City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

The Supa Sonic/Energy Blaster Guide v1.0

Amy_Amp

By Amy_Amp,
Posted on: 2006-01-13 10:08 in Player Guides

 

Posted

The Issue 6 Sonic/Energy Blaster Guide v1.0

Introduction

The Sonic/Energy Blaster is a versatile and fun powerset combination that is not only powerful, but an excellent synergistic concept choice as well. Within these two powersets can be found elements of blasting, control, and blapping that will easily leave your teammates Oooh-ing and Ahhh-ing at the destruction you wreak on your foes. Sonic/Energy performs equally well both in team and solo environments. I originally started this blaster when the Sonic powerset was introduced as a new addition to the blaster AT with issue #5 as a mostly ‘blasting’ style of blaster. With the introduction of ED and Issue #6, I found my damage became somewhat sub par but I also discovered that with the controllish powers within Sonic it lended itself quite nicely to ‘blapping’ as well. So I used my free respec to become more of a blapper But then I found that by leaving out certain blasting elements I was limiting myself in the opposite extreme so I respeced once again and this guide is a result of fine-tuning which has created a very well rounded happy medium with the best of both worlds. My personal experience having tried both ends of the blasting/blapping spectrum has shown a hybrid of the two to be the most enjoyable and effective build for the Sonic/Energy powersets. Your personal preference may differ. Now onto the powersets themselves:

Sonic Blast

This powerset would fall under the ‘single target blaster’ category along with Ice and Energy Blast. The beauty of Sonic Blast is that it has a very low endurance cost. Because of this, I’ve found that Conserve Power or any other endurance saving/recovery powers from blaster secondaries are unnecessary. All that is required is a 3 slotted Stamina. More on this is covered in the Energy Manipulation section. Sonic also comes with a secondary effect. Many Sonic attacks and utility powers also have secondary effect, which is a damage resistance debuff. What this means is that the more you hit your foe, the more susceptible to damage he becomes, which means the damage of all of your following attacks increases! And this stacks if you hit them fast enough. This comes in especially handy if you prime your target with a couple of sonic blast attacks and then nail it with one of the devastating melee attacks from /Energy like Bonesmasher or Total Focus

Sonic Blast, similar to Ice Blast, has slightly lower ranges than other blaster sets . It also has no snipe. However it comes with some controllerish powers in exchange which makes it a very good set to make a blaster/blapper hybrid since you have crowd control and are already a little closer already. The trade off of a little range for these is quite devastating as many Ice/Energy blasters can attest to. I like to think as Sonic as a cross between Ice Blast and Energy Blast because it combines certain features of both.

Here they are broken down separately. I didn’t include tedium like brawl indexes or endurance cost. Hero planner numbers aren’t always reliable for new powersets, and if you really want to know them you can test for yourself. Suffice to say that sonic blasts are completely competitive with all the other blaster primaries, in addition to being able to increase their own damage via the damage resistance debuff secondary effect.

Shriek - Fast recharge time and activation time, similar to Power Bolt from the Energy Set. This is one of your staple attacks, and I recommend taking and slotting it early. Some people skip this and try to make up for it with Howl, but as you’ll see later, you’d be better off taking howl later as an addition rather than a replacement.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 EndRdx, 1 Recharge, 3 Damage

Scream – This is your second staple attack, similar to Power Blast from Energy/. Since ED no longer lets us one-two punch like we used to, I took a suggestion from another thread in here about Sonic/ and slotted it with 2 recharges by omitting an EndRdx SO. That raised my DPS and its low endurance cost hasn’t hurt my endurance bar at all. This is much more efficient. Take it and slot it early.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 2 Recharge, 3 Damage

Howl – A very wide cone attack. I personally detest narrow cones, and enjoy the number of mobs Howl can encompass. I very very rarely use this solo, and its damage isn’t very impressive, but in teams this is a gem because it applies the Dmg Resist Debuff to a whole crowd of mobs, thereby increasing everyone’s damage J . I’d advise you to use caution with it. I only use it on teams that are heavy with crowd controlling AT’s. Otherwise the large aggro it draws becomes rather risky. You don’t need this power, but it comes in handy for the above, you will have room for it, and lastly I find it useful for missions like “Defeat 50 mobs” so I can go to a zone with really low level mobs, drop 50 of them in a couple of minutes and complete the mission uber fast.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 EndRdx, 1 Recharge, 3 Damage

Shockwave – Yuck. It’s a cone that has no damage resist debuff, scatters mobs, and does horrible damage. Think of this as the Explosive Blast power from Energy/ but as a cone instead of a targeted AoE. Skip this. I’ve seen the odd poster extolling its virtues, because they say the knockback is a useful crowd control. You’ll already have enough of that, and all the negatives to this power are certainly not worth skipping better powers for the miniscule damage and KB that annoys melee AT’s. And yes, it does annoy them despite claims that tankers and scrappers are thankful for it. You won’t be needing this solo either. Skip it, Skip it, Skip it. You don’t see any of the really good Energy guides tealling you that Explosive Blast is good, and Shockwave is no better. Did I mention you should skip this? :P

Shout – This is your typical very short range, high damage burst type blast. Take it early, slot it early. Makes for a powerful heavy hitting 1-2 combo at short range with Bonesmasher. Also, since ED has negated our ability to take down higher con minions as fast with shriek/scream, I’ve found that Shout/Shriek or Shout/scream works quite well. Your stun and sleep and stealth utilities will often let you safely position for this.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 EndRdx, 1 Recharge, 3 Damage

Amplify – This is the same as Aim, ‘nuff said. Take it. You don’t need to hurry that badly to slot it.
Recommended ED slotting: 3 recharge

Siren Song – mainly a solo tool, this is a wide cone sleep. For a blaster, this is pimp! Doesn’t come into play much in large teams but can be used to hold off a secondary spawn that was aggro’d by accident. This is going to be one of your best soloing assets. Slot it somewhere after you get your main attacks and stamina etc done. You won’t need a sleep duration in it because you’ll be taking Power Boost and it has a decent duration right out of the box. Be aware that it does to damage, but it’s minimal and not worth slotting as an attack power. And because it does damage, mobs will be aggro’d once they awaken, but you’ll find that you’ll have them all beaten in a solo mish long before it wears off, especially power boosted. Some mobs are immune to sleep like robots and BP zombies. I’ll discuss its uses later.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 EndRdx, 1 Recharge

Screech – A ranged mez you say? Oh yes! Screech is a single target disorient. Take this as soon as it comes available. I 2-slotted it by level 31 with an accuracy and a disorient duration, and then added a recharge at 37. It also does minimal damage not worth slotting, but it also has the Dmg Resist Debuff effect that your blasts have. I’ll discuss how Screech plays into your strategy later as well.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 Disorient Duration, 1 Recharge.

Dreadful Wail – Ah yes, the eagerly awaited plum of blaster sets, this is your big nuke. Take it as soon as it comes and slot is as you would nova or inferno, with 3 recharges and 3 damage right away. Massive damage, a huge inherent accuracy bonus and a secondary disorient makes this an awe inspiring AoE attack. I wish I could count how many times I’ve used this and had teammates who never saw it before go “Holy crap! What the hell was that!?” Use Amplify + Buildup before hitting this and it’ll drop +3 and many +4 minions.
Recommended ED slotting: 3 recharge, 3 damage

Now onto your secondary, Energy Manipulation. This is my favorite, and a favorite of many others for good reason. Many have claimed it’s the best secondary out there, but I won’t go so far as that. Personally I love it because it just seems so fitting to take with sonic blast as a concept. PvP blasters favour this secondary for well known reasons, however at the time of this writing, Statesman has declared that toggle dropping is being toned down for Issue #7’s release. But that applies for all toggle dropping not just this set. As I dislike PvP anyway, I’m hoping the powers of /Energy remain unaffected for PvE but I won’t hold my breath. Without further ado…

Energy manipulation

There’s already tons of great guides around for this powerset so I’ll just discuss it and how it applies to sonic in general. You’ll be able to see which /energy powers and how I slotted them in my Recommended ED build below, so I’ll briefly touch on which powers I skipped, and why.

Energy Punch – I used to have this on my second respec into a blapper until I discovered the effectiveness of combining only BS and TF as my melee attacks with my blasts. It’s a safer route than blapping, and I feel more effective now without it. However, if I were to be into PvP, I’d most likely pick this up in place of Howl.

Stun – Again, better suited to blapping, I found this to be overkill for me and required me to be a blapper instead of the hybrid solution I created. It also has a longish activation time.

Boost Range – not a bad power really, but once again, since I have controllish powers that allow my hybrid blast/blap build, there’s no point in taking this for me. I’ve never needed range longer than what I have. Indoor missions rarely have range long enough for this to come in handy for me anyway.

Conserve Power – Although I did take CP, I added it to this list as a nice-to-have bonus power that I’ll take at level 50. I don’t need it at all with sonic’s low end usage. I used to have it until respec’d out, but the only purpose it really served was to be able to blast quicker after hitting Dreadful Wail, which drains your endurance and halts recovery for a few seconds. But I can achieve this by chewing a couple blue pills so I left it for last this time around.


Pool Powers

I won’t go into detail about all pool powers, but I will tell you what ones I found most useful and why. One thing I found about this build is that it allowed a lot of slotting efficiency and leeway. I always hated slot heavy AT’s and I found this build let me slot pretty much every power I needed to an acceptable level as soon as it came available and that’s nice to be able to do.

Fitness – This is pretty standard. Take and 3-slot Stamina by level 22 or so. As lead up powers I found swiftness more useful than hurdle because I took hover, and a 3-slotted health improves your downtime noticeably. Again, another lesson learned here. I experimented with not taking fitness and trying to get by with just Conserve power and regretted it terribly. Stamina alone will fill your endurance needs. CP alone will not.

Speed – Hasten is no longer a ‘must have’ since it can no longer be made perma. But I’d highly recommend taking it and 3-slotting it anyway. It help bring your Aim and Buildup up faster as well as Dreadful Wail. It certainly helps your attacks chain dramatically as well. Superspeed is my main travel power, since it works with Stealth to grant virtual invisibility.

Flight – only took and 3-slotted Hover from here. This serves 2 purposes: one is vertical movement. The other one is Knockback protection and hover-blasting. There are times when using melee attacks is just to risky, and on those occasions hover becomes invaluable.

Concealment – Only took Stealth from this pool and slotted it with one EndRdx SO. Stealth plays an integral part of your game strategy, which I’ll be discussing after APP’s


APP’s (Ancillary Pool Powers) – I haven’t reached this stage yet, I stand close to hitting level 41 at the time of writing. So far I’m planning on taking Shocking bolt for another single target hold, Charged Armour because it has smash/lethal AND energy resist, and EMP, which is considered by many to be the one of the best AoE holds in the game. I’ll update this guide again when I reach 50 and have sufficient experience with this APP to draw upon. There are some APP guides available in the player guide forums and the blaster guide thread if you wish to know more.


Tactics

I won’t tire your eyes with a big detailed play by play of every possible scenario, but I’ll tel you in brief what I found works best for me. In my solo game, my tactics are pretty basic but effective. I will use my SS+Stealth invisibility to approach a spawn and try to best line them up in to cone range. Then I’ll hit Power Boost (which increases mez duration) and Aim (if I know they’ll be especially hard to hit, or there’s a boss around and I REALLY don’t want his minions awake!) and then apply Siren Song to sleep them. Once that’s done, it’s a very simple matter of alternating between Screech and Total Focus to disorient them (since attacking a sleeping foe wakes them up a wee bit angry) and take them out one at a time. I can usually do this at leisure in a nice cozy safe manner. Take the time to learn which attack combinations work best on various enemies. For example, after sleeping a spawn of 2-4 mobs, which is normal in solo missions, I’ll use Total focus on the first one I want to take out. If he’s not one-shotted outright, he’ll only have a sliver left and a quick blast of shriek will take care of that. Then I’ll Screech his buddy to disorient him, and use either Shout + Bonesmasher if they’re +2’s or +3’s or Either one of Shout + Scream, Shout + shriek, Bonesmasher + scream, Bonesmasher + shriek. In other words, let the situation dictate. Lastly I’ll move onto the Lt.. For him, I’ve saved a Buildup + Total Focus + Shout (to apply that dmg resist debuff we talked about earlier, remember?) and then Bonesmasher if still needed.

Bosses are a little trickier. I’ll stealth+SS up the the group, and line them up for a cone sleep, same as before. This time using Amplify (Aim) is a must. The trick here is to either sleep the minions and then TF the boss (TF has a high magnitude stun which will stun most bosses in one hit) or if I know the boss is too risky to not hit first, then I’ll TF him and then sleep the minions with Siren Song. Either way, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how fast even +3, +4, and even +5 bosses go down to a fully slotted TF+Shout+BS+ blasting combo when led with Buildup. For especially stubborn bosses that refuse to stagger like a drunk after one TF hit, you can follow up with screech which usually does the trick. I’ve ran across some really resistant bosses which didn’t stun until I nailed them with TF, then screech, then BS. Some have even required waiting for TF to cycle back for a second application before it took effect! For those nasty ones, make sure you have a good supply of inspirations and prepare for an edge of your seat fight. Damn fun though! Alternating between dmg resist debuffing sonics and heavy hitting blaps is a thing of beauty . Being able to do so while they’re all mezzed? Priceless.

Teaming requires a few changes. Like I mentioned earlier, this is where you’ll find more use for Howl because it applies the Dmg Resist Debuff to a whole crowd of mobs, thereby increasing everyone’s damage. Once again, I’d advise you to use caution with it. I only use it on teams that are heavy with crowd controlling AT’s. Otherwise the large aggro it draws becomes a risky liability. I also blap a little less in teams. This is one of the reasons I spent 2 respecs before I settled on a blaster/blapper hybrid. I now have enough ranged artillery to blast from a distance in more safety. If I can tell there’s not too much risk involved, I’ll often jump in to help the melee AT’s take down bosses with my TF, BS, and Shout.

The Build

OK, here’s where all you lazy buggers skimmed past my guide just to copy a prefab build :P lol. In seriousness though, I realize that a lot of guide posters dislike posting exact builds. It doesn’t really matter to me either way. I’m suggesting this as a guideline to show you what I found to me most effective but by no means am I suggesting you use it as anything other than what it’s intended as, which is simply a guideline for the new folks. As long as I make that clear, I don’t feel I’ll be hampering anyone’s personal preferences or creativity. This can be changed around any way you see fit to match your concept and personal preferences. Like I said, this is what worked best for me so far:

(Note: It only goes to level 40. As I stated in the APP section, I don’t wish to comment on APP’s until I have personal experience with them. You’ll notice I only have 2 slots in Aim and Buildup. I eventually intend to take them to three each. But 2 each is serving me very nicely right now. 3 will just be cherry on top.)

Exported from version 1.5B of CoH Planner
http://joechott.com/coh

Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Sonic Blast
Secondary Powers - Support : Energy Manipulation

01 : Power Thrust acc(01)
01 : Shriek acc(01) endred(3) recred(3) dam(5) dam(5) dam(7)
02 : Scream acc(02) recred(7) recred(9) dam(9) dam(11) dam(11)
04 : Build Up recred(04) recred(36)
06 : Hasten recred(06) recred(29) recred(29)
08 : Shout acc(08) endred(13) recred(13) dam(15) dam(15) dam(17)
10 : Bone Smasher acc(10) endred(17) recred(19) dam(19) dam(21) dam(21)
12 : Amplify recred(12) recred(37)
14 : Super Speed runspd(14)
16 : Swift runspd(16)
18 : Sirens Song acc(18) endred(23) recred(37)
20 : Health hel(20) hel(23) hel(40)
22 : Stamina endrec(22) endrec(25) endrec(25)
24 : Hover fltspd(24) fltspd(27) fltspd(27)
26 : Screech acc(26) Disorient(31) recred(37)
28 : Stealth endred(28)
30 : Howl acc(30) endred(31) recred(31) dam(34) dam(36) dam(36)
32 : Dreadful Wail recred(32) recred(33) recred(33) dam(33) dam(34) dam(34)
35 : Power Boost recred(35)
38 : Total Focus acc(38) endred(39) recred(39) dam(39) dam(40) dam(40)
49 : Conserve Power Empty(49)




There you have it folks, the very first Sonic Blast guide, I hope you have as much fun with this formidable, versatile, and enjoyable blaster as I do!

-Supatroll

 

Posted

This is *exactly* what I was looking for, and thanks for not going into all the numbers. Have been planning on an */energy for some time b/c I love that first punch best of all but could never settle on a primary to go with. I wanted something different and, to me, electric is more annoying than sonic, lol.

It's hard to write a straightforward, thorough, *and* enjoyable guide, but you pulled it off. Cheers.

 

Posted

EM Pulse for blasters is a 20' disorient, not an 80' hold. Change that, and you'll be fine. I could swear I told you this once, but hmm... strange.

Doom.

Yep.

This is really doom.

 

Posted

Nice guide. It has me working on a Sonic/Energy blaster in Hero Builder. However, I'm having a tough time deciding on an APP. Admittedly, this is still a decision that is a ways off as I haven't even started the toon yet, and you've said in your guide that you haven't reached that stage yourself. But, there just doesn't seem to be much that grabs my attention. You say you like Shocking Bolt b/c it offers "another" hold. However, from what I can tell, Sonic/Energy doesn't have any holds. Therefore, I'm not sure how useful it would be. It would be one thing if you were Electric or Ice and could stack it on a boss. But, without another hold to stack it with, it doesn't seem worthwhile. Now, Sonic/Energy does have plenty of disorients which could make the disorient in EM Pulse useful if not for the absurd recharge time. Anyone have any thoughts on an APP that would have a better synergy with a Sonic/Energy build?

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Nice guide. It has me working on a Sonic/Energy blaster in Hero Builder. However, I'm having a tough time deciding on an APP. Admittedly, this is still a decision that is a ways off as I haven't even started the toon yet, and you've said in your guide that you haven't reached that stage yourself. But, there just doesn't seem to be much that grabs my attention. You say you like Shocking Bolt b/c it offers "another" hold. However, from what I can tell, Sonic/Energy doesn't have any holds. Therefore, I'm not sure how useful it would be. It would be one thing if you were Electric or Ice and could stack it on a boss. But, without another hold to stack it with, it doesn't seem worthwhile. Now, Sonic/Energy does have plenty of disorients which could make the disorient in EM Pulse useful if not for the absurd recharge time. Anyone have any thoughts on an APP that would have a better synergy with a Sonic/Energy build?

[/ QUOTE ]

Angry, thanks for that update on EMP, I wasn't aware of that. But extra disorient is still great considering all the disorients already present in both sets
Derrik, by 'another hold' I guess I should have said 'another mez' just to clarify that. If you don't like the electric APP, I would reccommend the Force APP as my next choice. thanks for the input guys!

 

Posted

sweet guide!

 

Posted

bump. needs to be added to blaster guides

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
bump. needs to be added to blaster guides

[/ QUOTE ]

I have put a placemarker in the blaster guide to guides thread a while back to ask for this to be added, they just haven't updated it yet, but thx for the bump

 

Posted

may have to give sonic/energy a whirl.....

first toon I made with sonic I chose electricity as secondary....that works out rather well also (and I slot for heavy end drain of target)....but yeah Ill prob create a son/en Blaster this weekend

F*** Political Correctness...That Went Down With The Twin Towers (Blackie Lawless)

Equal Opportunity Offender...If You Dont Like What I Say, Then Dont Read

 

Posted

This is a fantastic guide! Very solid. Not just the build itself, but the write-up previous to it.

I tweaked it a tiny bit for my toon (I'm a fan of Fly, so I picked Hover and Fly relatively early), but mostly stuck to it, especially for slotting. I'm having a helluva good time with it (@28 as of this post).

 

Posted

Great Guide!

I just started a Sonic/Energy last week and my build is very similar to this one, except I went with Super Jump instead of speed and took energy punch instead of Shriek to be more of a Blapper.

Just made 22 and Siren's Song really changed the entire character! You aren't kidding about the duration. I put one sleep duration in it to tide me over until Power Boost and casually put down 8 minions of a group of 10 before the last two woke up. Can't wait until Screech, "waking" them with a disorient should be great!

One word of advice, don't wait any longer than 22 for Stamina and if you can work it in by 20, Do it! Siren's Song and the energy melee attacks are NOT endurance friendly.

Again, great guide!

 

Posted

My sonic/energy blaster is only 10 at the moment, but I've played with the power selections in hero builder quite a bit so far.

One question about your tactics was that you suggested TF->Shout. Wouldn't Shout->TF result in more net damage, since the resistance debuff of Shout would increase the damage of TF? Or are you using TF first for its disorient effect?

If you're using TF first as a disorient, then Screech would be an even better opening move, as it is also a mag 3 disorient, and also debuffs res. So a tough LT might got Screech->Shout->TF. (I have never leveled *any* blaster past 14, by the way, so this is pure conjecture on my part.)

Second question: Wouldn't Stun and Screech together allow you to disorient a boss? (As a Kin/Rad defender quickly popping a boss twice with Cosmic Burst was handy for taking a boss out of a fight.)

I'm enjoying the combo of sonic/energy quite a bit. Thanks for all your insight into the powers!

Hazel Black - Mind/Psi D
Stephanie Winters - Nightwidow
Jacqui Frost - Cold/Ice D
Jacqui Embers - Fire/Kin C
Simone Templar - Fire/MM B
Mallory Woods - Kin/Rad D
Sanguine Melody - Grav/Sonic C
Fumina Hara - Plant/Storm C
Nutmeg - Warshade
Lauren Wu - SS/WP B

 

Posted

What a nice guide. I have an Elec/Energy Blapper at level 49 and I can definitely attest to /Energy's power!

I'm wondering though, what do you guys think of using Sonic/Elec instead of /Energy?

/Elec has some pretty dmging attacks too; Havoc punch is stronger than Bone Smasher (at least in the CoX Character Builder). However, Havoc Punch doesn't disorient... TF is great dmg and disorient, but Shocking Grasp is a major hold but less dmg than TF...

Shoot, I guess the answer is pretty clear, huh? But what do you guys think of the replacement anyways?

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Miss Marbles - Inv/Fire Tanker
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Velvette - WS

My Custom Demos

 

Posted

Coming back to an old thread, I have to once again thank Supatroll for a fantastic guide. I based my build off of it, made some mods and went to town. WOW- I've had one hell of a good time with this character. Teammates love the -res and, of course, Dreadful Wail (who doesn't?!). I routinely get "you messed them up bad!" after this rather blapperish toon lets loose. He is great solo and in teams. I've also found that he's quite endurance efficient.

For my epic, I chose Force. Nothing else really fit my concept, I wanted the extra defense, and it was a set I've never tried. It makes a sweet "Oh Crap" set. Temp Invul + PFF usually gets me a few moments to get out of the red when I'm soloing and in trouble. Decided against FoN, and got Boost Range instead. I think some of Sonic has some pretty decent range, and this only helps it.

My build is below, but , of course, your mileage may vary. (Currently at lvl 47.5, going to add -end to Boost Range, it's the only time I have -end problems)


---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Saticon
Level: 48
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Sonic Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shriek==> Acc(1)EndRdx(3)Rechg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)
01) --> Power Thrust==> Acc(1)Dmg(37)KB_Dist(42)Rechg(42)Dmg(45)
02) --> Scream==> Acc(2)EndRdx(7)EndRdx(9)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)Dmg(11)
04) --> Build Up==> Rechg(4)Rechg(25)TH_Buf(43)Rechg(46)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)Rechg(21)Rechg(25)
08) --> Shout==> Acc(8)EndRdx(13)EndRdx(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)
10) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(10)EndRdx(17)Dmg(19)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)Rechg(23)
12) --> Hover==> EndRdx(12)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(42)
16) --> Amplify==> Rechg(16)Rechg(31)TH_Buf(43)Rechg(46)
18) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(18)EndRdx(23)
20) --> Swift==> Run(20)
22) --> Health==> Heal(22)Heal(29)Heal(37)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24)EndMod(27)EndMod(27)
26) --> Super Speed==> Run(26)
28) --> Screech==> Acc(28)DisDur(29)Rechg(36)Dmg(37)Dmg(40)
30) --> Howl==> Acc(30)EndRdx(31)Rechg(31)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)
32) --> Dreadful Wail==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(34)Dmg(34)
35) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(35)Rechg(43)
38) --> Total Focus==> Rechg(38)Acc(39)Dmg(39)EndRdx(39)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)
41) --> Personal Force Field==> DefBuf(41)Rechg(46)
44) --> Temp Invulnerability==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)
47) --> Boost Range==> Rechg(47)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Dmg(1)
01) --> Defiance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Heal(2)
---------------------------------------------

 

Posted

Curious.. what is the blaster debuff? I know a defender sonic attack will give you a 20% damage boost on a subsequent attack against an even level minion. Blasters?

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Curious.. what is the blaster debuff? I know a defender sonic attack will give you a 20% damage boost on a subsequent attack against an even level minion. Blasters?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it's around 15%, but I really wouldn't quote me on that.

Glad this got bumped because I was using this guide on my own blaster and then I moved and haven't found the info since. It is an extremely fun build that should get some more playing time after my Earth controller hits 50(41 currently). One of the only builds that soloed that stupid Igneous hunt mish, and taking on Supa trolls solo was way fun too.

 

Posted

I'll be considering tweaking this guide a bit to reflect the upcoming range increase to Shout next patch, and some other changes I'm considering.

 

Posted

I'd like to offer my contrary opinion that numbers make a better guide.

Here are some numbers I would like to offer-

Debuffs for the Sonic Blast are as follows:
Defender- 20%
Corruptor - 15%
Blaster- 12.5%

I don't like comparing Shriek to the Power Bolt for one simple reason: in addition to the damage, you get a Res debuff. For all the sick damage Total Focus will do alone, after your attack chain of Shriek, Scream, and Shout, your opponent will take 37.5% more damage from Total Focus. That takes it from NIIIICE! to ZOMG!

The Res debuffs last a rather short amount of time, varying by power. I've had a hard time seeing exactly how long, but Shriek and Scream are only about 5-6 seconds apiece. Howl and Screech are the longest lasting debuffs- about 10-11 seconds apiece.

::updates::
Here are exact numbers, source being iakona

Sonic Blast]
Shriek :: 5 sec
Scream :: 7 sec
Howl :: 8 sec
Shout :: 10 sec
Screech :: 12 sec
Dreadful Wail :: 20 sec


I think it would be fair to note in any Sonic guide that Sonic tends to have long animation times when compared to most other Blaster sets. For this reason, many people assume that Sonic is less accurate: when you sit for a couple seconds looking at a "MISS", it looms larger in your mind. Before anybody brings up the myth of an accuracy penalty (and someone will...), I'm nipping it in the bud. Being planted for a long animation time is a drawback for PvPers. Since I'm not a PvPer, I don't give a rip, but it's good info to provide them, I think.

The one exception to long animation times is Dreadful Wail. I believe nofuture.org (sic?- I can't remember the source) has timed it at 1.97 seconds. After that number was quoted to me, I eyeballed it on my level 39 Sonic/Elec and think it is even shorter- almost a "click-boom" Nuke. Furthermore, it can disorient anything it hits (I don't know the disorient magnitude, though- I will have to pay specific attention to see if it can disorient lieutenants/bosses in the future). These two facts make Dreadful Wail perhaps the best of the nukes, with possible exceptions being the Archery and Assault Rifle nukes which come up more often and don't completely drain Endurance and stop Recovery for 10 seconds.

Another note- the upcoming patch will extend the range of Shout from 20' to 40'. That is important info for any guide, I believe.

Lastly, for those curious about damage types, Sonic attacks are 50/50 Energy/Smashing.

PS: Sonic/Elec is awesome, for the person who asked. I have to respec mine so I can see how well the Thunder Clap/Screech disorients stack.

Life - a sexually transmitted terminal condition.

 

Posted

Nice info, thanks for the addition!
I don't like getting into the minutae of the BI numbers and etc. personally, because I intended this more for the casual observer, but your addition will come in handy for the numbers crowd I'm sure

Thanks for mentioning the accuracy myth, I was getting kind of tired of hearing that as well. If anyone still wants to debate it, a seperate thread is what you're looking for, not a thread in the guide section

[ QUOTE ]
Another note- the upcoming patch will extend the range of Shout from 20' to 40'. That is important info for any guide, I believe.

[/ QUOTE ]
Defintely, I'll be including that on my next update
I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that this change is coming. I've been waiting for a loooong time to see blasters get an all-ranged attack chain!

 

Posted

this guide really helped direct my main character and first ever blaster to a very happy and somewhat successful 32 levels so far!

:::MAIN::: Blu Bird / Virtue/ 50- energy/energy - Blaster

 

Posted

The Issue 8 Sonic/Energy Blaster Guide v2.0

Introduction

**note- This is the I6 Guide updated for I8. I've decided to update this here rather than start a new post. Most of it is repeated information, but I've since changed my opinions on how a sonic/energy should be built post-40 so there are several changes. The addition of a 40' ranged Shout recently has also changed my gameplay significantly. Read on **

The Sonic/Energy Blaster is a versatile and fun powerset combination that is not only powerful, but an excellent synergistic concept choice as well. Within these two powersets can be found elements of blasting, control, and blapping that will easily leave your teammates Oooh-ing and Ahhh-ing at the destruction you wreak on your foes. Sonic/Energy performs equally well both in team and solo environments. I originally started this blaster when the Sonic powerset was introduced as a new addition to the blaster AT with issue #5 as a mostly ‘blasting’ style of blaster. With the introduction of ED and Issue #6, I found my damage became somewhat sub par but I also discovered that with the controllish powers within Sonic it lended itself quite nicely to ‘blapping’ as well. So I used my free respec to become more of a blapper But then I found that by leaving out certain blasting elements I was limiting myself in the opposite extreme so I respeced once again and this guide is a result of fine-tuning which has created a very well rounded happy medium with the best of both worlds. My personal experience having tried both ends of the blasting/blapping spectrum has shown a hybrid of the two to be the most enjoyable and effective build for the Sonic/Energy powersets. Your personal preference may differ. Now onto the powersets themselves:

Sonic Blast

This powerset would fall under the ‘single target blaster’ category along with Ice and Energy Blast. The beauty of Sonic Blast is that it has a very low endurance cost. Because of this, I’ve found that Conserve Power or any other endurance saving/recovery powers from blaster secondaries are unnecessary. All that is required is a 3 slotted Stamina. More on this is covered in the Energy Manipulation section. Sonic also comes with a secondary effect. Many Sonic attacks and utility powers also have secondary effect, which is a damage resistance debuff. What this means is that the more you hit your foe, the more susceptible to damage he becomes, which means the damage of all of your following attacks increases! And this stacks if you hit them fast enough. This comes in especially handy if you prime your target with a couple of sonic blast attacks and then nail it with one of the devastating melee attacks from /Energy like Bonesmasher or Total Focus

Sonic Blast has slightly lower ranges than other blaster sets. It also has no snipe. However it comes with some controllerish powers in exchange which makes it a very good set to make a blaster/blapper hybrid since you have crowd control and are already a little closer already. The trade off of a little range for these is quite devastating. I like to think as Sonic as a cross between Ice Blast and Energy Blast because it combines certain features of both.

Here they are broken down separately. Suffice to say that sonic blasts are completely competitive with all the other blaster primaries, in addition to being able to increase their own damage via the damage resistance debuff secondary effect. The -res debuff for sonic amounts to 12.5% per application. So this means that if you were to string Shriek+Scream+Shout together and then end with Total Focus, you would be dealing TF with a 37.5% -res debuff on them. Quite nasty. Now close your eyes and imagine that on top of Buildup
If you want exact numbers for the length of time each attack's debuff lasts for, you can refer to Neuberg_Crowley's post above in response to my I6 version of this guide. He also makes a few other decent points that I'll leave as a place to refer to rather than repeat them here.

Shriek - Fast recharge time and activation time, similar to Power Bolt from the Energy Set. This is one of your staple attacks, and I recommend taking and slotting it early. Some people skip this and try to make up for it with Howl, but as you’ll see later, you’d be better off taking howl later as an addition rather than a replacement.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 3 Damage

Scream – This is your second staple attack, similar to Power Blast from Energy/. Since ED no longer lets us one-two punch like we used to, I saw a suggestion from another thread about Sonic/ that slots it with 2 recharges by omitting an EndRdx SO due to the low endurance use of sonic blasts. This is also a great idea, but for purposes of this guide you can either slot the traditional way now that you have Shout as a 3rd ranged blast or try this out too. Take it and slot it early.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 Recharge, 1 EndReduc, 3 Damage OR 1 Acc, 2 Recharge, 3 Damage

Howl – A very wide cone attack. I personally detest narrow cones, and enjoy the number of mobs Howl can encompass. I very very rarely use this solo, and its damage isn’t very impressive, but in teams this is a gem because it applies the Dmg Resist Debuff to a whole crowd of mobs, thereby increasing everyone’s damage J . I’d advise you to use caution with it. I only use it on teams that are heavy with crowd controlling AT’s. Otherwise the large aggro it draws becomes rather risky. You don’t need this power, but it comes in handy for the above, you will have room for it, and lastly I find it useful for missions like “Defeat 50 mobs” so I can go to a zone with really low level mobs, drop 50 of them in a couple of minutes and complete the mission 'supa' fast. Once I reached my 40's and needed room for a respec build, I dropped this power.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 EndRdx, 1 Recharge, 3 Damage

Shockwave – Yuck. It’s a cone that has no damage resist debuff, scatters mobs, and does horrible damage. Think of this as the Explosive Blast power from Energy/ but as a cone instead of a targeted AoE. Skip this. I’ve seen the odd poster extolling its virtues, because they say the knockback is a useful crowd control. You’ll already have enough of that, and all the negatives to this power are certainly not worth skipping better powers for the miniscule damage and KB that annoys melee AT’s. And yes, it does annoy them despite claims that tankers and scrappers are thankful for it. You won’t be needing this solo either. Skip it, Skip it, Skip it. You don’t see any of the really good Energy guides tealling you that Explosive Blast is good, and Shockwave is no better. Did I mention you should skip this? :P

Shout – This is your mid-range, high damage burst type blast. Take it early, slot it early. This beauty has had its range increased to 40' and what this means to us is that we finally now have a full ranged attack chain. Shout makes for a powerful heavy hitting 1-2 combo with Bonesmasher and TF as well if you can afford to get in close and personal, which, you'll find, your stun and sleep and stealth utilities will often let you safely position for this. Also, since ED has negated our ability to take down higher con minions as fast with shriek/scream, I’ve found that Shout/Shriek or Shout/scream works quite well.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc, 1 Range, 1 Recharge, 3 Damage

Amplify – This is the same as Aim, ‘nuff said. Take it. You don’t need to hurry that badly to slot it.
Recommended ED slotting: 3 recharge

Siren Song – mainly a solo tool, this is a wide cone sleep. For a blaster, this is pimp! Doesn’t come into play much in large teams but can be used to hold off a secondary spawn that was aggro’d by accident. This is going to be one of your best soloing assets. You won’t need to slot it because you’ll be taking Power Boost and it has a decent duration right out of the box, and because this will be a lead, you'll be able to boost your accuracy with Aim or BU. Prior to having all of these powers though, you may wish to toss a couple slots in it and spec them out later. Be aware that it does do damage, but it’s minimal and not worth slotting as an attack power. And because it does damage, mobs will be aggro’d once they awaken, but you’ll find that you’ll have them all beaten in a solo mish long before it wears off, especially power boosted. Some mobs are immune to sleep like robots and BP zombies. I’ll discuss its uses later.
Recommended ED slotting: 1 Acc in default slot

Screech – A ranged mez you say? Oh yes! Screech is a single target disorient. Take this as soon as it comes available. also does minimal damage not worth slotting, but it also has the Dmg Resist Debuff effect that your blasts have. I’ll discuss how Screech plays into your strategy later as well.
Recommended ED slotting: 2 Acc, 1 Disorient Duration, 1 Recharge.

Dreadful Wail – Ah yes, the eagerly awaited plum of blaster sets, this is your big nuke. Take it as soon as it comes and slot is as you would nova or inferno, with 3 recharges and 3 damage right away. Massive damage, a huge inherent accuracy bonus and a secondary disorient makes this an awe inspiring AoE attack. I wish I could count how many times I’ve used this and had teammates who never saw it before go “Holy crap! What the hell was that!?” Use Amplify + Buildup before hitting this and it’ll drop +3 and many +4 minions.
Recommended ED slotting: 3 recharge, 3 damage

Now onto your secondary, Energy Manipulation. This is my favorite, and a favorite of many others for good reason. Many have claimed it’s the best secondary out there, but I won’t go so far as that. Personally I love it because it just seems so fitting to take with sonic blast as a concept. PvP blasters favour this secondary for well known reasons, however at the time of this writing, Statesman has declared that toggle dropping is being toned down for Issue #7’s release. But that applies for all toggle dropping not just this set. As I dislike PvP anyway, I’m hoping the powers of /Energy remain unaffected for PvE but I won’t hold my breath. Without further ado…

Energy manipulation

There’s already tons of great guides around for this powerset so I’ll just discuss it and how it applies to sonic in general. You’ll be able to see which /energy powers and how I slotted them in my Recommended ED build below, so I’ll briefly touch on which powers I skipped, and why.

Energy Punch – I used to have this on my second respec into a blapper until I discovered the effectiveness of combining only BS and TF as my melee attacks with my blasts. It’s a safer route than blapping, and I feel more effective now without it. However, if I were to be into PvP, I’d most likely pick this up in place of Howl.

Stun – Again, better suited to blapping, I found this to be overkill for me and required me to be a blapper instead of the hybrid solution I created. It also has a longish activation time.

Boost Range – not a bad power really, but once again, since I have controllish powers that allow my hybrid blast/blap build, there’s no point in taking this for me. I’ve never needed range longer than what I have. Indoor missions rarely have range long enough for this to come in handy for me anyway.

Conserve Power – Although I did take CP, I added it to this list as a nice-to-have bonus power that I’ll take at level 50. I don’t need it at all with sonic’s low end usage. I used to have it until respec’d out, but the only purpose it really served was to be able to blast quicker after hitting Dreadful Wail, which drains your endurance and halts recovery for a few seconds. But I can achieve this by chewing a couple blue pills so I left it for last this time around.


Pool Powers

I won’t go into detail about all pool powers, but I will tell you what ones I found most useful and why. One thing I found about this build is that it allowed a lot of slotting efficiency and leeway. I always hated slot heavy AT’s and I found this build let me slot pretty much every power I needed to an acceptable level as soon as it came available and that’s nice to be able to do.

Fitness – This is pretty standard. Take and 3-slot Stamina by level 22 or so. As lead up powers I found swiftness more useful than hurdle because I took hover, and a 3-slotted health improves your downtime noticeably. Again, another lesson learned here. I experimented with not taking fitness and trying to get by with just Conserve power and regretted it terribly. Stamina alone will fill your endurance needs. CP alone will not.

Speed – Hasten is no longer a ‘must have’ since it can no longer be made perma. But I’d highly recommend taking it and 3-slotting it anyway. It help bring your Aim and Buildup up faster as well as Dreadful Wail. It certainly helps your attacks chain dramatically as well. Superspeed is my main travel power, since it works with Stealth to grant virtual invisibility.

Flight – only took and 3-slotted Hover from here. This serves 2 purposes: one is vertical movement. The other one is Knockback protection and hover-blasting. There are times when using melee attacks is just to risky, and on those occasions hover becomes invaluable. Now you can get a slight speed increase from Hover if you took Swift from the Fitness Pool.

Concealment – Only took Stealth from this pool and slotted it with one EndRdx SO. Stealth plays an integral part of your levelling strategy, but I did choose to drop it on a respec once I got my APP's.

Medicine - This is what I took when I respecced out of Concealment. I simply find it more useful, more often, than Stealth, especially now that I have Personal Force Field and the healing boost you get from using Power Boost first.
APP’s (Ancillary Pool Powers) – There are some APP guides available in the player guide forums and the blaster guide thread if you wish to know more.


Tactics

I won’t tire your eyes with a big detailed play by play of every possible scenario, but I’ll tel you in brief what I found works best for me. In my solo game, my tactics are pretty basic but effective. I will use my SS+Stealth invisibility to approach a spawn and try to best line them up in to cone range. Then I’ll hit Power Boost (which increases mez duration) and Aim (if I know they’ll be especially hard to hit, or there’s a boss around and I REALLY don’t want his minions awake!) and then apply Siren Song to sleep them. Once that’s done, it’s a very simple matter of alternating between Screech and Total Focus to disorient them (since attacking a sleeping foe wakes them up a wee bit angry) and take them out one at a time. I can usually do this at leisure in a nice cozy safe manner. Take the time to learn which attack combinations work best on various enemies. For example, after sleeping a spawn of 2-4 mobs, which is normal in solo missions, I’ll use Screech on the first one I want to take out to stun him and apply the -res debuff to the follow-up attacks. Then I’ll TF his buddy to disorient him, and finish him off. When you're doing this, try to lead with your smaller blasts so that teh -res debuff gets applied to the heavy-hitters. In other words, let the situation dictate. Lastly I’ll move onto the Lt.. For him, I’ve saved a Buildup + Screech + Shout +TF (to apply that dmg resist debuff we talked about earlier, remember?) and then Bonesmasher or whatever if still needed.

Bosses are a little trickier. I’ll stealth+SS up the the group, and line them up for a cone sleep, same as before. This time using Amplify (Aim) is a must. The trick here is to either sleep the minions and then TF the boss (TF has a high magnitude stun which will stun most bosses in one hit) or if I know the boss is too risky to not hit first, then I’ll TF him and then sleep the minions with Siren Song. Either way, you’ll be pleasantly surprised how fast even +3, +4, and even +5 bosses go down to a fully slotted TF+Shout+BS+ blasting combo when led with Buildup. On a side note, hitting Powerboost first not only increases the duration of the stun from TF but also boosts the ToHit Buff of Buildup and Amplify. For especially stubborn bosses that refuse to stagger like a drunk after one TF hit, you can follow up with screech which usually does the trick. I’ve ran across some really resistant bosses which didn’t stun until I nailed them with TF, then screech, then BS. For those nasty ones, make sure you have a good supply of inspirations (lucks, breakfrees) and prepare for an edge of your seat fight. Damn fun though! Alternating between dmg resist debuffing sonics and heavy hitting blaps is a thing of beauty . Being able to do so while they’re all mezzed? Priceless.

Teaming requires a few changes. Like I mentioned earlier, this is where you’ll find more use for Howl because it applies the Dmg Resist Debuff to a whole crowd of mobs, thereby increasing everyone’s damage. Once again, I’d advise you to use caution with it. I only use it on teams that are heavy with crowd controlling AT’s. Otherwise the large aggro it draws becomes a risky liability. I also blap a little less in teams. This is one of the reasons I spent 2 respecs before I settled on a blaster/blapper hybrid. I now have enough ranged artillery to blast from a distance in more safety. If I can tell there’s not too much risk involved, I’ll often jump in to help the melee AT’s take down bosses with my TF and BS.

The Build

OK, here’s where all you lazy buggers skimmed past my guide just to copy a prefab build :P lol. In seriousness though, I realize that a lot of guide posters dislike posting exact builds. It doesn’t really matter to me either way. I’m suggesting this as a guideline to show you what I found to me most effective but by no means am I suggesting you use it as anything other than what it’s intended as, which is simply a guideline for the new folks. As long as I make that clear, I don’t feel I’ll be hampering anyone’s personal preferences or creativity. This can be changed around any way you see fit to match your concept and personal preferences. Like I said, this is what worked best for me so far. The first one is what I would reccommend as a 1-41 levelling build, and the second is what I respecced into for 41-50.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: sonic-eng
Level: 50
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Sonic Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shriek==> Acc(1)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)
01) --> Power Thrust==> Acc(1)
02) --> Scream==> Acc(2)Rechg(3)EndRdx(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)
04) --> Build Up==> Rechg(4)Rechg(27)Rechg(36)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)Rechg(7)Rechg(9)
08) --> Shout==> Acc(8)Rechg(9)Range(11)Dmg(11)Dmg(13)Dmg(13)
10) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(10)Rechg(15)EndRdx(15)Dmg(17)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)
12) --> Amplify==> Rechg(12)Rechg(27)Rechg(37)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(18)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)Heal(37)Heal(37)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24)Fly(25)Fly(25)
26) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(26)
28) --> Screech==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Rechg(29)DisDur(31)
30) --> Howl==> Acc(30)Rechg(31)EndRdx(31)Dmg(33)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)
32) --> Dreadful Wail==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Dmg(34)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)
35) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(35)Rechg(40)
38) --> Total Focus==> Acc(38)Rechg(39)EndRdx(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Defiance==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------


This is the build I respecced into once I got PFF from my Force mastery Epic. I debated this with myself for a long time but finally decided to drop concealment for Medicine for several reasons. I got more mileage from Aid Self both solo and in teams where in teams I found I wasn't really geting much use from stealth now that the 40' range of Shout was allowing me to deliver damage from a safer distance. The +def of stealth isn't really worthwhile fighting +3's or higher which is mostly what I do now at this level range. Powerboost+Aid self is a damn nice heal. PFF provides enough defense to allow me to do the same thing I was doing with stealth when solo: either superspeeding to mish ends, or setting up sleep cones, nukes, etc. Even just the small pseudo-stealth you get from superspeed has been quite sufficient in most cases as well. I was also finding that Aid Self has given me much more mileage from my inspiration tray because Breakfrees and lucks seem to last a lot longer than Respites do. Now I have room for more of them

Unfortunately I had to drop my one and only AoE, Howl, to fit Medicine in my build so now I'm running almost 100% focused on Single Target. But I must say I find this far more efficient soloing. Since Howl's damage is lackluster to begin with, the only real use I found for Howl was that it gave a team some -res debuff ro apply to the movs whil eteamates use their own AoE's. But the debuff is only 8 seconds, and to be honest, nobody has ever noticed it was even their so they won't miss it, so this wasn't a deal-breaker for me. I also console myself with the fact that I still have my nuke, and when you're running large teams, that nuke is up for roughly every 3rd spawn and depending on if you're running an especially tough mish, it can be up every other spawn. On a large mish map, that's a lot of nukes! The final deciding factor for me was my own gameplay. I end up solo roughly 60-70% of the time so a strong focus was more in order for me. I won't say that my way is the best for you if you're planning on a team heavy build, and some folks, like Fusilier, who is a good contributer to the blaster boards, went heavy AoE for teaming on his sonic/elec and likes it, so if that's your plan, by all means go for it
It wasn't the right thing for my needs, so here is what I went with:

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: sonic-eng
Level: 50
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Sonic Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Shriek==> Acc(1)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)
01) --> Power Thrust==> Acc(1)Acc(43)
02) --> Scream==> Acc(2)Rechg(3)EndRdx(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)
04) --> Build Up==> Rechg(4)Rechg(27)Rechg(36)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)Rechg(7)Rechg(13)
08) --> Shout==> Acc(8)Rechg(9)Range(9)Dmg(11)Dmg(11)Dmg(13)
10) --> Bone Smasher==> Acc(10)Rechg(15)EndRdx(15)Dmg(17)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)
12) --> Amplify==> Rechg(12)Rechg(27)Rechg(37)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)Run(46)Run(46)
18) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(18)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)Heal(37)Heal(37)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Hover==> Fly(24)Fly(25)Fly(25)
26) --> Stimulant==> EndRdx(26)
28) --> Screech==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Rechg(29)DisDur(31)Range(46)
30) --> Aid Self==> IntRdx(30)IntRdx(31)Rechg(31)Heal(33)Heal(34)Heal(34)
32) --> Dreadful Wail==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)
35) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(35)Rechg(40)
38) --> Total Focus==> Acc(38)Rechg(39)EndRdx(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)
41) --> Personal Force Field==> DefBuf(41)DefBuf(42)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)DefBuf(43)Rechg(43)
44) --> Temp Invulnerability==> EndRdx(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)
47) --> Force of Nature==> Rechg(47)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)DmgRes(48)EndMod(50)
49) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(49)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Defiance==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------


There you have it folks, the very first Sonic Blast guide, now updated for I8. I hope you have as much fun with this formidable, versatile, and enjoyable blaster as I do!

-Supatroll

 

Posted

thank you! That was so very helpful for the respec-a-thon!

I changed mine towards fly and am only 32 but really am considering getting the Medicine pool now!

:::MAIN::: Blu Bird / Virtue/ 50- energy/energy - Blaster

 

Posted

Good build and guide; will be following its lineup as my girl develops a nack for delivering pain!

 

Posted

How does Power Boost amplify the sonic debuff? It seems like PB would help both that and all of the control effects such that PB, might not be a bad addition.