Flame Like Me! A Comprehensive Guide to Fire Blast

Flame Like Me! A Complete, Comprehensive Guide to Fire Blasting
v1.0 6Jun05

by Kid Flamer
@Flaming1

Fire was my first love. It was also a popular powerset early on in the game's history, due to several widely read guides. Over the updates, Fire Blast hasn't received as much attention as many other powersets. I decided it was time to share what I've learned, know and love about the powerset in the hopes of repopularizing some of the excitement and fun I continue to have with it, especially with all the new content that's been added over these months, as well as an eye towards the future and prospective content on the horizon.

Note that my philosophy of writing Guides isn't to provide a cookie-cutter build. Enough of those are out there. What I want to try and do is discuss the details and nuances of each individual powers and how they fit into the context of a given individual build.

Where quantitative data is available, I've borrowed it mostly from Sherk Silver's CoH Hero Builder who in turn, references his data from the Brawl Index Database. Some numbers from his database may be slightly off or out-of-date, but I find them in general agreement with what I see in-game.

The Powers:
Note that all statistics are at baseline. Also note that recommended slotting of Accuracy can be sufficiently substituted for with Targeting Drone by /Devices blasters. Fully slotted Tactics is also reported to provide slightly lesser results.

Flares - available at Level 1
Single-Targeted Click
End Cost: 4 Activation Time: 2s Range: 60'
Brawl 1: 1.97 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 0.56 Fire Damage

Flares is one of the less popular attacks in the Fire Blast powerset due to the combination of its relatively low damage alongside its long activation time. It can still be part of a good single-target attack chain to fill in between the heavier attacks. I've taken to suggesting that Flares is preferable for Hoverblasters, the point of Hoverblasting is to avoid melee range, thus negating any melee Blapping attacks.
Recommended Slotting: 1x Acc, Dam as available

Fire Blast - available at Level 1
Single-Targeted Click
End Cost: 8 Activation Time: 1s Recharge Time: 2s Range: 80'
Brawl 1: 2.78 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 0-5 ticks of 0.28 Fire Damage: 0-1.4 total

This is the bread-and-butter single-target attack for Fire Blasters due to its reasonably good damage and fast repop. This is the single-target attack to prioritize early slotting, as opposed to Flares.
Recommended Slotting: 1x Acc, Dam as available

Fire Ball - available at Level 2
AoE-Targeted Click - AoE Radius: 30'
End Cost: 17.5 Activation Time: 1s Recharge Time: 4s Range: 80'
Brawl 1: 1.94 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 0.56 Smashing Damage
Brawl 3: 0-5 ticks of 0.28 Fire Damage: 0-1.4 total

An essential component of the AoE blaster's 1-2 punch. The spherical AoE radius of this power will reliably hit almost all members of a medium-to-large tightly packed mob -- the extra large mobs of minions in Perez will typically have a few members just outside the blast radius. Some practice may be needed to quickly and reliably select targets towards the middle of the villain mobs, in order to maximize the effective blast area. Note that the high end cost of this power makes it a poor choice for attacking single enemies -- however, it is often preferable to expend the endurance in order to maintain damage output.
Recommended Slotting: 1x Acc, Dam as available

Rain of Fire - available at Level 6
Location-Targeted Click - AoE Radius: 30'
End Cost: 30 Activation Time: 2s Recharge Time: 60s Range: 60'
Accuracy Bonus: +100%
Brawl 1: 8 ticks of 0.28 Fire Damage: 2.22 total
Brawl 2: 0-5 ticks of 0.28 Fire Damage: 0-1.4 total

Rain is probably the least popular Fire Blast power for several reasons, most notably because of its scatter effect -- affected enemies will drop what they're doing and run to escape the AoE. This scatter effect is often sufficient to pull enemies off a Tanker's Taunt power, made more complicated by the fact that Rain has an 100% auto-hit inherent Accuracy. Such a scatter effect often ruin a team's or soloer's tactics, Tankers have to regather aggro, Defenders need to redebuff, and the Fire Blaster may have lost optimal firing aspect for his AoE attacks. In spite of these problems, here are players who report finding good utility for Rain of Fire in particular circumstances. In conjunction with mass control powers, such as Ice Slick or Fire Cages, the Damage output from Rain can be effective. Other players report utility in using the scatter effect to disperse enemies in dire circumstances -- the "Oh, CRAPX0R!" effect. Note that enemies will cease their attacks while attempting to flee the RoF area, but will resume their attacks as soon as they clear the Rain -- often aggro'd onto the Fire Blaster.
Note that the Damage numbers are highly variable due to enemy AI - the First number represents the ticks of damage while in the rain effect, the Second number represents the variable ticks of damage from "having caught on fire" after exiting the rain.
Recommended slotting: Dam, Recharge and End Cost optional

Fire Breath - available at Level 8
Cone AoE-Targeted Click - Cone Angle: 30 degrees
End Cost: 17.5 Activation Time: 3s Recharge Time: 16s Radial Range: 10'
Accuracy Bonus: +20%
Brawl 1: 3 ticks of 1.625 Fire Damage: 4.9 total

This is the other bread-and-butter attack for an AoE Blaster. Fire Breath is more damaging than Fire Ball, but can be trickier to use for several reasons. Cone powers with narrow arcs, in general, can be difficult to master due to the sometimes non-intuitive geometry. Note that the animation does not accurately depict the area of the firing cone. Once aggro'd enemies may move out of your firing cone, which could be complicated by the long activation time to this power. Remember that for most all powers in the game, the to hit-check for a power is made at the beginning of an animation -- if an enemy is in your firing cone when the animation begins, he could be hit by the power even if he has moved out of your firing cone by the end of the long animation. Due to the long animation time and tricky positioning of this power, I prefer to use Fire Breath to open up my AoE Alpha Strike, although some players report using Fire Ball instead with success. See the section on Hoverblasting below for pointers on finding the optimal firing aspect for Fire Breath. Note that cone Range Enhancements affect the radius, or length of the firing cone, not the arc or angle. Geometrically, a longer radius will result in a wider secant, or width at the terminus of the cone effect. Also note the inherent Accuracy bonus - roughly equal to a single +2 DO. Also take note that as of Issue 4, Centriole Exposure Hamidon Enhancements and Boost Range from /Energy Manipulation now affect Cone Range.
Recommended Slotting: Dam as available, Cone Range recommended, Acc optional

Aim - available at Level 12
Self-Buffing Click
End Cost - 6 Activation Time - 1s Recharge Time - 90s Duration: 10s
Accuracy Buff: +100%
Damage Buff: +62.5%

This Aim is no different from the others available in other Blaster powersets. The dual Accuracy and Damage buffing is nearly essential for maximized AoE Alpha Strikes, in conjunction with Build Up. I would probably still recommend Aim for Fire/Devices blasters, due to the substantial Damage bonus, roughly the equivalent of two SOs.
Recommended Slotting: Recharge as available, To Hit Buff optional

Blaze - available at Level 18
Single-Targeted Click
End Cost: 12 Activation Time: 1s Recharge Time: 10s Range: 20'
Brawl 1: 5.89 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 0-5 ticks of 0.42 Fire Damage: 0-2.1 total

The second most-damaging single-target attack in Fire Blast. The use of Blaze cannot be overemphasized because of its excellent Damage output and short activation time. The trade-off for all this damage is its short range, which is virtually melee for a Blaster. A Range SO will only extend the range to 24', but in my experiences Hoverblasting, often made the difference between survival and being melee one-shotted. This power probably benefits the most out of the entire set from Centriole Exposure (Dam/Range) Hamidon Enhancments.
Recommended Slotting: 1x Acc, Damage as available, Range recommended

Blazing Bolt - available at Level 26
Single-Targeted Interruptible Click
End Cost: 16.5 Activation Time: 6s Recharge Time: 12s Range: 150'
Accuracy Bonus: +20%
Brawl 1: 7.67 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 0-5 ticks of 0.42 Fire Damage: 0-2.1 total

Blazing Bolt is a problematic power for Fire Blast. It does excellent damage, one of the most damaging snipes available - but is also among the shortest range snipe attacks. Furthermore, AoE blasters will typically have less uses for snipe powers, since AoE Alpha Strikes are much more likely to be done at close range. I would still strongly recommend this power to allow for the versatility and tactical options that sniping allows. Any consideration of PvP play should include Blazing Bolt.
Recommended Slotting: Dam as available, Acc and Interrupt Time optional

Inferno - available at Level 32
Point-Blank AoE Click - AoE Radius: 30'
End Cost: 12.5 Activation Time: 3s Recharge Time: 360s
Accuracy Bonus: +40%
Brawl 1: 5.56 Fire Damage
Brawl 2: 2.78 Smashing Damage
Brawl 3: 4.17 Smashing Damage
Brawl 4: 0-10 ticks of 0.56 Fire Damage: 0-5.6 total

The widowmaker. The grinder. The charnel house. Fire and life incarnate. Everything you've heard or seen about Inferno is true -- it's that good. The numerical indices are roughly equivalent to the other widely, wildly popular L32 super-nuke, Nova, although Inferno has the random tick damage at the end, giving it the edge in pure unmitigated damage output. Like the other L32 super-nukes, Inferno includes a complete endurance blowout at the end, introducing some risks associated with counter-attack. Note that the to-hit check against enemies is always made at the beginning of activation. I had to learn the hard way that my idea of dropping out of Fly onto a mob and clicking Inferno while I was dropping wasn't killing a single enemy. Note that triggering Inferno in the absence of any nearby mobs will reset the recharge on the power, but will involve no end blowout. Note the excellent inherent Accuracy bonus. While the long recharge time precludes it from being spammable, Inferno benefits immensely from Recharge enhancements. Note that the Recommended Slotting below, 3 or 4 Damage SOs, in conjunction with Aim and Build Up will take Inferno to the 400% Damage cap for Blasters. In my experience, Aim + BU -> Inferno will reliably floor red +3 minions with this slotting arrangement.
Recommended Slotting: The most common reported slottings for Inferno involve 3/4 Dam and 2-3 Rechargers. Blasters w/o Build Up may consider maximizing Damage.

Fire Blasting in Principle and in Practice
While Fire Blast is perhaps best known for its strength in AoE damage, the powerset carries much versatility and adaptability that a good player can use to maximize his strengths and cover his weaknesses.

There are two essential principles of the Fire Blasting powerset. Damage, and more damage. How you choose to go about performing your heroic duties to the best of your abilities will depend on which of these different paths you follow. Seriously, unlike the other Blaster powersets, Fire has the least damage mitigating secondary effects: Damage Over Time (DoT). This absence, while not necessarily a deficiency, increases damage output at the cost of damage mitigation, making aggro management probably the single biggest tactical issue for a Fire Blaster. Most of these powers, with a few exceptions, will provide an additional 0-5 ticks of minor damage which can sometimes be sufficient to finish off an enemy. Due to the randomness of these ticks, it's difficult to reliably depend on DoT to finish off an opponent. As a general rule, as with many Blasters, the general strategy is roughly summarized as "Kill them before they can kill you", a philosophy made that much more urgent in practice by virtue of the combination of AoE and DoT. Most builds take advantage of both the AoE and the single-target attacks, but early power selections can make a difference later on.

The AoE Fire Blaster
One of the core strengths of Fire Blast, and a popular reason many players gravitate towards Fire Blasting is its AoE- centered attacks. This build philosophy relies upon two general principles: 1) Fire Blast receives some of the most damaging AoE attacks available to Blasters and 2) The two major AoE attacks, Fire Ball and Fire Breath, are available very early on, allowing a Fire Blaster to have them fully slotted very early in the game. Fire Ball is first available at Level 2 and Fire Breath at Level 8. An AoE attack chain is typically used as an Alpha Strike, and followed with clean-up of any survivors by single-target attacks or lower-damage AoE powers. When used well, they are exceptionally deadly. When used poorly, they are perma-debt waiting to happen. Slight mistakes and miscues can greatly magnify the tenuous line between survival and victory. The availability of Inferno at Level 32 tends to make non-Blasters envious. Also note that AoE powers generally tend to be more endurance-heavy than single-target blasters, potentially making endurance an issue for the Fire Blaster throughout the game.

The Team Fire Blaster
Because AoE powers are likely to draw large amounts of aggro very quickly, the AoE Fire Blaster will often require good aggro management and tactical sense in order to survive the counter-attack. Teammates, well-selected secondary powers and other techniques greatly assist in this. In larger teams, which typically spawn more numerous enemies, and when fighting higher conning enemies, be extremely cautious with the application of AoE powers. Even though some teammates might be expecting AoE powers, learn your limitations in these very dangerous environments. If your Tank can't hold enough aggro, if a Controller's holds are falling off, if a Defender can't heal you fast enough, if Knockback is keeping your AoEs from finishing off mobs - switch out your tactics and make more use of your single-target attacks. Team communication is exceptionally important for any player, more important for a Fire Blaster since you're the one that's most likely going to suffer the consequences of miscommunication.

The Solo Fire Blaster
Aggro-management principles are at least as important, if not moreso, when soloing -- careful mob selection will go a long way towards keeping the AoE blaster alive. Lieutenants and Bosses are more than likely to survive a standard Aim+BU + Fire Breath + Fire Ball attack chain, requiring attack contingenies to deal with following the Alpha Strike. Accuracy limitations, particularly against higher-conning mobs may also leave enough surviving minions to return a painful counter- attack. Selecting targets based on enemy type is also extremely helpful. Mez-heavy opponents, such as Malta, Rikti and Carnies can often be avoided. Learn which Rikti, Clockwork and so on mez very early on. Learn to scan through a mob for mezzers and other problem enemies before engaging. Practice and patience will be the best teachers of which mob types can be successfully engaged. Most often, the AoE blaster will prefer densely packed groups of minions for maximal AoE effectiveness -- excercising Council in Boomtown or rigid Nemesis ranks in PI are exceptional examples of good AoE targets.

The Single-Target Fire Blaster
In addition to excellent AoEs, Fire Blast also has some of the best single-target attack chains in the game: high-damage and fast activation times. Blazing Bolt is one of the most damaging sniper attacks, and Blaze can be downright painful to watch. Large team situations tend to be more amenable to single-target blasting, especially in the absence of reliable aggro management, as discussed above. Refer to the excellent Guides available on Pulling tactics, indispensable for single-target- oriented Blasters.

The Fire Blapper
Fire Blast is among the least amenable Blaster primary to Blapping, due to its lack of damage mitigating secondary effects and reliance on aggro-magnet AoEs. However, this is not to say that Blapping should be completely avoided, simply handled more carefully. Fire/Fire blasters report very good results using Fire Sword Circle to clean up following an AoE Alpha Strike. Likewise, the devastating higher-end melee attacks from /Energy and /Electric can be very useful in finishing off Lieutenants (Lts) and Bosses, who typically survive AoE Alpha Strikes.

The Hoverblaster
I hoverblasted my way through 50 levels. Hoverblasting is an old, tried and true strategy for Blasters, and is amenable to both AoE and single-target blasters. Initial positioning to maximize the cone area of Fire Breath can be trickier in the air, due to the slippery physics of Fly. Such positioning often takes practice. The optimal firing aspect for an AoE attack chain is typically close to the ground, but far enough above it to avoid melee attacks, the lateral range-to-target should be far enough to avoid visual aggro, but close enough to allow the short-range of Fire Breath (10' at baseline) to reach the majority of the enemy concentration. Single-target hoverblasters can make excellent use of Blazing Bolt, but may need to close range-to-target to make use of the excellent damage of their shorter range attacks, such as Blaze. Hoverblasting may further influence power selection and slotting - Hoverblasting tends to be less compatible with Blapping tactics, since the point of Hoverblasting is to stay out of melee range. At Level 4, I generally recommend that players planning on Hoverblasting take Flares over Fire Sword, for instance.

Secondary Powersets for Fire Blasters
The selection of a secondary powerset is exceptionally determinant for most Blaster builds, due to the widely accepted disparity in secondary powerset performance. Note that I personally haven't played all of the Blaster secondaries to a point of intimate familiarity, so where appropriate, I defer to popular opinion and counterpoints from the Blaster forums, personal communications, and other sources.

Devices
Devices has long been a popular selection for Fire Blasters for multiple reasons. Some of the first comprehensive Guides in wide circulation popularized Fire/Dev early on in the game's history. While less has been published on Fire/Dev since, due to the comprehensive nature of those Guides as well as the relatively unchanged status of most Blaster powersets -- Fire/Dev remains highly popular. Targeting Drone, available at L10, is quoted as being "worth the powerset alone". Slotted heavily with To Hit Buffs, Targeting Drone can be made equivalent to at least one Accuracy SO in every power, allowing the player to six-slot all attacks with Damage, increasing his net Damage output significantly. Remember that this is the only Blaster secondary to lack Build Up, making it more difficult for the Fire/Devices Blaster to reach Damage cap. Enemy debuffing from Caltrops and Smoke Grenade are also popular, as is Stealth from Cloaking Device. The potent debuffs from powers go a long way towards mitigating the counter-attacks associated with aggro-heavy AoE blasting.

Electricity Manipulation
Probably one of the less popular secondary powersets for Fire Blasters, more likely due to the relative underrating of this powerset than to specific opposition, or non-synergy between these powersets. /Elec is reported by some to have greater Blapping DPS potential than /Energy, due to quicker activation and recharge times. Also note several Control powers, including an AoE disorient, Lightning Clap; an End replenishment power, Power Sink; and a single-target hold with good damage output, Shocking Grasp.

Energy Manipulation
/Energy is widely popular among all Blasters, and is regarded by many to arguably be the best performing Blaster secondary powerset currently available. The most glamorous powers in /Energy are the Blapper-staple melee attacks: Energy Punch, Bone Smasher and Total Focus. These attacks are fast, deadly and visually stunning. Furthermore, they offer mild damage mitigation from their Knockback and Disorient components. The rest of the powerset offers exceptional utility. Boost Range has recently been fixed to offer enhanced cone range. Conserve Power can be highly useful for mitigating the high end cost of AoE attack chains. Note that Power Boost does not increase Damage over Time secondary effects, limiting its usefulness to Fire Blasters. Also note that Build Up is available very early in /Energy at Level 4. The importance of Aim and Build Up for AoE Alpha Strikes cannot be overstated.

Fire Manipulation
/Fire is a problem child. While it's among the most popular secondary powersets for Fire Blasters, typically due to concept purposes - it's also widely regarded as the most underperforming Blaster secondary currently available. Such opinion is typically founded upon the fact that /Fire includes multiple low damage PBAoE effects with limited utility, that typically translate as high aggro attractors for the Fire Blaster at close range. Blazing Aura for Blasters could be among the least popular powers in the game. A great many Blasters report only selecting one or two powers from this set, including Build Up. Consume, available at L28, is useful for replenishing endurance from end-intensive AoE attack chains. Blapper melee attacks from /Fire are also generally well-received. Fire Sword and Fire Sword Circle are reported by many players to be useful in cleaning up survivors following an AoE Alpha Strike. Note that /Fire has no third tier melee attack comparable to Total Focus or Thunder Strike. Some players report very limited utility with the Immobilization protection from Burn and the Slow effect from Hot Feet. Other players report that the upside to this powerset is that limited selections from the secondary powerset allow for greater diversity of Power Pool selections, as well as the investment of slots elsewhere in a build.

Ice Manipulation
/Ice has been rapidly gaining a great deal of popularity of late, due primarily to its Control components. A number of powers offer Slow debuffing, useful for limiting counter-attack rates. /Ice also possesses several medium-magnitude single- target status effects, and a downtuned variant of an Ice Controller staple power, Ice Slick. Damage output from /Ice is generally low, and /Ice is not widely considered to be a Blapper-heavy powerset.

Power Pools for Fire Blasters
As with all toons, the diverse array of available Power Pools contribute a great deal of "uniqueness" to individual character builds. This discussion is limited to the more popular selections relevant to Fire Blasters.

Travel Powers
These powers are often a matter of personal preference for most players - the general, relative merits of each Travel Power are better discussed at length elsewhere. Consider that Hasten is exceptionally helpful in shortening the longer recharge times of AoE powers. Further note that the new suppression system is exceptionally useful for Hoverblasting, discussed at length above, but can still allow for initial positioning with impunity from Superspeed by virtue of the Stealth bonus.

Fitness
Stamina is probably even more useful for an AoE blaster than for most characters, due to the exceptionally high end usage of AoE attacks. As with many builds, taking Stamina at the first available opportunity at L20 is a really, really good idea. It has been noted by others that Health is less useful for combat damage mitigation, and is more geared towards reducing downtime between battles.

Concealment
Stealth is often helpful for an AoE blaster, in order to allow him to setup an initial Cone firing position in relative impunity. Combined with Superspeed, a player is Invisible to everything but a sniper, allowing complete impunity for positioning right in the middle of a mob for Inferno. The long animation of Phase Shift makes its use in combat often highly risky, but sometimes a necessary gambit.

Fighting & Leadership
These two pools are significantly less common selections, but not unheard of, selections for Blasters. Most devotees of Fighting and Leadership typically cite the Defensive powers in these sets as motivations behind their selection. See CRasch's Guide to Blaster Defense for a more comprehensive discussion of defensive options available to Blasters.

Ancillary Power Pools for Fire Blasters
The availability of APPs at L41 offer unparalleled diversity in terms of functionality. Preferences for APPs vary greatly, but general consensus holds that each one offers distinct benefits for any Blaster. For more details, reference Deadboy Champion's Guide to Blaster Ancillary Pools.

Flame Mastery
Probably among the most popular APPs among the Blaster sets, Flame Mastery owes its strength to its relative diversity. Char is a Mag3 single-target hold bar-none available to Blasters. Many players report its unswerving utility in the mez-heavy late game. Fire Shield offers good Damage Resistance to Smash/Lethal (~21% at baseline), and is comparable numerically to other Damage Resist powers from the other Blaster APPs. Rise of the Phoenix is a unique self-rez, in that it offers attack properties, as well as self-buffing in addition. It owes a great deal of its popularity to its visually spectacular animation.

Cold Mastery
Possibly one of the less popular APPs, Cold still has much to offer a Fire Blaster, including a targeted-toggle AoE Slow, Snow Storm; a medium magnitude Sleep, Flash Freeze; a ~20% Dam Resist armor, Frozen Armor; and a Phase Shift-like bailout in Hibernate.

Force Mastery
Probably second to Flame Mastery in popularity among Blasters. Personal Force Field isn't quite Phase Shift, but it's awfully close -- it raises defense to the To Hit floor as well as offers superior Dam Resist. Temporary Invulnerability offers the requisite ~20% Dam Resist armor. Like to call Force of Nature (natch) Diet Unstoppable, the template for this power. It's the most popular power for this powerset - offering exceptional Damage Resistance, as well as HP Recovery at a rate unparalleled for Blasters. It can't quite be made perma-, and comes with a price -- an End blowout at the end of its two-minute duration. Note that probably the biggest drawback to Force Mastery, in comparison to the other APPs is the absence of any meaningful status effect powers.

Munitions Mastery
Despite being problematic, Munitions Mastery is at least as diverse a powerset as Flame or Cold, with expectedly different emphases. Body Armor offers less Dam Resist than other APP armors (reported as 10-15% at baseline), but has the advantage of being passive and auto, and therefore cannot drop. Freeze Ray is a single-target hold of moderate magnitude comparable to Char. LRM Missile is an odd-duck, an interruptible targeted AoE snipe of superior damage and range. Some players report being underwhelmed by this attack despite its damage (~7.0 on the Brawl Index). Note that AoE-heavy Blasters could potentially benefit from adding another AoE attack, but may be hampered by LRM's interruptibility.

Acknowledgements:
Matches Malone/Kris Bayani for ever-helpful perspectives and suggestions on Fire Blasting while I was levelling myself up, he continues to be among the most visibly helpful posters on Fire Blast in the Blaster forums

Snipe-Fu, Concern, Freedom Fury, Black December, Ohms, the Faou, and countless others for the contributions they make to the Blaster forums - it's a community because of the mindset of understanding and belonging that you all bring to the forums, much <3

hephaestus for his unfading effort to bring to attention the issues associated with /Fire Manipulation - keep fighting the good fight

StarZero, Matches (again), Alpha Grue, and several others not currently listed for their Fire/ Guides - clearly the foundation and template for the present work

Taser, Shak, Mars, Sparkie, Myst, Wolfie, Impy, Geo, Bim (unf! unf!), Tazz, Zero, Gaz, Fal, Techno, Xenon, Mike, Mac, OBM, Tex, CT, 'rora Gurl, 13th, Sky, Ally - and countless other Pinnacle (for teh Winnacle!) players for being the reason I stick with the game

My brother, the original NinjaChick, for having addicted me to this thing in the first place -- nuthin but a dirty pusher!

Cuppa, States, Geko, Posi and the rest of the Dev staff for obvious reasons - heck, I'll just say it and go all fanboi on it - for giving me the most exciting reason to stay home on a weekend than I've had in a long time.

All corrections, critiques and opinions are welcome.

Nice guide Flaming1!

Nice work! Should be very helpful to any up and coming Fire/ Blasters.

Excellent work, has much more than I put into my guide.

As far as Blazing Bolt goes, you could put this as a suggestion for slotting...

Bayani Loadout: 1-2 Acc, 1 Decrease Interrupt, 2-4 Range.
Despite Blazing Bolt being a high damage sniper attack and having the shortest range of all the sniper attacks, I decided to concentrate on using it as my main pulling technique. Why?

1) It has inherent accuracy. I don't even bother using Aim or Build Up with it.

2) Range. You'll get alot of bang for your buck with Range enhancers on this thing. the further back you are, the less likely your target's cronies will tee off on you also. Plus with the added range, it means you're more likely to find some obstacle to use to break line of sight.

I recommend this for people who decide to go Fire/Energy single target. You already have 5-6 attacks for a solid attack chain...Blazing Bolt adds utility to your sneaky blapping ways.

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Excellent work, has much more than I put into my guide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for the kind words - seeing as how your Guides were so helpful to my own levelling, I couldn't see fit not to acknowledge your contributions to Fire/ blasters on these forums for so long.

You point out a rather glaring omission in my discussion of Blazing Bolt that I hadn't noticed until after I posted the Guide. It seems that I had oriented most of my discussion of Bolt for the AoE blaster, rather than emphasizing how essential snipes are in general for single-target-oriented blasters. My next revision will likely remedy this problem with a more detailed discussion of sniping - and probably include a link or three to the several excellent pulling guides out there.

I've also taken note of the fact that your own Guides, as well as several other Blaster guides will sometimes reference 1-2 Accuracies in powers for truly assured hits. I'm planning to amend my slotting recommendations to reflect this.

Why thank you, it's always nice to be appreciated.

Anyhow, as a single target Fire/Energy blaster, I have the following attacks in my chain...

Fire Primary
Fire Blast
Fireball
Blaze

Energy Manipulation
Energy Punch
Bonesmasher
Total Focus

That's 6 attacks right there, and with Perma-Hasten I use pretty much only four...Energy Punch, Fire Blast, Blaze and Bonesmasher. If it's a small group of minions I'll lead off with a Fireball, if there's a Boss, I'll sneak in for the Total Focus first. So as far as slotting goes, it's really dependent on how I use Aim and Build Up. Bonesmasher, Blaze, Total Focus, and Fireball I use with either Aim or Build Up most of the time...so I only put one accuracy there. However, Energy Punch and Fire Blast are my finishers mostly, so I don't need a whole lot of damage there because they're used for enemies who are in the red, so to speak. However, those enemies I want finished off ASAP because after all a blaster's best defense is a dead enemy. So I slot those two powers with 2 accuracies, because the extra damage is most of the time overkill for me.

And with a solid attack chain in place already, there's no real need for me to use Blazing Bolt as a minion killer. Hence, the Bayani Sniper loadout.

Terrific guide - thank you for posting it!

Fire blasters, what weaklings

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Fire blasters, what weaklings

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I appreciate your helpful, articulate response - and will amend the text accordingly.

Very nice, wish I had this when I was starting out, if I had maybe I would have chosen something else than /fire.

But I loved the concept.

5 stars or you!

Nice work Flamer-luv.

Hey,

For starters, thanks for writing this guide.

And now that i played this game for almost a year, I have finally learned something.

And this seems to sum it up nicely. The crowning power for a classic E2 blaster is....a mêlée power. You probably can not expect to use that power hovering from above way off in the distance. Hmmm, the weakest hit point character or toon with a monster mêlée attack. How ....Odd. My first toon or character was a blaster, i held back and played from a distance. After about 25 levels, i deleted him. He always died. And lived in debt. Well, one year later, I have a new "ball-ster". Now he is 14 and never really dies. i play a classic energy/energy blaster as a "blapper" because his crowning power is going to be mêlée. It is quite enjoyable. In fact, my same level scrapper dies more than he does.

The biggest thing I learned in that time, the characters do not play as you want them, but more as the Dev's wanted them played. We are well past Ed and CoV.

A nicely balanced toon weighted toward both mêlée and distant play is ideal. They give tankers ranged power options in the late power pool. They give armor to the blasters, like the tankers. Odd how they do that...

I think that since Fire/Thermal radiation (in CoV) is quite potent. Now after having a Fire/Fire Brute and Fire/Fire Tanker (both well into their late 20s or more) play nothing alike but share allot of the same powers. I think this juxtaposition of mêlée and distant powers is right here too.

I think I will look at the fire/fire combo more closely. This deserves more attention, as this has the possibility of being a rocking toon played right. I hope more people will look at the Fire/Fire set.

Thnx

Just entered the world of Fire blasting, and this guide, although outdated, is still enormously helpful.

Very nice guide. Since my fire/ice blaster is 37 now, i know most of the powers and you summed them up pretty well. Im personally not a fan of rain of fire, and I never saw the point in aim+BU. But now I think I may get aim. After my I8 respec of course =P I need 38 for hasten and 40s for APP!