Blaster fire/ice guide - the Vinny Thermo approach
By
Bunny_Man,
Posted on: 2007-01-01 12:07 in Player Guides
I'd reformat it so it reads easier. For example, if you're describing powers, try to leave the strategies for another section of the guide so it doesn't feel like a cluttered post. I do like that you're describing why to lead with fire breath though, the young upstarts have no idea why it's done that way any longer.
Not a bad guide. I like how you described the attack chain of Aim->BU->Fire Breath->Fire Ball instead of Fire Ball then Fire Breath, like I do. I've had my Fire/Ice blaster for a year now and NEVER noticed that. I'll have to try that out. I must say that I do regret getting ice because the only power I like in it are chilblain, ice sword, and ice patch. I got Chilling Embrace and Frozen Aura and I must say I am disappointed. I use Frozen Aura once in a while and never ever toggle on Chilling Mebrace, since it just seems to me this build is better for range than worrying about having a melee range debuff on. My only problem with Frozen Aura is that as soon as you attack the enemy breaks out of the hold. I think you mentioned that, but if not, you shoulld.
But anyway, nice job on this guide =)
Given the powers you've said you've taken, Camo, I suspect you're underestimating the huge benefits of the */ice slows.
What the slows mean, especially for most pre-level-40 play (where mezzers are infrequent), is that you CAN take an alpha, and count on the fact that you'll only take the one hit from each enemy you face.
For example, consider a Rikti Soldier boss. They do huge damage, and can cut you down in about 20-30 seconds (if not sooner) when given a chance. By emplying the slowing effects of Shiver and/or Chilling Embrace, that boss gets off a first shot, and -maybe- a 2nd shot, and I lose no more than about 1/3 of my health. Part of what you can use (and why many /ice blasters prefer Shiver) is that -ranged- attacks occur less frequently than melee attacks. Many bad guys have just -one- ranged attack, and have to wait for that -one- power to recharge before trying to hurt you again. That recharge time is MORE than enough time for a blaster to finish the job.
The advantage of -recharge attacks is hard to notice in the heat of combat, when we're worrying about taking down that SoB as soon as possible. We need to back out of that mindset and think in terms of the parameters of the fight. We need to remember how many hits from X we can take, and have a good feel for how fast they come, before it becomes clear that we avoided a huge amount of damage. I don't know the numbers on -recharge exactly, but presume that our ice powers have slowed an enemy's attacks to just 1/3 the usual rate. That's effectively 66% damage mitigation, which is comparable to, and better than, many tank resists. That huge mitigation is nearly invisible, though, because we don't see damage reduced to double or single digits ... we see the big opening attack hit us and try to not run away screaming. The point is that the follow up attacks don't happen, or happen with plenty of time for you to protect yourself by other means.
That said, the debate is usually whether to use take just Shiver or just Chilling Embrace; taking neither isn't common, I don't think. I took both because I find both useful in given circumstances. Either one is more than enough to slow things down drastically. The advantage of Shiver, tactically, is that it has range and a huge area, so you can slow down everything for a decent duration. The disadvantage is that it can miss, and it can end up missing some of the more critical targets. The advantage of Chilling Embrace is that it is auto-hit, debuffs enemy damage, and is just as good at slowing things as Shiver. Further, -if- you keep the toggle up, and something runs up and hits you suddenly, it just got slowed and debuffed; it can keep surprises less deadly. The disadvantage of Chilling Embrace is that you have to enter melee range, so, no, it won't help against AVs much. 
As for Frozen Aura, yeah, it's a sleep, which means any damaging attack (or even a heal, or a knockdown) breaks the hold. However, the way to handle that is to use Freezing Touch (a power I note you don't list among your faves) prior to other damage powers. A typical way to handle a group would be: jump in, Frozen Aura, Freezing Touch on an LT (if there) or any that were missed, kill whatever you you Froze, Freezing Touch on a slept minion, Blaze, Ice Sword (dead minion), Freezing Touch on a slept minion, Blaze, Ice Sword (dead minion). Re-use Frozen aura to keep sleeps going as needed. It's slow, but very very safe. No, this isn't practical in a team environment, usually. If you team most of the time, you won't be doing this. On a team, if you aren't throwing AoE damage left and right, and firing off Inferno almost as often as it comes up, you probably aren't doing your job, and that means you don't have time to pretend to be a controller. However, there's a ton of cases in which it's useful solo. Even if there's enemies that it won't sleep, it can take out the minions around, for example, a nasty boss, giving you time to handle the boss on your own terms. At lvl 41 or higher, and you take an epic with a single-target hold, this is even better: get both holds on the boss (boss is held), then Frozen Aura the minions (minions held). Set them on fire at your leisure.
I took all the powers in */Ice except for Frozen Fists, and I'm using 'em all, and having a blast.
I thought it was a pretty good guide, actually. It doesn't hold your hand through all the power choices so very green players might not find it as useful as some other guides, but anyone with just a little bit of CoX experience is likely to find the cogent explications of specific power combinations valuable.
Good Guide I just redusted off my fire/ice blaster after taking a 2 year layoff. He's now 38 and I'm having fun a blasting again. I just picked up Frozen Aura.. I would have liked if it was a PBOE like Chilling embrace.. it works well solo and on a teams for only a few seconds until someone hits the mobs (when I remeber to use it).
I agree that Fire/Ice is probably the best "out of the box" Blastar-like combo you can have. The ice holds/slows for your AOE goodness. And the slows do stack up.
For truth-in-advertising purposes, I'd like to mention I recently respecced.
I dropped Frozen Aura and Shiver and took Aid Other and Aid Self instead.
This is more because of how things pan out in the post-40s. Teaming is more frequent for me (what with AV fun), and that makes Shiver and Frozen Aura problematic for my play style. Shiver's main flaw is that I -do- end up hitting targets that I don't want to aggro (the cone is that wide!). The problem with Frozen Aura is that it is weak on a team. Further, now that I have LRM (yay, boom!), if there are enough minions to make the sleep worthwhile, it is FAR more efficient to just blow them all to kingdom come from the get-go, rather than just sleep them and handle them in detail. Also, now that I have two holds (one melee, one ranged), the other use I had for frozen aura is gone, namely holding the extra minion or two while I go take on the boss.
I -do- kind of miss shiver, because it made bosses nice and wimpy at range. The two holds, however, nicely cover that loss.
As for the Aid Self, it's worth the trade. With 1311 health (including accolades), a fully slotted Aid Self heals over 400 health, is always up when I need it, and is very rarely interrupted (two interrupt enhs).
FWIW, I took down a +3 Death Mage solo, without worrying too much except to be ready and hit a break free if he tried a hold on me before I held him. I'm sure other blasters have their brag stories, but this fire/ice blaster plays far more effectively than my energy/energy (see my link for that guide).
I actually personally never took shiver. I just finished up a build im quite satisfied with, and ill post it here for anyone looking for some aid-
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Fire Blast
Secondary: Ice Manipulation
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01) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(23)
01) --> Chilblain==> Acc(1)Immob(3)Dmg(11)Immob(25)
02) --> Fire Ball==> EndRdx(2)Acc(5)Dmg(11)Dmg(37)Acc(46)
04) --> Flares==> Acc(4)Dmg(5)Dmg(13)Acc(46)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)Rechg(7)Rechg(7)
08) --> Fire Breath==> EndRdx(8)Rechg(9)Acc(9)Dmg(25)Dmg(43)
10) --> Hurdle==> Jump(10)Jump(37)Jump(37)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)DefBuf(13)DefBuf(36)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)Jump(15)Jump(15)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)Heal(17)Heal(17)
18) --> Blaze==> Acc(18)Range(19)EndRdx(19)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Ice Patch==> EndRdx(22)Rechg(23)Rechg(34)
24) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Aim==> Rechg(26)TH_Buf(27)Rechg(27)TH_Buf(45)
28) --> Build Up==> Rechg(28)TH_Buf(29)Rechg(29)TH_Buf(45)
30) --> Shiver==> EndRdx(30)Rechg(31)Acc(31)Slow(31)
32) --> Inferno==> Rechg(32)Acc(33)Acc(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(34)Acc(34)
35) --> Swift==> Run(35)Run(36)Run(36)
38) --> Stealth==> Rechg(38)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)
41) --> Char==> EndRdx(41)Acc(42)Dmg(42)Acc(42)Rechg(43)Hold(43)
44) --> Fire Shield==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(46)
47) --> Rise of the Phoenix==> Rechg(47)EndMod(48)Dmg(48)Heal(48)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
49) --> Bonfire==> EndRdx(49)Dmg(50)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Defiance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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I whipped it up a bit fast, but Im quite happy with the result. I love perma-hasten and stamina, so I took them and slotted up fast. Not much special to point out. I also want to say that once I do work on learning about some new powers, Im gonna work on a guide myself. Might be a bit though, im having fun with my peace bringer. He just hit 9 =P. But I will probably whip up a nice guide pretty soon.
Although i've completely ignored that I was going to write a guide, I came back to post that I did grab some new powers in a recent respec and do enjoy it. I actually changed the one I posted just a little.
But anyway, I must say Shiver is an awesome power. But is there any way to make it effect more enemies? Maybe add range or accuracy if possible?
Also, I got the ice hold powers...freezing touch I think it's called. love that power too, always nice to have holds. But now I have two...Char AND Freezing Touch.
with respect to Shiver, my main prob with it was that it hit TOO MANY targets, to the point that it would grab more aggro than the supposedly aggro-attracting Chilling Embrace. (It would hit targets well outside of those under control by the tankers and controllers, especially in a tight situation.)
But yes, you can increase the size of the cone by the usual means, and of course make it more accurate.
And, yes, having two holds after lvl 41 is oh, so sweet. That's why I could handle the +2 Death Mages without much bother. Once I land the 2nd hold, -that- one is finished.
another combo I've tried as of late and works fairly well is to start off with shiver and a RoF, I've hated this power for a long time, but have to say it does work well in conjunction if shiver has a few slows in it, then a ball or breath or both, make nice pretty ticks 
since Rain of Fire can benefit of the BU+AIM
May your enemies move slowly and die quickly - a blaster fire/ice guide
Since a specific fire/ice guide appears to be lacking, I shall provide one, though it will be fairly brief. Other guides outline fire/* powers and */ice powers perfectly well, so when I discuss specific powers, it is more with an eye to how they synergize or to contribute to an evaluation of a perhaps controversial power.
The main powers I've taken on my fire/ice build are as follows ...
Fire/* powers:
- Fire Blast
- Fire Ball
- Fire Breath
- Aim
- Blaze
- Inferno
*/Ice powers:
- Chilblain
- Ice Sword
- Chilling Embrace
- Build Up
- Ice Patch
- Shiver
- Freezing Touch
- Frozen Aura
Pool Powers:
- Hover, Fly
- Swift, Health, Stamina
- Hasten
Strategies and tactics
The main point of taking Fire/* as a blaster is to output massive AoE damage. The "side-effect" of fire is to do more damage over time, on a somewhat random basis. As a result, while a group of bad guys will probably get their alpha strike on you as you burn them to the ground, there is no "beta" strike.
As such, Fire Ball and Fire Breath, along with Aim and Build Up, are critical powers to take. The full chain of Aim/Buildup/Firebreath/Fireball is sufficient to entirely eliminate all minions and most LTs, leaving only bosses as being somewhat problematic. Be sure to use Fire Breath first, because it has a longer activation time, and it's damage comes in fairly slowly. When followed by a Fire Ball, the last tic of the Fire Breath is about simultaneous with the Fire Ball, so everything falls right when the fireball hits. The other way around, the Fireball animation is ADDED TO, instead of simultaneous with, the Fire Breath animation and DoT, giving the bad guys more chances to fire back.
Rain of Fire is not ineffective in this regard, and is generally OK to use given the Ice secondary's abilities to slow movement to a crawl, but it generally tends to be overkill. The problem with Rain of Fire isn't that it sucks in this combination, but rather that there are clearly better power choices.
The single target blasts, Fire Blast and Blaze, will be integral to your ability to handle bosses and LTs. Blaze, in particular, does huge damage to anything that doesn't resist fire. Further, its range has been extended for Issue 8, making it much more useful in the scheme of things. Flares isn't as good as these two powers, mostly because of the long activation time: the blaster fire primary features great AoE, fast animations and recharges, and extra damage, but Flares fails to provide the first two, making it weaker in comparison with other powers. Remarkably Fire Blast is -faster- than the "fast" blasts in other sets; so it's perfectly OK to rely on it as one of your main attacks, and skip Flares. (Flares is about the same speed as Fire Blast, but with less damage.)
Blazing Bolt, the "sniper" power of the set, is a fine attack, with all of the advantages and disadvantages that implies. It's a more damaging attack than similar attacks from other sets, but mostly because it has the fire DoT added to it. If sniping is your style, it's worth taking and slotting. It doesn't have much bearing on strategies you'd use with ice powers, except that you can conceivably hold or ice-patch or sleep someone, and then back up and snipe them. In general, your other single target attacks will do more damage faster. This attack is more for the ability to take out a single minion right away from a long distance, with only a small chance for reprisal from his companions.
Inferno is the nuke, and, being fire/*, is the most damaging power in the game. Use it as you see fit.
The ice side of things synergizes remarkably well with the fire primary. Specifically, there are four ice powers that serve to keep bad guys packed together long enough for Fire Breath + Fire Ball to defeat remarkably quickly. Ice Patch is perhaps the best of these. Ice Patch is the same as the tanker's ice patch, which in turn is a smaller, PBAoE version of the ice controller's Ice Slick power. Ice Patch is the primary reason to take */ice, and should be considered a "must have" power. I took it at level 22, since Stamina is slightly higher in priority. The best use of of this power is to keep a large crowd of bad guys bouncing in one spot, then back up and fire off the firebreath/fireball combo to take 'em out. Also, with judicious pulling, it can be used with corners and other objects that line-of-sight to "herd" a bunch of unsuspecting bad guys into one spot and stay there (for your AoE pleasure). It's also good at choke points, or, if no other good spot exists, plop it under your tank teammate, if you have one (so long as the tank isn't the target of massive AoEs). Even if the bad guys get up and move a bit, they will move slowly ... the primary danger is that they -can- shoot you, but not often. Ice Patch is the best move to pull if you get cornered by a boss.
Aside from Ice patch, there are two other nice area powers that severely limit the enemy's ability to damage you: Shiver and Chilling Embrace. Shiver is a nice power right out of the box (I slot it with one ACC), and its wide cone will slow up a large area of bad guys. It doesn't -feel- like it does much, until you combine it with other cold/slow powers, and use it against bosses: your damage rate is high enough, and you reduce a boss's fire rate low enough, that you will barely get hurt; only mezzing bosses are problematic with this tactic (you can't slow 'em up if you're held).
Similar to Shiver is Chilling Embrace, which is PBAoE, -but- it also debuffs enemy damage. Its primary disadvantage is attracting aggro, but if you're solo, that shouldn't matter, and if you're in a team, you'll only grab aggro in a target-rich environment. The main advantage is that one you turn it on, you don't have to think about it: if something runs up to you, it'll get off one attack, and then be slowed to a crawl, and future attacks will be fairly infrequent and do less damage, too.
Chilblain and Ice Sword both deserve to be slotted up. Chilblain doesn't kill things fast, but it's damage as part of a combination attack should not be ignored. Also, it impedes flight, immobilizes (the common first-level blaster secondary effect) and slows both movement speed and attacks. Its -recharge stacks with the -recharge of the other ice attacks, and it should not be ignored for the attack chain. Its range is a bit short, but not so short that it puts you in danger. The only caution against Chilblain is that it does not mix well with Ice Slick; there's an anti-knockback effect that foils Ice Slick's knockdown effect. Ice Sword is a nice-damage attack. In my experience Ice Sword plus Blaze is a one-two punch that'll take out anything less than a boss, in most cases; if not, a Fire Bolt or chilblain is more than enough to finish things off. Frozen Fists isn't a bad choice, but Ice Sword does more damage, and in all likelihood, you don't need the faster attack rate that would be the virtue of frozen fists.
There's a very nice hold power in the /ice set: Freezing Touch. While ice/ice blasters complain that it's melee-only, cuz they have two ranged holds, for fire/ice blasters it's a very welcome power. In general, it's worth it to close into melee range, even on bosses, just to get the hold going. Odds are, in a team, that someone else has already done a hold on the boss, which will stack with yours. Solo, you can use ice slick to partially disable a boss, and then get in a couple holds as fast as it recharges. Once the boss is held, the fight is all over except for the "arresting".
The final power in the /ice set, Frozen Aura, is not as obviously "uber" as, say, Total Focus in the /energy set. It is a PBAoE sleep, with a moderate radius, and it only sleeps minions. The virtue of the power is that it recharges fairly fast, and sleeps last a long time, compared to similar hold powers. This is enough to defeat large groups of minions in detail. When LTs or bosses are present, it takes the minions out of the fight, so you can focus on just the dangerous enemies. The animation is fast, but generally the bad guys will have a chance to shoot you first. Overall, I think this power is very useful, especially solo, though not much in a team. It's not a bad power, it just doesn't feel like it measures up to other lvl 38 blaster secondary powers. However, /ice has wonderful holds and slows and the yummy Ice Patch, which more than makes up for Frozen Aura not being as overall effective. One final point on Frozen Aura, Ice Patch wakes 'em up out of their sleep, so in general, you're either ice-patching or frozen-aura-ing, not both.
As for pool powers, the usual rules apply: take Stamina and whatever prereqs you choose to get to it, take a travel power and its prereq, and the rest is gravy. If I didn't like my ice powers so much, I'd probably try to work in Aid Self, which is a huge help to blasters, in general (even tanks profit from it). Otherwise, other guides cover pool powers in sufficient detail.
Aincillary (Epic) pool powers? All are good. Take what you think will be fun. This particular toon of mine is looking forward to the LRM (fire LRM, follow up with fireball, for long-distance AoE fun).
My main slotting advice: slot end reduction in all of the attacks; you'll be surprised how much it helps with endurance issues.
I think that's about it. I suspect the main reason that there hasn't been much in the way of fire/ice guides is that the choices and synergies are fairly obvious. The fire dishes out the damage nice and fast, and the ice side offers a HUGE amount of control. For most blasters, narrow, twisty corridors are a major vulnerability, but not so for this combination. The ice powers will stop things from hurting you (even in melee -- well, not as much as it -would- usually hurt in melee), and the fire AoEs are wonderfully devastating. This is a very survivable combo that can handle melee (without being a blapper, really) and deal tons of damage at range. Personally, I think this combo has the best offense and the best defense (before considering pool powers) of any blaster choices, which keeps you alive and delivering massive AoE damage over and over again.