Before you Make a Blaster


AmpD_

 

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On another note: Post in the Blaster forum how we are crap and see how quickly the tune changes.

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I'm actually pretty vocal on the Blaster boards and I actually posted there asking the Blaster community at large to review this Guide.
I want it accurate and honest.

On a different subject my Scrapper does more single Target damage than my Ice Blaster without crits and he's Spine (I posted on this a while ago when I did the test. The post is called Blasters King of damge...Right).

Honestly I would like to see Blasters get something real special at 50 after completing all the main TF's and doing 5 of the main Story Arcs post 40.


 

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My energy/energy blaster was one-shotting yellows in his mid-20's on...neither of my scrappers can do that yet. I dont know that I've seen any scrappers that can do that yet.


 

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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.

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Yeah I said that about the criticals...and the energy tanks...and the controllers...


 

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On another note: Post in the Blaster forum how we are crap and see how quickly the tune changes.

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I'm actually pretty vocal on the Blaster boards and I actually posted there asking the Blaster community at large to review this Guide.
I want it accurate and honest.

On a different subject my Scrapper does more single Target damage than my Ice Blaster without crits and he's Spine (I posted on this a while ago when I did the test. The post is called Blasters King of damge...Right).

Honestly I would like to see Blasters get something real special at 50 after completing all the main TF's and doing 5 of the main Story Arcs post 40.

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Found your post on spines vrs ice:
Blasters King of Damage...Yeah Right
Others can have a read and see what they think. Good points on both sides of the discussion.

Concerning posting on the blaster forums, I'm not saying that posting this guide on the forums would illicit a different response although I can easily see how it could be read that way. I wasn't talking about your guide and should have made that clear. I was talking more about this kind of post:
Blasters are worth nothing

The point I'm trying to make is that in reading the following posts you see blasters step right up and say "I can do this...!" and "I can do that...!" The blaster community higlights its positives and talks about what it can do and not (as much) about what it can't.

It was an antagonistic post and got the other side of the coin. I think it was a dev in disguise to find out out info from the contrarian side of the blaster community

I'm all for the special bonus if you get to 50 with a blaster...after debt it works out to more like 60-65 anyway.


 

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Does anyone have an example of a scrapper build that can one-shot yellows without inspirations?

Several blaster builds can do that.


 

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kat/regen and a BS/regen can idk what lvl u want but 40+ kat and BS can i can even two shoot lvl 50 death mages and iam lvl 48


 

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Does anyone have an example of a scrapper build that can one-shot yellows without inspirations?

Several blaster builds can do that.

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At lower to middle levels, no.

Once we six-slot our highest-damage attacks, though, I know Katana, Broadsword and MA (haven't seen the others) can easily one-shot critical a +3 minion... assuming said minion does not have a resistance to the damage dealt. If you don't want to rely on crits, Build Up (or equivalent) can reliably allow you to one-shot +2 minions.

However, this is only applicable to the higher, slotted levels.

So that's the answer to the question posed, but probably not the answer to the question meant.

EDIT: As an aside, I've seen a Blaster (Elec/something, I believe) use the Nova-equivalent power on a largish spawn of +3 Nemesis Jaegers. One-shotted them all.

I doubt any scrapper can do that.


Current main:
Schrodinger's Gun, Dual Pistols/Mental Blaster, Virtue

Avatar: Becky Miyamoto from Pani Poni Dash. Roulette roulette~

 

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In my experience...

Sniper (1acc, 1 interrupt, 4 dmg SOs) by itself will not reliably one-shot an even-level minion. With +3 SOs, and the above slotting, Sniper + Buildup will reliably take out an even-level minion in one shot. Otherwise to reliably take out an even level or +1 level minion takes aim and buildup.

Mind you, I'm a fan of slotting for accuracy even when I don't necessarily "have" to. While my burst damage is a bit lower at times, I've found it far more useful to my playstyle to not _need_ to pop aim to necessarily hit a difficult target, or to have that aim bring me up to the effective acc cap. Better that alpha-strike hits than not.

With Nova (energy's equivilent to the electric ultimate mentioned above) doing about the same BI as Sniper, and with heavier damage slotting (1 acc, 5 dmg) I am able to more reliably take out +1 or even +2 minions (if not resistant to smashing or energy or excessively to either or both). Again, LTs and bosses are generally left with slivers of life. If I am backed by a group, or have ample Catch A Breaths and Lucks (to get end back and survive the return shot) its situationally quite useful.

What's missing though, in the minds of my non-blaster (and especially scrapper-main) friends is that while it may LOOK horribly impressive its not in reality terribly useful. Its a nice little trick for groups and herding, but lacking reliable defense and the vaguaries of resists and even occasional whiffs, its simply not a tool a blaster could even hope to use to solo massive groups of anything. That same attack, in the hands of a scrapper or tanker would be game-breaking because they'd be able to use it in ways a blaster simply can't.

Well, not until they get Rise of the Phoenix in the Pyre Mastery APP anyway (Of course, that still involves debt...)

I'd trade Nova in a hot second for something even 1/4 as good as scrapper or tanker status protection or even 1/4 scrapper-level defenses without needing to dip into my power pools or wait for the APPs.


 

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Once we six-slot our highest-damage attacks, though, I know Katana, Broadsword and MA (haven't seen the others) can easily one-shot critical a +3 minion...

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I have two scrappers, one in his 20s. Neither can one-shot yellows at all, even though I have them both heavily slotted for damage and with Build Up.

My Energy Blaster was one-shotting Yellows in his teens.

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What's missing though, in the minds of my non-blaster (and especially scrapper-main) friends is that while it may LOOK horribly impressive its not in reality terribly useful.

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It is useful for damaging difficult targets quickly. Especially targets with no (or limited) ranged attacks of their own.

Scrappers have more DPS, but so far, I havnt seen any that could match the damage output of a comperable blaster Alpha Strike. Thats the trade off.


 

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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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I would have to agree that DEBT is inherent to blasters. By lvl 30 I had 3 DMG taken badges, 3 MEZZ'd badges, and 3 DEFEAT BADGES. They are what i like to call the BLASTER BADGES.
My personal journey has been this..
lvl 01-22: hardly any debt at all. I rock. (pre-I3)
22-26: wow look at all the pretty debt (post I3) spent many a lvl in total debt
26-30: found an SG.. ah teamates, debt is now manageable. RUNNING ON INVICIBLE from 26 on, heck i can even solo now!
30-35: Found a Tank and Scapper duo, they herded my missions for me and ahh sweet XP! Still no problem solo'ng invinclible diff.
35-40: teammates are getting thin... ever notice how pretty the debt cap is? Still running on invincible and if not for WARHULKS and MENTALISTS i would still rule. now i just expect to face plant 3 time PER mentalist or warhulk solo.

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With good tactics, blasters don't have to find themselves in constant debt.

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No amount of tactics can save you from mezz insta-kill. A full inspo tray maybe can, but lets face it.. inspo's are just a highly addictive, yet perfectly legal DRUG.

couple things you forgot to add in your little post are:
If you know you are going to die, lead the mobs well away from thier spawn point so that when you do face-plant, they will wander back to thier spots and you can use your wakie, take a knee, and get back to kick'n villians before they have a chance to heal.

When it comes to AT's that can heal others: NVR EVER EVER EVER trust a AT that has to HIT a target to heal you. They always miss when its important. NEVER trust an AT that only heals those in melle range of the mob they target, cause you are probably not in melle range. NEVER trust an AT that heals center on themselves, again, that is probably not where you are at. Trust the bubbler to keep you from getting hit, and trust the empath to heal you where ever you are. EVERY one else.. you are on your own buddy. as it has been said, run when required and heal then come back in.

Learn your attack chain. Trust me. Learning what powers to cycle in what order is a very important thing for you to do. Example from Fire... When i do my alpha strike, i always LEAD OFF with fire breath. why? well because it is the hardest to set up to get max coverage, AND it has a longish animation. Then i do FIREBALL. why? it has no setup requirements and has a very fast animation. that lets me hit the mobs with a very powerful one two punch with little down time between dmg taken and they may die before they get a chance to attk. IF YOU DO THIS in the wrong order, the mobs have time to react while firebreath is animating, and may get a chance to attk while the DOT kills them. Not pretty!

If you team with a tank that likes to hold aggro, forget you even have a rain power. put it somewhere out of the way so you dont accidently trigger it and get dead. Best used to on a doorway to cover a "tactical" retreat or with a controller with ice slick. Otherwise leave it alone.

Debt is your friend. It allows you to see all the content the game has to offer, and allows you to be one of the most selfless AT's out there. No one knows debt like we do, No one laughs at large amounts of debt like we do, and thusly No one should be more willing then a blaster to stay behind getting aggro so his teamates can escape and regroup.

just my extra 2 inf


 

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Great Job, Cuddles.

All that would be worth it if the damage I caused was obviously making a contribution to the team. When someone adds a higly vulnerable Blaster to the team, they should be glad to protect that Blaster because of the contribution only the Blaster can make.

The thing that bothers me the most is that I have no role in a high-level team. Tanker needs to herd. Defender needs to buff. Scrapper needs to help whittle down the AV faster. Controller needs to debuff while pets chew up minions. Blaster needs to stand way back so he doesn't get one-shot by the AV's AOE.

I don't want to stand way back. All my best attack powers (most damage, least time) are close- or no-range. All the AOE buffs and heals are happening in the melee.

What's the point of having a damage AT if I have to get every defensive power pool I can find and 6-slot all those powers, giving my attacks only the left-over slots? I like to play specialists teamed with other specialists, but I'm the only one on the team that has to wait for the Controller to AOE hold before I do anything significant.


 

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The thing that bothers me the most is that I have no role in a high-level team. Tanker needs to herd. Defender needs to buff. Scrapper needs to help whittle down the AV faster. Controller needs to debuff while pets chew up minions. Blaster needs to stand way back so he doesn't get one-shot by the AV's AOE.


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Respectfully, post-40, blasters are desired in teams. I certainly had no shortage of teaming invites post-40 even when most of my supergroup has been busy playing lowbie alts. Duo with a scrapper friend, join a pickup team, the biggest complaint I had was I couldn't do many story arcs because I outlevelled them pretty fast that way

No joke, its a sort of complaint, I *DO* enjoy doing arcs and really can only do them solo. Even on heroic, the prevelance of arch-villains and positively lethal-to-the-solo-blaster groups like Malta and Knives of Artemis rendered soloing nearly painful. As energy/energy (no blapping) I couldn't street hunt much due to large spawn sizes (compared to street-hunting in say Atlas Park as a newbie where you get one or two at a time).

But back to team desirability. I have heard comments like:

"No wonder this AV is taking so long, we only have 1 dedicated damage dealer" - said when I was the only blaster on a team. That team went on to get another blaster...

"Hey we really need more DPS for this team, think you could help us?" - sent to me as a tell from a total stranger.

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I don't want to stand way back. All my best attack powers (most damage, least time) are close- or no-range. All the AOE buffs and heals are happening in the melee.

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I don't want to sound sarcastic here, because my intent and feelings are genuincely wanting to be helpful. I really think you'd be happier as a scrapper. They do very well at the sort of up-close fighting you describe as being fun/enjoyable compared to having to "stand way back".

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What's the point of having a damage AT if I have to get every defensive power pool I can find and 6-slot all those powers, giving my attacks only the left-over slots? I like to play specialists teamed with other specialists, but I'm the only one on the team that has to wait for the Controller to AOE hold before I do anything significant.

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Statesman has acknowledge blasters are too squishy, so expect some love to come to us in the form of some reworked secondaries (pure guesswork). I tend to favor adding non-toggle based sustained defenses intermixed with some "active defenses" such as the holds of the ice blaster. This would make status effects still dangerous (no mez protection) but not doubly lethal in the form of dropping toggles. However it happens though, I would expect some good things "soon(tm)".


 

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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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Well I disagree with you and agree with the other guy....never had debt problems. Never reached the debt cap and only got past 250K at lvl 48 because I was tanking so a blaster friend of mine could level.

Though I know your post is suppose to be humorous, I just do not agree with you about debt.


Valaraine: Master Archer & Electricity Whiz.
(Archer - lvl 50, swordswoman - lvl 50, Elec zapper - lvl 35, Ice/DB tank - lvl 50, Arch/En - lvl 26, Lvl 33 Blade wielder, trick archer - lvl 34, flame tank - lvl 30, rad specialist - lvl 44.)
My DA page

 

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Scrappers have more DPS, but so far, I havnt seen any that could match the damage output of a comperable blaster Alpha Strike. Thats the trade off.

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A Tankers Energy Transfer and Total focus can and does outmatch most of our range Alpha attacks.
That's a Tank by the way and those attacks do stun damage.
I did a test using my Spine/Regen vs my Ice/Ice Blaster and found my Spine/REgen was doing near double the damage over time vs my Blaster.
I won't even mention Headsplitter which is the only power in the game that can one shot me through Force of Nature.

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NVR EVER EVER EVER trust a AT that has to HIT a target to heal you.

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Never ever trust anybody to heal you. If you start taking damage get out of the way quickly. Then come back and get healed.

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If you team with a tank that likes to hold aggro, forget you even have a rain power.

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If you are teamed with a Tank and you use a Rain power inappropriatly expect to be kicked. You'll deserve it. Realize with those Rain powers when a good time is and when a bad time is.
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Eng Melee

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This right here is probably the best secondary set that a Blaster can have.
The difference between my Energy/Electric and my Ice/Eenrgy is night and day.
Still there has yet to be a lvl where I haven't died. On some lvls I have died around 3 times on others just once but for each lvl I have died at least once.
With my Energy/Electric I spent entire lvls in debt so the choice of secondary really does help.


 

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i just made a fire/nrg blaster (lvl 35) and he puts my ar/dev blaster to shame in pvp and pve. I love my ar/dev , and know that */dev is great for pve but */nrg is so much powerful and i really fell like a blaster. PIck ur sec powers wisely.


 

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[quote Statesman has acknowledge blasters are too squishy, so expect some love to come to us in the form of some reworked secondaries (pure guesswork). I tend to favor adding non-toggle based sustained defenses intermixed with some "active defenses" such as the holds of the ice blaster. This would make status effects still dangerous (no mez protection) but not doubly lethal in the form of dropping toggles. However it happens though, I would expect some good things "soon(tm)".

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i wouldnt hold my breath oh this, even tho ur guessing, trollers and tanks will be looked over and over before we even get in line for a look at.States and the devs are all about pvp now adays so if u want any changes ur better off posting in the arena froum, i bet there 4-5 GM looking over those posts right now.


 

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heh, From what I've found, Khelds get even more debt than blasters, particularly when soloing.

My nrg/ice blaster is only lvl 29, but damagewise, he easily outclasses most khelds.


 

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Does anyone have an example of a scrapper build that can one-shot yellows without inspirations?

Several blaster builds can do that.

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A blaster can one shot a yellow minion/lt with SOs+AIM+BUILDUP+SNIPE, but the return fire from a mob of 6 yellow minions can floor him. Meanwhile any scrapper worth his weight in thumtacks with SOs can take a mob of 7 yellow minions with Lts with little risk to himself, once he has his defensive powers.

The Blaster doing it is in contant peril, the scrapper just needs to make sure his toggle are on and spams his attacks.


Centinull

 

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A blaster can one shot a yellow minion/lt with SOs+AIM+BUILDUP+SNIPE, but the return fire from a mob of 6 yellow minions can floor him.

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Not true. I have used this effectively many times in Crey with my 33 Energy/Energy blaster. These are all large groups...usually more than 6.

The only annoying thing is waiting for Buildup/AIM to recharge. I have used this tactic many times to "Kill x number of whatever" in dangerous areas. The return fire usually only takes me down to 2/3 health at best. The blaster is not in "constant" peril, because he can get out of range easily with any travel power after that first return volley.

Someone mentioned a tank combo that supposedly outdamages blaster alpha strikes. At level 33 I have never teamed with any tank builds that can remotely match my single target damage in one volley. No scrappers either.


 

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My Main is Claws/Regen, but my first alt is NRG/NRG....guess which Hero is more "fun"

Seriously, I find that my single-target damage (at level 28 now) is insane.

I have had other players ask me what my build is, and why people thier Blasters suck so much(!)

In any event, I'm trying to figure out how to best use my power pools, not that I have a free respec....should I drop a pool to get Leadership?

I really want to get Tactics and Assault, so that I can 6-slot damage, and be capped whenever I use Build-Up.

Any advice would be great!

Thanks.

Exported from version 1.5A of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh
Name: (The) Knockout Punch
Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Energy Blast
Secondary Powers - Support : Energy Manipulation

01 : Power Thrust acc(01) dam(7) dam(9) dam(9) dam(23) dam(23)
01 : Power Blast acc(01)
02 : Energy Punch acc(02) dam(3) dam(3) dam(5) dam(5) dam(7)
04 : Build Up recred(04)
06 : Swift runspd(06)
08 : Boxing acc(08) dam(42) dam(48) dam(50) dam(50) dam(50)
10 : Bone Smasher acc(10) dam(11) dam(11) dam(17) dam(19) dam(19)
12 : Hasten recred(12) recred(13) recred(13) recred(15) recred(15) recred(17)
14 : Combat Jumping defbuf(14)
16 : Conserve Power recred(16) recred(43) recred(43) recred(43) recred(46) recred(48)
18 : Health hel(18) hel(36) hel(48)
20 : Stamina endrec(20) endrec(21) endrec(21) endrec(31) endrec(31) endrec(31)
22 : Tough damres(22) damres(27) damres(27) damres(29) damres(34) damres(29)
24 : Weave defbuf(24) defbuf(25) defbuf(25) defbuf(36) defbuf(37) defbuf(37)
26 : Super Jump jmp(26)
28 : Acrobatics endred(28)
30 : Power Boost recred(30) recred(34) recred(34) recred(36) recred(37) recred(39)
32 : Nova dam(32) dam(33) dam(33) dam(33) dam(42) dam(42)
35 : Stun acc(35)
38 : Total Focus acc(38) dam(39) dam(39) dam(40) dam(40) dam(40)
41 : Personal Force Field defbuf(41)
44 : Temporary Invulnerability damres(44) damres(45) damres(45) damres(45) damres(46) damres(46)
47 : Hurdle jmp(47)
49 : Force of Nature damres(49)


Currently playing:
Infaerna Who knew Fire/Fire Brutes were fun to play?

 

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Leadership won't give you enough of a bonus to offset the loss of accuracy from dropping an SO, on top of which its a toggle and an expensive one at that. Fair warning though, right now you are still not at the point where it starts to really get difficult for blasters. That primarily happens post-35, and sans teaming post-40 its worse.

My suggestions are to drop the Combat/Fighting Pool, tough and weave aren't that great really. Slot up combat jumping for +defense since as a toggle its low endurance and very fast refresh. I also seriously suggest dropping Combat/Fighting in favor of adding Flight. As an energy blaster your knockback will be aggravating to your teammates, something that can be easily mitigated by hover-blasting and slotting hover with 4 or 5 flightspeed SOs makes it extremely zippy for 3-dimensional movement.

Lastly, while the melee attacks are the most damaging blasters have, the simple fact is that a blaster in melee range is often a soon-to-be defeated one. Outside of PvP I would never recommend taking and slotting them that heavily. As for your choice of APPs, my personal experience is that Pyre Mastery seemed to be a better fit for energy, but your mileage may vary of course. Just avoid bonfire, its situational even moreso than Nova is.


 

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Another advantage of 6-slotting hover that people rarely talk about is the fact that hover has little or no inertia. This can be very useful as well.


 

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Hi All

Well I play a Fire/Fire blaster (all of my guys are theme based and most are from my PnP days) and find yep I'm a chew toy for just about every one. I have found that a team of blasters can be a sight to behold . We had two or three rains going at once and they where droping like flys . I'm low level so I will most likely see the inside of a lot of hospitals but I'm ok with that as I can burn it off with one good team mish. I could use a little help as I can't one shot any thing (well ok maybe a grey).


 

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My fire/Ice blaster has been doing very well latley actually. He has several controller-type powers. Ice patch in particular is awesome (works even if he goes unconscious, and seems to affect all mobs regardless of level).


 

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This is the first char ive made. An Ice/Energy Blaster... its awesome. I play every mission on invincible since I learned how to set mission difficulty. Taking down purples and stuff. Playing smartly and running is kind of the bible lol. But I stil ltake the front position in missions just to wow people when I dont die Not only that.. nothing beats the rushof 6 thugs running for me... of course unless they start flinging rocks.. then I pee my panties and run away behind something