That made me smile.
I too know the excitement of entering every single battle with the knowledge that if I don't have "Run away with extreme cowardice" as my battleplan I shall be kissing dirt.
I too know the shame of telling my SG mates "Hello, My name is John and I have a carpet kissing addiction"
I too have experienced the scorn of playing a character who's powers were chosen for concept (fire/fire and must have the ability to fly). I've been told that /fire sucks, that if I don't have Superspeed, Fitness, and Stealth pools I'm useless *, and that if I was smart I'd just take a scrapper to 50 and lose the blaster altogether.
This post made me laugh, but only because it was so true.
JF
* Yes, Old John Firebird has Hasten, Superspeed, Stamina, and most of the stealth pool... Don't hate me for falling to peer pressure! All the other kids were doing it too!!
Im pretty new to this game so im taking Superspeed for concept, but im a bit hesitant about it because ill prolly be running through many mobs with my HORRIBLY low health.
My question is will they have enough time to shoot and kill me? Im a ice/ice blaster lvl 12...not that it really matters, just to let you know. 
Super Speed has an inherent stealth bonus while you're zipping around. The mobs don't aggro on you nearly as easily because you're moving too fast for them to notice you. Stack this up with the Stealth power pool and you have discovered why so many Blasters rely on this for their livelihood. You can move through enemy-infested streets with impunity, targeting and destroying only those enemies who you wish to.
So to answer your question...no, they won't have time to shoot you and mangle you horribly. More often than not, they won't even take a shot at you unless you shoot first.
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Judging from the CoV video recently it can be determined that Blasters do get to do decent range damage in the near future. Unfortunately you have to die first so you can be used as a projectile weapon by your enemy but at least we?ll get to do decent range damage at the upper lvl.
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Oh, man, now I want a new power in my secondary: "Hurl Self". Medium range, extreme damage, causes knockdown (self and enemy), causes moderate damage to self. 5%damage bonus if you have a helmet, and another 5% if either your head or the helmet has horns. 
This is the usual case except for Rikiti Drones, Snipers, Knives, Turrets, and them Nemesis Tollivers (the ones that can spot you from a mile away and shoot yeah).
I rather enjoyed this post as I got some chuckles out of it. I do everything I can to play it safe, but one thing I like to do is blap stuff. This means running foward and laying down a Total Focus on a mob here and there.
Debt is definitely a part of a blaster's life and no other AT comes close to exemplifying the exhilaration lol.
The Mentor Project - Because we were all new to the game at one time...
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=212083
I'm glad you're having fun. I'm also sorry you find yourself in so much debt. But I honestly disagree that debt is inherent to blasters and I think it's unfortunate that you put up a guide saying it is.
With good tactics, blasters don't have to find themselves in constant debt. And if new players read your guide and are convinced the game is stacked against them, they'll be less likely to try new things and develop the tactics that will work for them.
There was a time when non-Empathy Defenders were viewed as useless. Now they're viewed as real assets to a team and there are plenty of groups who successfully run Invincible missions with no healing at all. And it didn't take an overhaul of their powers for this change to happen. It just took a while for players to develop the level of sophistication required for a non-Empathy Defender to effectively impact a battle.
It's just taking even longer for many players to develop the sophistication required to keep their blasters alive.
Learn how to use the assist feature! Target the melee characters and let them draw the agro! Save your AOEs for saving the melee when things go bad. The majority of players (in game only- I know most of the forum goers know this) dont even know what I am talking about in game. When then pull agro off the tank and then complain that the tank cant hold agro!!!!!!!!!!!
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But I honestly disagree that debt is inherent to blasters and I think it's unfortunate that you put up a guide saying it is.
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Unfortunatly most people playing a Blaster will disagree with this statement.
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With good tactics, blasters don't have to find themselves in constant debt.
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This is for the beginner not the person who has already been down that path.
I pointed out Power Sets that are easier on the new Blaster and Powersets that are harder on the new Blaster.
My first Blaster was an Energy/Electric... Pretty damn hard and I found myself in constant debt. In fact there was entire lvls of debt.
So I'll give my resume. I have a lvl 50 Energy/Electric Blaster, a Lvl 50 Warshade, a Lvl 50 Spine/Regen (5 bars from 50 so let's just say 50) , a Lvl 46 Ice/Ice Blaster, a Lvl 39 Invuln/SS Tank, a Lvl 33 Dark/Dark Defender, and a Lvl 31 Ice/Energy Blaster. All of them haven't been powerlvled but lvled the good old fashioned way. I have been through the mission maps so much I have them memorized.
I wrote that guide in a humerous way but when you try and say an AT that has no Defenece, no Resistance, no Mez Protection, low Health, no ingrained healing ability, and does subpar Range damage doesn't have the game stacked against them then your not really being truthful. I'm just stating the facts.
I like the Blaster because it's a challange each and every battle. All I'm doing here is notifying the new Blasters what's stacked up against them and to be aware of it. I'm showing which sets are easier to work with and which ones are hard.
Take my Guide at face value and as a warning: The Blaster path is a hard but rewarding path that many give up on and few complete.
Well spoken my brother. I too was enticed into the death wrought life of a blaster (I have all the debt badges to prove it). I vividly remember the early days when my game plan for combating a boss entailed popping every inspiration I had followed by snipe, run until I reached the door or the boss lost interest, then snipe again...well you get the picture. Of course this was back in the day when zoning replenished your life and end, without that I would probably still be in my 30's.
Being an elec/elec I also chose the blapper route, but I tire easily so frequent dirt naps are essential. I had the pleasure of playing almost exclusively with squishies throughout my 20's and 30's and I can honestly say I never enjoyed the game more. Did we die alot? duh. But it was the risk that made it enjoyable. I have played tanks and scrappers that allowed me to carry on full tell conversations while battling mobs of purples...yawn. Without death there is no feeling of accomplishment.
Do blasters have to die? No of course not, if you can find a tank to hide behind for the approximately 4-6 hundred hours it will take you to reach 50. I think you will find that it becomes much harder to find tanks to team with as you reach the upper echelons due to their high demand and the limited contribution blasters make during the last 10-15 levels. But then who cares! Once you accept that debt is an integral part of being a blaster you will find that dying 3 times on one boss upsets you much less than the tank or scrapper who dies once and proceeds to whine about his debt for the entire 10 minutes it takes him to work it off killing mobs of purples.
Blasters are not the simplest AT's to play, but in my opinion they are the most rewarding.
Url lvl 50 elec/elec Guardian
Some thoughts on pools and what's kept me alive as an energy/energy blaster and in general not more than one deaths worth of debt at a time.
1. Mission difficulty.
For blasters, unless they take the "stealthy-superspeeding-sniper- route and are AE heavy, our heroic = tankers impossible soloed when padded with 8 people. Ok, maybe not quite that bad, but, its rough. Unless you are falling asleep at heroic, leave it there.
2. Medicine Pool
This little gem of a power pool is grotesquely undervalued IMHO. With two SO interrupt reducers in Aid Self, anything less than a constant DoT effect I can get a heal off during. Two +heal enhancers is enough to give me back 1/3 my life, and with 1 interrupt reducer (no, I don't have hasten) I can do that every 15 seconds.
Doesn't sound like much, does it? I can't mez-protect myself, stimulent is other only, but two blasters with this pool tricked out can mez-protect each other, self-heal, and if they buddy-up, heal each other too. Plus there's a rez. Quite handy indeed. I've also found myself in team environments where I've spent more time playing "empathy wannabee" at 40+ than blasting because either the mobs were so purple my hits were for 1/100th normal damage (when they hit) or the extra healing really was simply that necessary.
While it doesn't sound like much, I effectively have a perma-green inspiration that recharges every 15 seconds or so.
3. Flight
Hover, take it, 5 or 6-slot it with +flightspeed. You'll be faster inside missions than anyone except superspeed and you have full and unrestrained 3-dimensional movmenet. Furthermore, it has a relatively low endurance cost and provides +5% defense (all). Defense, as a blaster, is godly so long as you keep your fights in the green-to-white range. Get higher than that, and level based to-hit chances and diminishing effects of powers (such as +def powers) make them largely worthless.
Hover with 6-flightspeed SOs is as fast as unslotted Fly. Bearable as a travel power (hardly desirable) and pretty darned zippy. Also, this lets you take group fly which is panned by the power-builders but can be a real godsend for teams post-40 if you want to play in the shadow shard. Successful blasting and levelling post-40 means teaming, so little "quality of life" things you can do can really help.
4. Leaping
If only for Combat Jumping, this pool is worth it. Very low endurance cost per second and a fast recharge and activation time. Base +5% defense (all) and little boost to jumping when flying isn't real practical (cave missions for instance). Fully slotted with +defbuff SOs and you have +11% defense (all) which when stacked with hover is +5% defense (all). you get to +17%
Combat jumping also provides minimal immobilize resistance, and if you get jump kick or superjump, you can get acrobatics which provides minimal hold resistance. You're still vulnerable to sleeps and disorients, and it doesn't take much to overwhelm the resistances from those pools, but they help.
5. Leadership
If blasters had the same base values for this as controllers or even better: defenders, then this pool might be worth its insane endurance-per-tick cost. One power pool that provides +defense (maneuvers), +damage (assault), and +accuracy (tactics) would be a bargain if running all three didn't completely compensate for fully-slotted stamina and each provided a base benefit higher than 7.5% where controllers get 11% and defenders get 15%. Since enhancements enhance on base value, leadership on a blaster is really a team-benefit option. Combined with medicine and you can really get a "blast-fender" build that can benefit more survivable teammates (and their pets) so long as you are in range.
6. Fitness
I can't say enough good things about this pool. Well, about Stamina. Swift (meh), Hurdle (feh), and Health (bleh) are about worthless. But Stamina, sweet Stamina, will allow you to recover end faster, and thus run more of our only defense options (namely toggles) successfully. If you want to heal fast, go reread medicine. Even 6-slotted with +healing, health will make about .3% more hit point regeneration than 1-slotted health.
Mind you, if Health provided a fixed +hp regen instead of +%hp regen, then it would probably be far more worth slotting it out for low-hp archetypes like ours. If it provided some kind of status resistance to disorients and sleeps then along with leaping one could get mez protection in two pools and would also help. As it stands, take it as a prerequisite for stamina.
Uuuh, just a note on flightspeed, it caps at 4 speed SO's, so DON'T slot 5-6, unless those last two are end redux AND you don't want to switch to hover for combat to save end.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
Just a small reminder too, there is a global chat channel called blasters, if you are in game and need some advice or guidance that can be a good place to ask. Though here lately it has been rather sparse of people 
knew that fly caps out at level 50 with 4 SOs. actually, it is so close to capped with 3 that most people recommend slotting for 3, or slot for 4 for lower levels and swap out for endur reduction late.
however, Katah's post was regarding Hover, not fly. from what I have read in several other posts, Hover does not max out at 4 SOs, that you do gain additional travel speed going with 6. if you have tested this and believe otherwise, I would like to hear about your testing.
thanks
This is great!! Very thought provoking as well, as I'm one of a few blasters in the group of friends that I play with, and the butt-end of all debt jokes. But I'm also the one they call upon when they need some help getting through a tight spot.
Cuddles, I have a forum that's got some CoH players on it, would you mind if I posted your guide there? There's a lot of good info there and I'm sure some of my forum members will appreciate it.
My DeviantArt Gallery
Not at all. I'm all for helping others. I have also taken the "No Travel Power" side of things and really enjoy going that route. I never realized how bad the supresion was untill I played my Ice/Ice Blaster and compared her to my lvl 31 Blaster who has 5 slotted swift and 4 slotted Hover. With Power Boost this is actually viable and I find that the no supresion is great and the speed is good enough to allow me to jouste.
The speed is just under an unslotted Super Speed with Power Boost and a little faster than a one slotted Fly with Hover.
Hope this helps everybody and thankyou Katahn for your information on some of the pools.
Post 30 expect to be in debt a lot. It is very easy to die the higher up you go.
The way I got around this solo was inspiration loading. In Foudners Falls for example, my contact is close to a bunch of purple mobs. Before every battle I load up on 15 enhancements (4 Lucks, 4 Accuracies, 4 Damages, and maybe 1 heal and 2 END).
4 Lucks will make you virtually immune to attack...for the duration anyway. Fortunately, for blasters, the battle is usually over before they expire. With 4 damage enhancements and build up, 4-6 purple mobs will go down before luck expires. Rinse and repeat. The only lost time is the time in transit to and from your contact (which in my case was about 3 seconds).
It is definitely not easy...it takes some skill (knowing when to flee is critical). But it is fun and XP and Influence flows like wine. If you are good at it, you will advance quickly. This is a great way to recover from permadebt. At 50 INF a piece, the inspiration cost is negligible...practically free.
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however, Katah's post was regarding Hover, not fly. from what I have read in several other posts, Hover does not max out at 4 SOs, that you do gain additional travel speed going with 6. if you have tested this and believe otherwise, I would like to hear about your testing.
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My character Cold-Burn just got 6 slotted Hover with SO's (all are +3 green SOs).
It is as fast as unslotted flight at level 14. I slotted it slowly, and yes, it continues to scale all the way up to 6 SOs. With 6 DOs it is about as fast as walking, or slightly faster (but not nearly as fast as sprint). I would say 6-slot Hover qualifies as a slow travel power.
It is VERY cool to be able to fly constantly with almost zero END drain, and a permanent DEF bonus. It's expensive, but worth it. No switching powers in the middle of a fight or having to deal with a temporary slowdown when you attack...it is sweet.
I don't know what was better:
How funny this is
or
How TRUE this is
My main, and first ALT, is an Elec/Elec Blaster.
Every other AT I have played since is a cake walk in comparision.
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So why make a Blaster?
To start off none of the ATs are a challenge. If you like riding that wave of excitement on every battle well this AT is for you. No other AT comes with no way to heal, no defense, no resistance, no Mez protection, and low Health. To make things even better at the higher levels your damage output becomes sub par and everything uses high damage range weapons that can shoot from a mile away. You want challenge? You want an AT that will challenge you to the limit? You want an AT that can make people laugh and feel pity at the same time? Well the Blaster is for you.
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They really need to change the AT to this instead of the OFFENSIVE JUGERNAUGHT Propaganda that is there now.
JRANDOM SCRAPPER "I got my Spines/Regen Scrapper to 50"
ME "Oh yeah ? I just made it to 31 with my Elec/Elec Blaster!!! Come tell me when you do something equally impressive"
I was so confused the first time I heard someone moan about the Developers Ideal of 3 minions= Challenging encounter for a Hero. I had only played my Elec/Elec Blaster at the time and I was like "Why ? Who can solo more than 3 at a time ?"
That was the Pre-SO levels, but it was what my COH experience had been like up untill then.
Centinull
It's truth.
Blasters are the bleeding AT. Fights are always life-or-death experiences.
If you want to live on the edge, play a Blaster. Pure and simple. You will learn control of your hero and what's around him better than any other AT in the game, because failure to do is faceplanting for debt.
You have no real defenses to rely on. Your firepower over time becomes inferior to the enemy, counteracted only by your increased wisdom and skill in using it. You will become a fighting Blastard and if you ride the AT to the top without PLing, you will have earned the toughest 50 in the game IMHO.
I'm weaker than other AT's in the end- and masochistic enough to be proud of making it work as best I can. Whee! :P
Yep. My main is an energy/energy blaster. Zero powerlevelling. Currently at level 33...just finished working off 70k in debt.
It is the most challenging AT I have played so far...it's feast or famine. If you are good, you can get XP very fast. If you are sloppy, you will get debt just as fast.
I have 7 ALTs and play at least 1 of everything, but Blaster is still my favorite.
Funny and cynical. all and all a depressing read since I'm struggling through it as well.
On the bright side:
If you go AoE Blaster- no one will be able to eliminate a single mob of bad guys as quick as some blaster builds can. Herding throws this off since multiple groups are racked up at once but for single groups- when you're on point, you're really on point
If you go single target- well, by yourself, no one will be able to eliminate single target as quick as you. Controllers might be able to beat you with pets... scrappers with criticals, er...well built energy tanks... ice/eng might be able to outrace them.
Blappers: Try to do this starting from level 1 and no one will beat you to the debt cap 
On another note: Post in the Blaster forum how we are crap and see how quickly the tune changes.
cuddles, out of all the blaster posts urs is the best.You point out ALL the pros and cons to a blaster.Five stars to you and iam sure states and his army of devs will help us blasters right after they are done pling their tanks and srcappers.
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If you go single target- well, by yourself, no one will be able to eliminate single target as quick as you.
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Scrappers can, if they can get criticals. Scrappers have a higher damage cap than blasters too.
The problem is that we dont have the defenses scrappers have. So we both draw all the aggro they do, but only scrappers have the defenses to deal with it.
Being a blaster is hard, but it's definitely not boring.
Before you make a Blaster
The purpose of this Guide is to educate those who are about to start a Blaster to better protect them from misguided judgments and perceptions.
History of the Blaster
Initially when the game first came out Blasters was the cream of the crop. Fire/Device Blasters in particular ruled as they had massive AOE damage and smoke Grenades that gave them good defense. This was a time before Scrappers had criticals on there attacks and nerf Blasters reigned supreme. We should call this period of time City of Blasters. There truly was a lot of */Device Blasters at that period of time but to be fair it was also a time when +8 minions werent that hard to kill either. Then things began to screech to a halt. In issue 2 Smoke Grenade was struck down, Scrappers got Criticals (and it was just about this time that Scrappers started to realize they didnt have that bad after all), and the Purple Patch was put in. The end of City of Blasters had come.
As time wore on Tankers got improved, Controllers realized they were pretty damn good after all, most Scrappers enjoyed the high life of killing +5 mobs, and Defenders did what they do best and thats help the party out. It was during this time that the fall of the Blasters began. Mobs began to increase in mez output, most had range and would use it, and almost all range attacks had been increased to outperform a Blasters attack range. Frequent deaths began to occur and just recently it was discovered that Scrappers, Controllers, and some Tanks and a Defender set do outperform a Blasters overall damage output thus neglecting the Blaster to the backseat. To say that City of Blasters has gone into the City of the Blaster Landfill is an understatement.
So why make a Blaster?
To start off none of the ATs are a challenge. If you like riding that wave of excitement on every battle well this AT is for you. No other AT comes with no way to heal, no defense, no resistance, no Mez protection, and low Health. To make things even better at the higher levels your damage output becomes sub par and everything uses high damage range weapons that can shoot from a mile away. You want challenge? You want an AT that will challenge you to the limit? You want an AT that can make people laugh and feel pity at the same time? Well the Blaster is for you.
So I made a Blaster what can I expect?
When you first make your Blaster you will notice that you really truly do rock. You can take a few shots and you can deal damage out in droves. To me this is the trick stage. There lying to you. Dont believe any of this. If this truly represented how a Blaster was then when you hit Outbreak you would notice that rock that guy is throwing at you was hitting for nearly half your health. Not only that but you would be stunned and walking around in circles while his buddies came down and beat the hell out of you. To get out of outbreak you would have to visit the Hospital a half a dozen times. This is the future of your Blaster if youre not careful.
Really is it that bad?
Yeah it is. Like I said the Blaster isnt for everybody. In fact it isnt for most people. Its for those crazy ones who like the rush of battle each and every battle. Im one of those crazy ones. I like playing on the edge. A tanker is no rush, Scrapper is dull, Controller please, and a Defender yahn.
With a Blaster everything comes to timing. How good you are at keeping track of everything is what it comes down to. Can you keep track of 6 orange minions, two red Lieutenants, and a Purple Boss, while also keeping track of the mob next to you that is getting ready to bum rush you? If you can you have some hope. Every battle is a rush, your living on the edge, and your just two shots from dying. This is the life of a Blaster. Planning, Intelligence, skill, and most of all an ability to run very fast is needed.
For the Beginner.
Really the Primary doesnt matter too much. If youre looking at being an AOE type I would suggest Fire, Ice is good for soloing as is Assault Rifle. If you are up for more of a challenge then Electrical Blast and Energy is for you.
Secondary sets for the Beginner really come down to two different types. The first one I can not suggest enough for the Beginner and thats Energy Melee. This comes with a wide array of useful skills that will help your Blaster become the best he or she can be. The Second is Devices which also comes with a wide arrange of skills that will help you toast your enemies and achieve a better life as a Blaster. If youre looking for something in the medium challenging department I would suggest Ice Manipulation as it comes with a wide arrange of slow powers which are really sweet.
If you think youre brave try Electricity Manipulation and if you dont give a crud about your secondary then do Fire.
Inspirations
You know those things that collect in the Tanker, Controller, Defender, Scrapper bin well they have a use here. Use them often and use them well. As a Blaster these are your life blood. You run out in the middle of a mission well go get more. Usually a dead Blaster is one that doesnt use them or has just run out. Each and every one has a use, so use them. Just make sure you save 4 for that boss and if you run into that boss without having any then go get some.
Running is a Defense
You heard right. A dead Blaster is no good to anybody. Youre waiting for that critical heal dont count on it. Run for your life and dont look back when youre in trouble. Many times I have ran away, healed, and came back just about the time the group is in almost total wipeout and saved the day. Knowing when to run and when to stay is key to being a good Blaster. After all you dont want to be Synapse.
Debt My God I got Debt.
For a Tanker coming into the Blaster line this is just about as bad as it gets, its even worse for a Scrapper. There not used to it so I only have a couple of things to say about it. Get used to it. As a Blaster you are going to die and you are going to die a lot. It is nothing for me to have died 2 or 3 times per level. Remember you have no Mez protection, No resistance, No defense, and low health. You are going to die and as a beginner youre going to die a lot.
Accolades and Temp Powers
I can not say enough about the Eye of Magus. This Accolade is important for a Blaster. It gives you a minute of high defense and high resistance. Going up against those lvl 40 Bosses and this is a Godsend.
Wedding Band- Dont know what it is then look it up. Its a two hour Temp power so use it sparingly but use it when you need to.
Cryogenic Armor-Dont neglect getting this one either. Combined with the Wedding Band it makes you near as good as a Scrapper. I believe this has a 1 hour timer on it.
Epic Power Pools:
I wont get into them to much.
All are about the same. I prefer Force mastery Set but the Fire set is probably just as good if not better. A lot of people dont pick the Ice or Assault set but Im thinking that the slow toggle in Ice might be a Godsend for the Blaster in PvP. Assault seems to be heavy handed in the Attacks and not enough defenses. Best bet when you come up to the 41 stage is save your respecs and try them out on test.
Hell No! Im ready for the Big Leagues.
So you are ready for the big leagues. All guts and no glory then the Blapper is for you. This crazy SoB has decided to take almost all his melee sets from his secondary line. Now for those that are crazy enough this set is perfect. You want to really live on the edge then no range is better than some range. As a Blapper you are in that Bosses face and your screaming Kill me you ugly freak!
This kind of Blaster gets long strange looks from everybody. Can they be that crazy, is going through there minds.
So what is best to be a Blapper?
Probably Energy Manipulation followed by Electricity secondary. The ingrained stuns in Energy manipulation really helps to take the sting out of being a Blapper. Youre still crazy but it helps.
The Blapper is for those who have taken the extreme in this game and just wanted more. You want to ride that wall of debt then here you go. Just dont complain about it. Im right now playing a Blapper and enjoying the hell out of it.
What happens after Im a Blaster?
The other ATs become dull and lifeless. You realize how risk free they really are. You laugh as Regen is taken down a notch and hear them screaming while youre here wondering what the big fuss is about. That Tank becomes something boring. The Controller with Pets becomes lifeless. Nothing is as exciting as a Blaster. The closest I have found was my Scrapper when I was soloing AVs. But nothing can take away that feeling a Blaster has after each and every fight.
The Future?
Judging from the CoV video recently it can be determined that Blasters do get to do decent range damage in the near future. Unfortunately you have to die first so you can be used as a projectile weapon by your enemy but at least well get to do decent range damage at the upper lvl.
Statesman has made some comments recently but the Future remains uncertain about our usefulness in the higher lvls. Either way enjoy the ride because it sure is one hell of a one.
A lot of people find the Blaster frustrating and if thats the case it isnt for you. It is the hardest AT to play and not everyone can hack it. Only a very few are crazy enough to build a Blaster and even fewer are crazy enough to build a Blapper. If you are one of us then come on over to the Blaster boards and join in on our crazy fun. Were a bunch of nice guys who dont really give too much of a damn about anything.
Hope this Guide helps those who are thing of going down the Blaster path.