Something to Shout About- a guide to sonics

Something to Shout About
A Guide to Sonic Resonance and Sonic Attack
The sonic sets were introduced back in Issue Five. They focus on buffing and debuffing resistance (as even the attack sets debuff resistance). Currently sonic resonance stands as the least used (or maybe a tie with Trick Arrow) defender primary (and controller/corrupter secondary). Now why is this? Well there’s a number of things which might contribute to this fact. The graphics for the set, when first introduced, featured pretty vigorous strobe effects. This gave a lot of people headaches and other problems. The devs tuned these down a good bit, and this didn’t really help much. Sure, the number of incidents of illness went down, but the graphics were made so subtle than nobody could even tell if they were active. There is also the fact that sonic provides much less in the way of protection than does the other comparable defense set, Force Field. While sonic is able to provide a mitigation of about 54% resistance to all but psi, a force field defender can, if they do things just right, can get to a degree of mitigation of close to 80% to everything but toxic.
Now, with Issue 10 on the near Horizon, and the graphics of the sonic set getting a drastic makeover, I expect sonic to make something of a comeback. In truth sonic has never deserved the neglect it has endured. Sure, the graphics are a good reason not to play it for those affected by the ill effects (soon to be solved), and yes, it is not the king of damage amelioration. However it has a solid bag of tricks, and by doing both the job of lowering incoming damage as well as upping damage dealt can make a solid contribution to any team. I’ve driven a couple sonics to 50 now (controller and defender), and know how much of a difference you can make to a team with these powers. Keep in mind, sonic is the resistance debuffing king on a single target, and a sonic/sonic defender can keep a single target in a state of 100% or over resistance debuff without any trouble. If you want to beat down an AV, you would be wise to have a sonic along.
The data contained within is taken from coh.nofuture.org.uk/powersets/powersets.php

Sonic Resonance
This is really the set which people thing about when you say sonic. It consists of a number of shields, a couple resistance debuff powers, a cage, a knockback field, a status protection buff, and a rather hard to quantify tier nine power. I’ll go through each and offer both quantitative and subjective evaluation.

Sonic Siphon
Endurance Cost:8.53
Level Available:1
Activation Time: 2.17
Recharge Time: 16
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 80 feet

The set starts with a debuffing power. It provides a resistance debuff of 30% for defenders, and 22.5% for corrupters and controllers. Out of the box you can use this to keep two targets almost permanently debuffed. One recharge in it makes it easy. The power does require a to-hit check, so you will need to slot it for accuracy. I tend to go with 2 accuracy, and maybe a recharge if I have the slot to spare. Many people think this isn’t such a great power, and honestly they do have a point. Compared to other resistance debuff powers it is a bit lacking. I personally thing it deserves a bit of dev love to make it a touch more respectable. I’d say a regeneration debuff of maybe -100% regen would give it a bit of credence. For the sake of comparisons, Tar Patch uses less endurance, yet does an AOE debuff (of the same value) and slows the targets. However even with the shortfalls of the power, if you want your maximum debuff capability, you ought to take it.

Sonic Barrier
Endurance Cost: 7.8
Level Available: 1
Activation Time: 1.33 seconds
Recharge Time: 2 seconds
Duration: 240 seconds
Range: 80 feet
This is one of the basic shields from the set. It’s function is pretty straightforward. You apply the buff every four minutes, and it provides 20% resistance (base) to lethal, smashing and toxic damage. If you enhance it with SOs, you will get to right around 31% resistance to those damage types. For corrupters and controllers, the values are scaled down to the 75% value, so you get 15% base and around 23.5% resistance enhanced. Slotting is pretty straightforward. You put three resistance SOs in it and call it good. If you have to buff large teams all the time, maybe throwing in another slot for an endurance reduction SO might be a good idea. I don’t bother myself, and stick to the basic three slotting.

Sonic Haven
Endurance Cost: 7.8
Level Available: 2
Activation Time: 1.33 seconds
Recharge Time: 2 seconds
Duration: 240 seconds
Range: 80 feet
Since there are a number of damage types left to be covered, there had to be another shield. Sonic Haven is that shield. It provides 20%(base) resistance to fire, cold, energy, and negative energy. If you enhance it with SOs, you will get to right around 31% resistance to those damage types. For corrupters and controllers, the values are scaled down to the 75% value, so you get 15% base and around 23.5% resistance enhanced. Slotting profile should be the same as for sonic barrier.

Sonic Cage
Endurance Cost: 7.8
Level Available: 6
Activation Time: 1.67 seconds
Recharge Time: 60 seconds
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 80 feet
This is your basic cage power. You target something with this power, and it will be unable to affect the outside world, nor be affected by it for the duration. It is best slotted with some accuracy and recharge. I’d say two accuracies, even though it does have some inherent accuracy boost, simply because if you are going to use a cage, it better hit. The amount of recharges depends really on how much you actually expect to use this power. If you intend to consider it as a mainstay, then I’d probably slot three recharges so you can basically keep the foe bottled up all the time. Personally I always skip this power since I don’t like cages. The inability to take out the foe in the cage means it’s a time sink. While it can be nice in certain circumstances, and might be nice solo, I always manage to find some other use for the power selection.

Disruption Field
Endurance Cost: .52 /tick (2 seconds)
Level Available: 8
Activation Time: 2.7 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 70 feet
Here is a major money power of the set. This is the AOE resistance debuff power toggle. It provides a 30% (22.5% for corrupters/controllers) resistance debuff to all targets in a 15 foot radius. It requires an ally as an anchor, though a pet will do nicely (which makes this a good solo tool for controllers, but not for defenders and corrupters). As of a patch during Issue Nine, the field no longer pulls agro to the sonic resonance user. This used to make use of the power pretty dangerous for sonics, but now there is pretty much no downside other than the quite steep endurance cost. This endurance cost is identical to Enervating Field from Radiation Emission, which debuffs resistance to an equal value, but also debuffs damage(yes, that was a gripe). This power probably could use an endurance adjustment, but even at the price you do pay, it is well worth it. I slot it with 2 endurance reduction as a rule. Using only one might be pretty unpleasant on the blue bar, though three might serve you well.

Sonic Dispersion
Endurance Cost: 0.26/ tick (2 seconds)
Level Available: 12
Activation Time: 2.03 seconds
Recharge Time: 15 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 80 feet
Radius: 25 feet
Here we have another cornerstone of the set. This power rounds out the resistance granting power of sonic, as well as providing status protection to most common mez effects besides sleep (curse you sleep!). It provides a 15%(base for defenders, 11.25% corrupters/controllers) resistance to all damage types other than psionic, and offers 6.92 magnitude status protection against holds, stuns, and immobilize. If you slot it up with SOs, you get about 23.5% resistance (or ~17% for controllers/corrupters). I usually slot it with three resistance SOs and one endurance reduction SO. I’ve also been known to throw in a recharge reduction, because you generally want this power back up in a hurry if it does go down. It is important to note that this is one of only two normal (non epic) powers which will grant substantial status protection contained in a squishy set. Though it should also be noted that too damn many things which mez will use throw the whole kit and caboodle of mezzes at you, and the sleep will drop this field leaving you vulnerable to the rest.

Sonic Repulsion
Endurance Cost: 0.52/ tick (2 seconds)
Level Available: 28
Activation Time: 2.33 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 70 feet
Radius: 10 feet
Here we have another power which I view as eminently skippable. This power, after being placed upon an ally, makes them repel foes which come within the radius of effect. There is an endurance cost to this repulsion over and above the already pricey cost of this toggle. While I have seen skilled knockback users in my day, it is very often simply not worth the trouble. This power is a good example of that. On a set which contains an AOE debuff field where packing the mobs into a small space is optimal, pitching them around is rarely helpful. If someone did find a reason to take the power, it will have to be slotted for accuracy, and it would most likely be prudent to slot for endurance reduction. Probably two and two respectively. I guess it could be handy applied to a blaster if you happen to duo, but I’d not waste the power slot myself.

Clarity
Endurance Cost: 5.2
Level Available: 26
Activation Time: 1.5 seconds
Recharge Time: 4 seconds
Duration: 240 seconds
Range: 70 feet
This is simply a very powerful status protection buff you can apply to allies, quite akin to clear mind. It provides high magnitude (12.975- 10.38 for controllers/corrupters)) protection against stun, sleep, hold, immobilize, confusion, terror as well as a perception boost. Is it an important power? Well yes and no. It allows you to make a teammate immune to sleep which otherwise you can’t do, and it does provide appreciably more protection from mez than sonic dispersion. However, you generally can work around the defects of dispersion. Sleeps can be ended using aid other, and the other more esoteric status effects (confusion and terror) are pretty rare. One villain side it would have more appeal since confusion and terror are more common. However as a corrupter won’t have access to it till very late, it won’t be saving many behinds over the course of your career. It is a worthwhile power to take at some point, but I generally reserve it for that level 49 slot since it doesn’t need any extra slots and it is very nice to have to Statesman’s Task Force or Hamidon Raids. I generally slot it with a recharge and it’s happy enough.

Liquefy
Endurance Cost: 23.4
Level Available: 32
Activation Time: 2.67 seconds
Recharge Time: 300 seconds
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 80 feet
Ok, so you wait all the time to get to 32 (or 38 for that matter) and you expect to get your cornerstone power which really builds on what the set already has right? I mean Radiation Emission gets EMP, a spectacular AOE hold with debuffs. Kinetics gets the godly Fulcrum Shift. Empaths get Adrenaline Boost which makes the target into a god for a limited time. What do you get? A rather odd little grab bag of effects. What does Liquefy actually do? Well you target a location on a floor and lay it down. It will do a little bit of damage (honestly not worth slotting for), it will hold some targets (though it cannot do bosses, only minions and maybe lieutenants) and it will make things flop around like an ice patch. It also debuffs defense and to-hit . These latter two effects are what actually make it a fairly good power. The to-hit debuff is 37.% which is quite high. If you slot for that, liquefy gives you a good “Oh Crap” power for when things get too hot. For some reason the corrupter and controller versions get a whole lot less in the way of debuff than the defender one, to a degree which doesn’t follow the usual rations, at only 25% base. Best slotting is 3 recharge, 3 to-hit debuffs. It has been confirmed that the knockdown and debuffs are auto-hit, so slotting for accuracy is probably a waste of time as it will only affect the hold and damage aspects which are comparatively minor in value.

Sonic Attack
Here’s the other set which we have which is sonic. This is a rather utility oriented attack set. All the attack powers add in a resistance debuff, and other rest of the set includes a variety of control type effects such as knockback, stun, and sleep. It is rather AOE poor, and the animations are rather on the long side.
NOTE: In listing off attack powers, there are a couple of ways to measure damage that are standard in CoX guides. The old mainstay was always the Brawl Index. This meant the ratio of the damage the power does vs. the damage that brawl does. This always seemed like a nice straightforward method since everyone had brawl. Of course testing eventually revealed that the different ATs have different damage scale modifiers for ranged and melee attacks. This means that the brawl index of a defender sonic attack might end up being significantly different than for a blaster, even though this should not be the case since they are really the same power. A later system called damage scalar (DS) was developed, which involved picking an average damage value power, and scaling all powers against that. I’m not the biggest fan of this since the “average” damage value is not universal. Instead, since the information is available, I will simply list of the damage values for the various ATs at level 50. This should provide a reasonable basis for comparison.

Shriek
Endurance Cost: 4.37
Level Available: 1
Activation Time: 1.33 seconds
Recharge Time: 3 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 80 feet
Defender Damage: 15.18 smashing + 15.18 energy- total= 30.36
Corrupter Damage: 20.85 smashing +20.85 energy- total = 41.7
Blaster Damage: 23.36 smashing +23.36 energy-total= 46.72
This is the simple, quick first attack of the set. The damage is nothing overly special, but the animation is fairly quick, and the recharge is nice and low. It also debuffs resistance at the value of 20% for defenders, 15% for corrupters, and 13% for blasters. The debuff lasts for five seconds. Defenders have to take this attack, and honestly given the shortage of attacks in this set, there is no reason to skip it on blasters and corrupters. Slotting should be as normal for an attack. Generally 2 accuracy, 3 damage, and then throw in an endurance reduction since this recharges fast enough without any help.

Scream
Endurance Cost: 6.86
Level Available: 1 or 2
Activation Time: 1.67 seconds
Recharge Time: 6 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 80 feet
Defender Damage: 5 ticks of 4.7 smashing and 5 ticks of 4.7 energy over 1.05 seconds-total= 47
Corrupter Damage: 5 ticks of 5.84 smashing and 5 ticks of 5.84 energy over 1.05 seconds-total=58.4
Blaster Damage: 5 ticks of 7.23 smashing and 5 ticks of 7.23 energy over 1.05 seconds-total=72.3

Scream is another of the limited single target stable. It has decent range, hits fairly hard (if in quick DoT), and recharges quickly enough. The debuff is at the normal 20%, 15%, 13% values, but lasts for seven seconds this time. Of course there is no good reason to skip this power. Slotting should be as normal for an attack. Generally 2 accuracy, 3 damage, and then you can opt between endurance reduction or recharge depending on how your blue bar is generally doing. You might need a recharge so you can have a steady single target chain.

Howl
Endurance Cost: 10.19
Level Available: 2 or 4
Activation Time: 2.33 seconds
Recharge Time: 10 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 50 feet
Defender Damage: 14.82 smashing and 14.82 energy -total= 29.64
Corrupter Damage: 20.85 smashing and 20.85 energy -total= 41.71
Blaster Damage: 22.8 smashing and 22.8 energy -total= 45.6
Now we get to how. We can ask ourselves, is this a great AOE power? Well to be quire honest, no it’s not. It’s a cone, which can be annoying, and the damage is nothing special(though par for comparably sited AOEs). However it is a nice AOE debuff, which in many ways is the proper way to look at it. Needless to say, this power should not be skipped. Slotting should be 2 acc, and then comes the debate. I generally slot in 3 damage and a recharge or endurance reduction. However a compelling case could be made for sacrificing a damage slot so you can have endurance reduction and recharge reduction. Thus you could permanently debuff up to ten targets.

Shockwave
Endurance Cost: 11.86
Level Available: 6 or 10
Activation Time: 2.17 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 50 feet
Defender Damage: 11.57 smashing and 11.57 energy -total= 23.14
Corrupter Damage: 13.35 smashing and 13.35 energy -total= 26.7
Blaster Damage: 17.8 smashing and 17.8 energy -total= 35.6
Here we have another AOE from the set, though it is honestly debatable if it should be considered a damage attack. Sure, it does damage, but only around 80% of howl, though at higher endurance cost. It also has an accuracy penalty built in. What it does feature is a pretty strong knockback effect. Unlike other attacks in the set, it lacks the resistance debuffing property. Should this power be taken? Well that’s a matter of preference. I’m not the biggest fan of knockback powers, unless they bring something else to the table. Explosive arrow or Shockwave from Claws at least both do good damage to go with their knockback. This power does not share that characteristic. Though given the dearth of AOEs, many do take this power, and solo knockback is a nice form of damage mitigate especially given the ragdoll physics we have now. Slotting is pretty much a mandatory 2 accuracy, then you can slot for damage or knockback. I’d probably go damage. Also you will want an endurance reduction, as it’s not that cheap, especially for the damage you get.

Shout
Endurance Cost: 11.86
Level Available: 8 or 16
Activation Time: 2.67 seconds
Recharge Time: 10 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 40 feet
Defender Damage: 38.32 smashing and 38.32 energy -total= 74.64
Corrupter Damage: 44.21 smashing and 44.21 energy -total= 88.42
Blaster Damage: 58.95 smashing and 58.95 energy -total= 117.9
This is the heaviest hitting single target attack in the set. It also leaves its resistance debuff for a nice long ten seconds (at the normal 20%, 15%, 13% values). During Issue Nine range was doubled, which was a very nice buff as getting in close to use it when the range was 20 feet was a pain. Slotting should be normal attack style, with 2 acc, 3 dam, 1 end red. Basically this is a good solid power, so don’t skip it. Back when the range was real short, a case could have been made for skipping it, but no longer.

Amplify
Endurance Cost: 5.2
Level Available: 12 or 20
Activation Time: 1.17 seconds
Recharge Time: 90 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Range: n/a
Defender buff: 50% to hit and 50% damage
Corrupter buff: 42.5% to hit and 42.5% damage
Blaster buff: 37.5% to hit and 62.5% damage
There’s not a great deal to say about amplify. It’s just Aim with a different name for set flavor. It does a significant boost to accuracy(technically to hit, and it really is different) and damage. I tend to skip it on my defenders because, well, you’re never going to be all that hot on damage, and I just found other powers to take. I’d always take it on blasters, and even though the corrupter value is fairly lackluster, I might take it there as well. Slotting should be 3 recharge. If you PvP, it might be worth slotting with 3 to hit buffs as well for those pesky eluded targets.

Siren’s Song
Endurance Cost: 15.6
Level Available: 18 or 28
Activation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 40 feet
Defender Damage: 18.07 energy
Corrupter Damage: 20.85 energy
Blaster Damage: 27.81 energy
Siren’s Song is something I consider to be a situational power, as are all sleeps to be honest. In theory this is a fairly handy mezzing tool, and if used right very much is. However sleeps suffer from the fairly substantial drawback that waking up isn’t hard to do. This power also has the rather annoying feature of doing damage. Thus you can’t actually stack the magnitude 3 sleep to try and give a boss a nap. As a solo tool, this can be very handy, as you can sleep a crowd and deal with targets one by one, or at least drop the pressure down to just the boss in a crowd. You can be a pocket controller with just this power. It is also very nice if used on the secondary for a kinetics defender since fulcrum shift won’t wake up the foes, and you will be able to fire FS off without getting creamed. Another nice aspects on defenders is that you can stack it with the APP sleep from the psychic pool and do a lullaby for the bosses. Personally, though, on my sonic defender I skipped it since I’m a team kind of guy, and it doesn’t suit how I play. On the plus side it has a very long duration, with blasters and corrupters getting 35.76 seconds base, and defenders getting 44.7 seconds base. This means more than permanent out of the box, and no need for sleep slotting. I’d probably slot it with 2-3 accuracy, and an endurance reduction. Honestly 2 accuracy is probably good enough right there for little muss and fuss.

Screech
Endurance Cost: 10.19
Level Available: 26 or 35
Activation Time: 1.5 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: 460feet
Defender Damage: 3.61 smashing and 3.61 energy -total= 7.22
Corrupter Damage: 4.17 smashing and 4.17 energy -total= 8.34
Blaster Damage: 5.56 smashing and 5.56 energy -total= 11.12
Now screech was personally a disappointment. I remember reading on one of the COH planners I use that it did good damage. They were wrong. It’s just a single target stun that does negligible damage. At least it does a nice long resistance debuff (20%,15%,13% as usual) for 12 seconds, but the stun is only magnitude 3, so bosses will still need another drink. Duration varies by AT with defenders at 14.9 seconds, corrupters at 11.2 seconds, and blasters at 11.9 seconds. It can be used to good effect in a lot of ways, but honestly I would like to be able to expect more from a tier eight power. I suppose it is about par for tier eight defender powers, but I’d be a bit miffed getting this on a blaster when you have things like bitter freeze ray and blazing bolt in other sets (though stunning shot and voltaic sentinel are also in this slot, so you can’t feel that put upon). I skipped it on my sonic/sonic, but again you can build to use it. Things like Oppressive gloom(defender dark APP) or another stun attack from a blaster secondary are very handy since you will be able to make bosses do the drunk walk reliably. Slotting should be 2 accuracy (if you need to stun something you NEED to stun something), and then I’d say 2 disorient duration and 2 recharge reduction.

Dreadful Wail
Endurance Cost: 20.8
Level Available: 32 or 38
Activation Time: 1.97 seconds
Recharge Time: 360 seconds
Duration: n/a
Range: n/a
Radius: 25 feet
Defender Damage: 54.22 smashing and 54.22 energy plus a 75% chance of another 54.22 smashing then a 50% charnge of 54.22 contingent on the last one-total average= 169. 44
Corrupter Damage: 62.56 smashing and 62.56 energy plus a 75% chance of another 62.56 smashing then a 50% charnge of 62.56 contingent on the last one-total average= 195.5
Blaster Damage: 83.42 smashing and 83.42 energy plus a 75% chance of another 83.42 smashing then a 50% charnge of 83.42 contingent on the last one-total average= 260.69
Well most blaster sets have their nukes, and what would sonic be if it were lacking that? Dreadful Wail is actually a pretty nice nuke. It’s not the highest damage of them all, but it carries with it some nice secondary effects which the other sets lack. It hits good and hard. At the same time it does a long (20 second) resistance debuff (normal values for the ATs), and provides a lieutenant level stun on the crowd as well. This stun lasts the same duration as in screech (14.9, 11.9, 11.2). The power also has a strong built in accuracy. Of course like most of the nukes, it carries the standard down side. It drains all your endurance upon firing, and you will have a very hard time getting any back for twenty seconds (other than AB, transference and inspirations). How would I slot it? Three damage and three recharge. I would also make sure I had amplify if I took this power, so I could self buff a bit before firing it off. Blasters, of course should pitch in build up. Should you take it? On a blaster? Surely, damage is your job. On a corrupter? Maybe, damage is still sort of your job. On a defender? Good question. This will depend on your primary, and if you just like the big boom. I used to have it but skipped it on my latest respec. Anything with such a large recharge, and such a painful consequence means I don’t use it much, and even if it is ready, I question whether I do more good by being capable of my other tricks for the team. Definitely a personal style question again.

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Too many alts to list.

Very nice. My Sonic/Sonic is level 18 right now.

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very nice. I have a level 50 Son/Psy and I completly agree with you on your sonic picks. Sonic Cage is somewhat a fun power, its a nice oh crap button on a bad situation and even more fun to lock in a stalker in PvP. However for my STF build it had to go. However awesome guide and a good read.

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Excellent guide, but it is definatley geared to defenders and corruptors as opposed to blasters. I have a lvl 50 Sonic/Elec blaster on Justice and would like to add my 2 cents.

I was only lvl 10 when I9 came out, so all of my decisions have been based around IOs and do not refelct previous issues.

Shriek is an excellent power, quick recharge makes it an effective "proc gun" if you so choose, with set IOs you can easily get the damage maxed, the recharge more than adequate, some end reduction and plenty of Acc, and still have room for a "chance to build-up"

Scream is your primary damage dealer, not in a single activation, but long term. Since you will be firing off shriek and sscream all the time you will be stacking the resist debuffs so the damage is going to be nice.

Howl is also a mainstay of this set. As you point out, the damage is not the greatest, but it does debuff a lot of enemies at once. This is one of my primary powers when in a team, i usually lead off with this to start a fight and re-apply as it comes up.

SIren's song is pure gold for a blaster. Blaster tend to have an easier time soloing than a defender, and at least for sonic/* this is a primary reason. With only 4 slots you can keep a spawn asleep permanently, waking up only your target that you are trying to kill, rinse and repeat. But a defender gets this power much later, making it more attractive to a blaster.

Shockwave is not a power I have used, like you I am not a fan of knockback (except in some melee powers for blasters).

Amplify is good, but I always take build-up before Amplify (as do most blasters I know) but I do find a place for amplify at some point.

Screech is another key weapon in the sonic arsenal. Use your cone sleep, then screech to stun a target and you can kill whole spawns with almost no attacks coming your way.

Dreadful Wail is a good nuke. As you described, it is an absolute necessity for a blaster, nice for a corruptor, and marginal for a defender.


I enjoyed your guide, and want to say thank you for maiking it, there are far too few sonics out there. I just wanted to add my observations as a blaster.

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[ QUOTE ]
Excellent guide, but it is definatley geared to defenders and corruptors as opposed to blasters. I have a lvl 50 Sonic/Elec blaster on Justice and would like to add my 2 cents.
<good stuff deleted>

I enjoyed your guide, and want to say thank you for maiking it, there are far too few sonics out there. I just wanted to add my observations as a blaster.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for pitching in. I fully admit to the guide being more defender/controller centric since those are the sonics I've driven to 50. I have yet to make a resonance corrupter (though I have a sonic/thermal at 36). Information on the blaster point of view is helpful. My sonic blaster is stalled at 12 since I'm just not a big fan of playing blasters.

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Too many alts to list.