it. Use this opportunity to eat a blue Skittle and toss out a few Charged Bolts to any survivors.
P.S.: If you get debt, don't whine. We blasters are good at getting out, and the debt badges have cool names!
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*use the unmez (forget name) inspiration after you click a rez inspiration to avoid the dazed effect.
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So true nothing is as dangerous as a smart Blaster with bloodlust. Something on the other team is going to die.
The Golden Rule: If you cannot be hit you cannot be killed.
This may seem overly simplistic and it is but range is both your weakness and strenght. You have to learn how to make it your best friend and defense.
You see a mob if there is anything that can come close to that range stay at your max snipe distance then use a red, build up, aim, and snipe and blow that SOB into next week.
If you are at the 150 mark and the most the bad guys can get is 120 after you sniped the sniper then you will not be killed. This strategy cannot be used if they can get to you however which is why flight can be important.
Here are a few hints
1: Melee is your best friend if you are not the one in melee.
Learn to target through a chr. This is done by clicking their name. Your target will be whoever they are facing. If you help them deal with bad guys even quicker that is a very big plus. Plus you get less aggro then the guy in melee.
2: Never waste attacks.
If you and another person kill the same thing then one of you wasted an attack and enemies live longer. For instance if you team with a scrapper and the 2 of you get a rhythm going you can finish off slivers with weak attacks and as soon as an enemy is taken out you can dbl up on the next one alternating atts.
3: Alternate Build up and Aim.
When taking on a mob more attacks that are beefed up is a lot better then one massive attack because that attack may miss. Though an exception to this is any massive AOE. If I hit a nova I sure as hell want to make sure everything in it dies. I'll gleefully dbl up the 2 there and toss in a stray red too.
(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)
This is a kind of specialized variation of pulling, but it seems to work very well.
I'm a AR/Dev Blaster and have found that TP Foe when used at max range in combination with a Trip Mine or two, produces some very.... explosive results.
Also when soloing against an Orange or Red lvl. Boss, if possible head around a corner drop 5 or 6 Trip Mines at the corner.
Peak around the corner and Snipe the Boss.
Retreat about 30 yds. behind the mines.
Watch Boss set them off when he comes around the corner.
Use another Snipe attack or Full Auto to finish him off.
Flip your roomie the bird after showing him that a Blaster CAN solo against higher lvl foes if they're careful.
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I would appreaciate it if you guys added this little tidbit of knowledge to the 3B Bible (I could just cut and paste but I would rather the bearer of the information got the credit).
It could be usefull to a new blaster that has not used Tripmines before. Thanks for any support you give!
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Two form of stealth, ie superspeed and cloaking device make you invisible to most enemies, rikti drones, any snipe, knives of artemis(i may be forgeting one or two) can see thru this 'fighting invis'.
Toe mining is done by having two forms of invis on and going into the middle of the mob and laying a trip mine, and with more exprience and time bomb, then a trip mine. some people back out of the mob and start raining in AoEs, you can also set you snipe as the next power to activate, and you normally have enough time that the mobs first attack will not interupt your snipe, which is useful when fighting bosses. another option is after you lay the mine to nuke, this is over kill for mobs that arent at least orange.
for any questions or clairifications im on Justice, and my Global is @FlingBot PWNZ
As an ar/dev blaster, my toe-mine/toe-bomb tactics are as follows. This assumed you use smoke grenade + cloaking device for invisibility (for those like myself who use combat jumping/super jump for travel instead of hasten/SS).
1) Turn on cloaking device
2) Throw a smoke grenade
2a) If this is post-I5 (or on test) wait a few seconds for suppression to wear off so you still have total invisibility
3) Walk into the middle of the mobs, and hit the trip mine power
4) As soon as you kneel, hit the backwards key (S) because after the mine appears, you have like 1-2 seconds before it activates and blows them up
5) When you finish laying the mine, you'll start backing up immediately. As soon as you're back far enough, hit flamethrower or full auto quickly. As long as the cone attack was pressed *before* the mine went off (even if the explosion throws them out of the cone range once the attack animation starts) you'll still hit them all.
6) Make smores over the burning embers of your enemies.
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2) Throw a smoke grenade
2a) If this is post-I5 (or on test) wait a few seconds for suppression to wear off so you still have total invisibility
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If you have Super Speed, SS+Cloaking Device eliminates the need for step 2.
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5) When you finish laying the mine, you'll start backing up immediately. As soon as you're back far enough, hit flamethrower or full auto quickly. As long as the cone attack was pressed *before* the mine went off (even if the explosion throws them out of the cone range once the attack animation starts) you'll still hit them all.
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If you hit jump right before you activate your follow up power, you can continue to move backwards while the power begins to activate.
I know I've had people ask me why I took Rain of Fire... but mix that with caltrops and no loose baddies come after the back rank of squishies.
I drop a 'trops behind the tanks and scraps and then stand on the far side of them.
If my aoe's draw too much agro, I drop Rain of Fire on my own head, and Voila, no one wants to be close to me, sending them right back to the hungry tanks and scrappers
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Learn to prioritize. Make sure you take out lieutenants first, minions second, and bosses last. But disable in the order of boss, lt, minion, it works much better.
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Prioritize - but always remember that the orders listed there may not always be best. In some cases, it's best to clear Minions first, then Lts, then Bosses .. It all depends on who you are fighting and the makeup of your team (if you have one).
Take Nemesis for example. There, I always clear the minions first, because killing the Lts is what causes their buffs to go off, and all those minions with Vengeance on them can REALLY hurt a Blaster.
Or Malta .. Sappers are first, though they are Minions.
CoT? I go for Earth Casters or Air casters before anything else.
So prioritize - but don't be too rigid about it.
My memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.
"The tip of a shoelace is called an aglet, its true purpose is sinister." The Question
The core of the strategy of a blaster DOES boil back down to: You...ARE...A...[censored]. So play like one. Hit em while they're down, shoot them in the back. When you fight a new group of villains (for you) and don't know them, you very quickly learn who you hate and why.
You HATE those Sorcerers. Always debuffing your acc and zipping around healing! You HATE those Air and Earth Thorns. The Damage! And the KB! And the Slow! You HATE how those bosses and lieuts vengance their minions with Nemesis! So remember who you hate and why you hate them. This will fuel your inner [censored] to develop your strategy for you! Who to take down, how to take them down, everything! Because your inner [censored] hates them SOOO much that it NEVER stops thinking about how to beat them!
Combined with your inner child, you can also come up with amazing new tactics and ways to surprise those baddies! Well that's just even better! So, make sure your inner child and inner [censored] get along, feed them regularly, and let their natural traits guide you to victory as a Blastard!
This is obvious, and even natural to do, but it deserves saying.
Your primay power is dropping guys on thier head and leaving them there for good. Do this, an you will live. Do this not, and you shall surely die. If you attack something you can't drop, they'll drop you. Seems obvious, but think about it.
Use your build to improve your ability to drop things... this means maximize that single shot damage so when you use a power, your target dies. If you're going to use an AE.. use it as a finishing move to finish off a group... don't leave them standing to fight back. If you're in a group, don't attack a boss that has no damage... attack the one that's hurt and finish him. Never fire the first shot unless it's going to kill your target.... even let the defender pull (it makes them feel important... seriously... the love to use thier snipes, so let them). Don't even slot powers that aren't 'kill shots' because you want to max out the kill shot powers ASAP... use the weaker shots for runners and almost dead guys... slot them later if you can spare then slots, but otherwise the original one is enough to pull or finish runners.
Find yourself in the thick of things and none of your kill shots are recharged? wait for them.... why blow your endurance on a weak attack that won't kill him, when you're next attack will can finish him from his current hp level. Can't finish a guy with 1 attack... wait for 2 to be active and send them as fast as possible... long animation first so the time between him getting hit by the first and 2nd shots is too short for him to complete his attack on you.
status effects are fun... and they're the difference between being uber and just being good... but as a blaster, you're not defined by your status effects, you're defined by your damage... use it.
I gotta make pain. I gotta make things right. I gotta stop what's comin'. 'Least I gotta try.
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One thing i have discovered in my recent rise to blasterdom is the prolific amount of th eblasting community that seems to have no concept as to what role we play in a group. Or for a more exact description, what role we can play survivably in a group.
I have found that in a team of any reasonable size (>=4) our role becomes one of an offensive defence. Not a night goes by that my wife and i dont login and I build a team. Each time we do this we always run into a blaster whose idea of contribution is to run ahead of the tank, or jump gun on the troller and blast all the mobs in a 16 mob group then insult our def for not healing them when they face plant.
I have discovered that suvivability is easily obtained when a blaster uses a little known skill called tact. Most people never take this power, nor do they tend to slot it properly. So here are a few points i have found, please feel free to address them as you wish, but remember i am not nitpicking powers or particular AT's.
1. Scan your foes - Know the mobs you are to destroy. Something good team leaders do is scan a group of enemies before giving the go ahead signal to the team. Blasters need not fear minions for the most part, its that pesky LT or BOSS that survives our alphas and comes back to haunt us with aggro. Scan whats out there, if you are looking at a group of mobs you cant Alpha kill, dont try. The combined shots from several mobs all htiting you at once will overwhelm ANY lvl of healing you will get, unless of course your bubbled.
2. Reactiv not proactive - As you get into teams with 4 or more people the mob counts begin to swell. I have found that reactive blasting is more effective and keeps you alive in these cases. You still take on some aggro of course, but not the overwhelming wave of your alpha strike survivors. Let your scrappers get in the mix, focus on single targets, let the tank get in the mix, then after the first wave has hit...after battles have begun and mobs have chosen their targets...lay down that alpha combo you so dearly love. This offers several benefits. You will have mobs that will fall because the scraps have knocked off that annoying sliver already, you will have mobs that ar ebeing engaged so thweir aggro will switch around...this leaving them to run to you, then turn back and run to the scrap..etc.
Another reactive approach is to make your entire job to keep everything away from the other soft targets. Draw a mental line on the ground and keep everything on the other side. This is especially fruitful if your typical positioning is to maintain proximity to your DEF (which you should anyways imho)
3. Dont RUSH! - Dont rush in, stay aware take the time to know where all of your teammates are. I know all blasters (even myself) are addictied to big orange numbers, but dont let your thirst to show off your exploding potential override your ability to contribute to a team without faceplanting.
4. Follow the lead - I tend to run my own team every single night, and we always seem to do quite well. The times when things fails is when any AT, not just blasters, decides they wanna lead to..aggroing mobs uneccesarily, getting themselves killed by attacking and drawing massive alpha's etc etc...As a team leader the worst thing is to try and run a good team and have someone pickup debt for everyone.
so maybe some of you that post vehemently in one complaint thread after another, and constanlty complain about insane levels of debt should just look at how you play. A good strategy that keeps you alive is much better than a good strategy that has pretty numbers and leaves you sniffing pavement or counting clouds.
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I have started to collect nuggets of wisdom and simply adding them as I see fit.
The team is only as strong as the weakest member. As blasters, our strength in teams is not to wipe out the spawns with our alpha. We eliminate threats to the team. If the tanker has aggro, but 2 LT's have beelined for the defender, the 2 LT's are the big threat, and should be dealt with. Taking an extra second to pick the BEST target, rather than the nearest, can make all the difference in a battle. best is to eliminate things before they become a threat, second best is to eliminate a growing threat, and worst is to have a +3 boss in the face of the healer because we weren't paying attention.
Watch the battle. As solo blasters, we are forced to pay attention at all times to where we are, where the enemies are, and how fast they can reach us. This is an invaluable skill, and if you can do the same on a team, you can apply your damage where it will do the most good. Think about what you are about to do, and when it comes time to act, unload with everything you have.
119088 - Outcasts Overcharged. Heroic.
These two things have worked for me.
1. [censored] defense, yeah, just [censored] it. Your a blaster, so dont try to defend yourself, you are just wasting slots and powers.
2. KILL the crazy [censored] Rikti before that pot smoking E.T. lays your gansta [censored] out. Hes gonna have one hell of a time trying to kill you when he is dead!!!
But thats just me, the best part about our AT is no two blasters play exactly the same. Oh yeah, some famous dead guy siad this: There are only two things certain in life- Death and Taxes. Our tax is debt. Your gonna get it no matter what. Get used to it. If you dont want it, then go do something else.
P.S. to the person who hunts -1s and -2s. Try Aim+BU+Fireball+Firebreath on +1s and +2s. More exp than you know what to do with.
~the poster formally known as GI_Shmo~
Champion- Always BS/WP Scrapper, Difficult Bots/Dark MM
Infin- Peace Pirate PB