Ice Manipulation
*Chilblain , This power must be taken at level 1
you have no choice. It is a single target immobilize, meaning it will stop your enemy from moving, although they still can attack if they are in range. It also reduces their recharge. Great for controlling battles. It does moderate DoT cold damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 1 recharge to help control
*Frozen Fists , This is a melee power, which immediately made me skip it. If you arent interested in being a blapper, skip it. The only reason I would take it is for the melee IO sets. It does minor cold/smashing damage and reduces your foes recharge and speed.
Recommended Slotting: I havent really used this power, but I would say maybe 1 acc and 1 dmg
*Ice Sword , This is also a melee power. Once again, only take it if you want to be a blapper or want the melee IO sets. It does moderate cold/lethal damage and lowers your foes recharge and speed.
Recommended Slotting: Same as Frozen Fists, 1 acc and 1 dmg
*Chilling Embrace , Once again, a good blapper power. At first, I really didnt want this power. But after trying it out, I found that its great for damage mitigation. It is a toggle, meaning you can turn it on and off, and lowers the speed, recharge, and damage of enemies within 10 feet of you.
Recommended Slotting: 1-2 end
*Build Up , Finally, a non-blapper power! This does basically the same thing as Aim, but with different numbers. It gives a 15% tohit buff and a 100% damage buff. It is a great power to use along with Aim for a nuke or mini nuke.
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 Recharge, 1 tohit (only if you have extra slots!!)
*Ice Patch , This is a useful power, but would be more useful if it was bigger. When you activate this power, you make a patch of ice on the floor around you. It stays in the exact spot for 30 seconds and knocks down any foes that walk on it. This is great damage mitigation. This power can not be activated while you are in the air. I would recommend getting this power when you get the chance, but it isnt a huge priority.
Recommended Slotting: 1 end, 1-2 recharge
*Shiver , While training up my Fire/Ice Blaster I skipped this power, but I now regret that choice. This is a very useful power and I recommend picking it up when you get a chance. It is a cone power, meaning it will hit your target within a 60 foot range and hit any enemies within a 135 degree arc. That is actually a very big area it can hit and can cover almost any group of enemies you encounter. Also, although this power doesnt do damage, it will add to your defiance. It decreases your foes recharge and run speed.
Recommended Slotting: 1 end, 1 recharge
*Freezing Touch , This is one of my favorite Ice Manipulation powers. It is a melee single target hold, meaning it will stop your target from moving and attacking for 11.9 seconds unenhanced. It will hold anything up to a lieutenant. To hold a boss or up, it needs to be stacked with other holds. Since the recharge is lower than the duration, it is possible to stack it for 1.9 seconds unenhanced and longer if you add recharge reduction and hold duration to it. It also does minor cold damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 1 hold, 1 end, 1 recharge. If using IO sets, I recommend the Ghost Widows Embrace or Essence of Curare sets.
*Frozen Aura , The last of the Ice Manipulation set and quite disappointing in my opinion. It is a PBAoE sleep, meaning it will effect enemies within 10 feet of you. The sad part is that its sleep, meaning that they cant move or attack, but if theyre hit with any attacks, they come out of it. That is quite bad for a fire blaster that specializes in AoE attacks. I would only use this power in a tough group and take them out 1 at a time.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 1 end, 1 recharge
Is Rain of Fire auto hit?
No.
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hmmm, I htought I posted an answer already but I don;t see it, so let me try again:
I would agree with everything you say about rain of fire, EXCEPT on an /ice blaster: cast RoF over your ice patch to make sure the mobs take the full effect of the power.
Also Shivers+RoF properly slotted won;t let them run away too fast.
Speaking of Ice Patch:, while it's somewhat situational on teams, it is very useful for soloing as it is your bet damage mitigation power. Case in point: "defeat all tuatha in the sewers" mission, on unyielding: those guys hit hard enough that you will killed if you get hit 3 times. So set your ice patch around a corner, pull a group into it, BU+AoEs, finish the boiss with Blaze, and you can finish this mission without a sweat.
Ice patch is useful on teams to help the tank: let the tank take aggro, run in and set your patch under the tanks feet, then run back out to blast from a distance.
any thoughts on Epics? Power pools?
I'm currently using the medicine pool to recover between fights (usually if I mess up during a fight, I die to fast to heal myself).
I see Fire blasters as kill before you get killed, so I see Hasten as a must. In order to save on power slots, I ended up taking superspeed for the travel power, which I happen to like but is not for everyone. also superspeed + stelth IO in prestige sprint makes me fully invisible.
Interestingly enough, at 30, I don't yet have a power that lets me slot -KB IOs, and it's one of the most common ways I die: foes with KB toss me around without my being able to shoot at them before I'm dead.
I haven't started slotted IOs on mine (I usually start at 32 with llvl35 IOs). I don't know if there is a way to get sufficient ranged defense bonuses to make them interesting (I suspect not), so instead I will likely go with "mixed IOs" to get more than 6 SO's worth out of my IOs.
Since I try to avoid fighting anything lower than +2s, I need more than one SO's worth of accuracy (I'm also currently not planning on taking Aim in this build, although that may change for the extra dmg buff).
My thoughts on Epics:
Fire mastery has char, which you can stack on freezing touch to hold a boss. Bonfire is good damage mitigation
Ice Mastery: Hibernate is awesome. Frozen Armor stacked well f you went for defense bonuses out of IO sets. Snow storm is a bit redundant with Shiver
Power MAstery: , PFF is a get out of jail card when you take on too much aggro, especially if you have the medicine pool. Two toggles can make it end heavy
Electric Mastery: I have never tried it, but it has a hold to stack with Freezing touch
Weapons Mastery: I have never tried it, but it has a hold to stack with Freezing touch
(edited for somehow mixing up the ice and power mastery text)
I personally use Rain of Fire as my "oh shizzle !" emergency control power. When I know I'm being overwhelmed, a RoF gives me some breathing room.
Advantages: Mobs scatter and stop attacking you; the large area of effect ensures that most (if not all) of them will be hit. You now have time to fly down to refresh your ice patch; to use a few inspirations; and to recharge your critical damage powers.
Disadvantages: This will aggro every mob. Onto yourself. Once the fear effect wears off, they will all hit you at once, killing you instantly. The obvious solution is to make sure that, by the time the RoF expires, nothing is left alive (er, I mean, un-arrested) to damage you. I can live with that.
So, yes, it's a situational power, but a worthwhile one, IMO.
I can agree that RoF has it's uses, but there's too many other much more important powers to get instead.
Good guide! There's an idea, however, that I have that didn't see you address. See what you think:
Rain of Fire has all the negatives you have mentioned. However, I wonder if Rain of Fire could be one of your very best powers depending on how your use it?
I'm leveling a Fire/Storm corruptor, and I use Rain of Fire on every single mob... and it's glorious. Now, I get Snow Storm and Freezing Rain. You don't.
I get that.
But...
...if you were a /Fire or /Nrg blaster or something like that and you didn't travel with a partner who could lock down or extensively slow mobs all of the time I'd agree with your opinion that RoF is situational.
I suppose with /Ice you could say it's situational too... if your situation is arresting LOTS and LOTS of mobs!!!
And, hey... that's my favorite situation as a blaster.
Now, I don't have a Fire/Ice blaster. So this is speculation on my part. I acknowledge that. But hear me out....
With /Ice you have Ice Patch, which is way too small for your Rain of Fire needs. Rain of Fire is a 25 foot sphere. Ice Patch is 10 ft.
You have Chilling Embrace. But it too is only 10 ft. And you'd have to get in melee range. That's actually not a problem when you've got a tank or support toons with you.
The thing is: at level 28 you get Shiver. As the OP pointed out, it's a wide cone. It hits up to 10 enemies. Drop in 1-2 accuracies and 2-3 slows and you've seriously hurt your enemies' mobility. The key is the slow enhancements. You want those mobs to barely be able to move. (Alternatively you could slot 4 Pacing of the Turtles and get a 9% accuracy boost! If you like procs, you could toss in an Impeded Swiftness: Chance for Smashing Damage. Anyway, you get the idea.)
So... Shiver->Aim and/or Build Up->Rain of Fire. Sure the meanies will try to run... but NOW they won't get far! They'll still be grouped together. Then follow up with Fire Ball and Fire Breath. Now THAT is a mini-nuke!!!!
Why is that good?
Check out these damage scales:
Fire Ball - 1.26
Fire Breath - 1.755
Rain of Fire ~ 2.0 !!!
That totals around 5 DS. Inferno hovers at around 7.5. So yes, I'm saying you can pretty much drop a 5 DS collection of AoE attacks on every spawn. And yes, next to Inferno, RoF will deliver the MOST amount of AoE damage in your arsenal.
Against enemies that aren't affected much by slows, like Igneous or Wolves, you'll have to avoid the Shiver->RoF combo. But against other mobs you might do some great damage.
Try it out and see what you think. I'm guessing there might be some good synergy there, at least with mobs <= 10. And with mobs bigger than that, well, you're in a big team. There's a decent chance you ARE traveling with a defender or controller who can assist in the lockdown/slows. Let me know how it goes. EDIT: It sounds like Papaschtroumpf has tried it with success. I really encourage you to do so all well. It might be fun!
As an aside, Rain of Fire has an accuracy of 2.0. So don't bother slotting accuracies. Basic slotting suggestion is 3 damage and 2 recharge.
Thanks for the guide!
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I can agree that RoF has it's uses, but there's too many other much more important powers to get instead.
[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly my findings. I've tried every power in both sets (And Flame/Cold/Force Mastery) and found this to be one of the most superfluous powers that you can choose. The ONLY time I've found it useful is during an AV/GM fight. I got more mileage out of the Snipe (Sting of the Manticore FTW).
I found Ice Sword to be pretty good as far as "oh ****" powers go, but once Flares was buffed I dropped it to mid-thirties, and haven't found much use for it now. I might drop it for Frozen Aura (If only for the Fortunata set). I found Ice Patch to be pretty much pointless since I got Shiver, and Freezing Touch was lacking once I got Char. I might give it another try, but melee was killing me.
Deamus the Fallen - 50 DM/EA Brute - Lib
Dragos Bahtiam - 50 Fire/Ice Blaster - Lib
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Formally Dragos_Bahtiam - Abbreviate to DSL - Warning, may contain sarcasm
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Shubbie
Im very good at taking a problem and making it worse.
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I have a Fire/Ice/Force blaster myself. It is not mean for PvP, but I have tested him and has some capabilities agaisnt some other toons. But anyway, this is the first time I've ever seen this guide and I have to say it's really interesting how you expose each power's advantages and disadvantages. I'd like you opinion on my blaster. Here is my build:
Fire blast: All powers
Ice Manip.: Chilblain, Ice Sword, Frozen Fists, Build Up, Ice Patch and Freezing Touch.
Pools: Combat Jump (Leaping), Air Superiority, Fly (Flight), Hurdle, Health and Stamina (Fitness).
Force Mastery: Personal FF, Temp. Invulnerability and Force of Nature.
He is not exactly a blapper (I think), but just in case mobs get too close I took Ice Sword and Frozen Fists (1 Acc and 1Dmg as you would recommend), and Air Sup. (1 Acc) from the Flight pool. Combat Jump was slotted with 3 DefBuff. I have done really well and I could actually tank a medium sized mob with a break free and a couple of lucks. But still a blaster, heh.
Any suggestions or opinions are welcomed. Thanks!
~AllastorDarkflame
Thanks for the reply, Allastor 
A lot of the powers in the Fire Blast and Ice Manip. sets depend on personal preference. As far as Fire Blast powers, I personally like all of them, except Rain of Fire (although many people enjoy it...I recommend keeping it if you find it's uses) and Blazing Bolt, which I got anyway for set bonuses (only power I have access to that accepts Snipe sets)
As far as Ice Manip., I personally skipped the melee attacks (Ice Sword and Frozen Fists), but some people like the melee. But to b honest, Frozen Fists isn't really worth the slots...I would personally drop it for Hasten in your case. The other powers I recommend keeping.
In regards to Force Mastery, I have an Ice/Energy Blaster who has that set, and I really enjoy the 3 powers you mentioned (Personal FF, Temp. Inv., and FoN), and I recommend staying with those 3 powers, unless you think you'd prefer another set (I personally only have experience with Flame and Force, and enjoy them both)
For pools...unless it's a personal preference, I would personally drop Air Superiority and Fly for Super Jump and Acrobatics...I personally prefer SJ over Fly, and Acrobatics is always nice to have for the KB and Hold resistance. Although, I do see why you would like to keep Air Superiority for the knockdown...you could possibly drop RoF or Blazing Bolt for it, depending on what powers you think are important.
I hope this helps at least a little =P I know I overused the word "personally", but as I said, this build has a lot of personal preference powers
How did I miss this guide all this time? I have a fire/ice blaster that is slowly advancing. I'm not much for blasting, but she is fun to play on occasion. I'll try to update her with the information here and see if she gets a little better for me. Thanks for the work.
RagManX
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Hi there, I have a couple questions for you. To start of I am a first time CoH player and before I actually play a toon I like to read forums about the different classes and such then start playing one that I grow fond of reading through forums. My question for you is when you say for example 2acc, 3dmg, 2rgn what exactly are you meaining. I saw when you lvl up you can add another slot to a particular power. So does that mean you put 2 seperate acc into the slots or do you just use one slot with 2 of the acc in it by combining them? Same goes for damage and so forth and so on. I am not sure how many slots you can have per power. My next question is when you find an enhancement I noticed some have a number 1 and so far I have seen one with a 5 in the bottom corner if you will. What does that mean, are the numbers related to you lvl so for example if I am lvl 5 and I get a enhancement drop with a 1 and the number 1 is red should I save it or sell it and if I combine it with say a 4 does it make it a 5 and it would better suit me type of thing? I am sorry for the noob questions just unclear of what those mean and by what you are suggesting when slotting stuff. By the way I did make a Fire/Ice Blaster and am enjoying him so far even though he may be underpowered due to not adding enhancements due to the fact I did nto know how until messing with thing and deleting the toon and starting over 3 or 4 times. Thanks for the help
I will try to answer your questions as well as I can..sorry if I misunderstood anything
First of all, if I say 3 dmg, that means 3 different slots with a damage enhancement in each. Same with 2 acc- that means 2 different slots with an accuracy enhancement in each. Also, you can have a maximum of 6 slots per power.
I believe in your second question you're asking about the number that appears at the bottom of the enhancement's circle? That is the level of the enhancement. It will appear in red if you are too high or too low of a level to use it. You can only use an enhancement if you are within 3 levels of the enhancement's level (for example, a level 10 can use any enhancement that is between level 7 and 13).
If you get an enhancement drop that is red and UNDER the current level of your character, sell it..there is no point in keeping it. I believe that you can not combine enhancements that are red and under your level.
Also remember that combining enhancements does not raise the level; 2 level 4 enhancements combined makes a 4+, not an 8.
I hope this helped..let me know if you still have any questions.
That clears a lot of things up for me thanks. I do have another question for you if you don't mind. Ok going with the combining of enhancements is there a max to the +limit, I know its way far away for me to be thinking like that but at least I will know? Then I can start to search what the recipes and things are about. Thanks for the reply I do appreciate it and the effort you put into your guide it is very informative good job and thanks again.
I'm not too good on the mechanics behind combining, but I do know that the highest you can do is a ++. Also note that you can't combine IOs.
Hmm... as long as this thread has been resurrected, I may as well add some thoughts (my Fire/Ice is my favorite blaster by far atm).
RoF--situational, and yeah, I skipped it for the longest time (originally had it way back in i0 when I first rolled up my blaster). Picked it back up just for the zombie invasions (works great w/Rikti too). It's a nice power when you just wanna maximize your damage potential, but works well as a finisher or a defensive "oh sh**" power too. I now recommend this power, though you can hold off on it.
Ice Patch--love it on my /Ice tank. Only sorta like it on my blaster. The small radius is fine if you're going to be fairly immobile and fighting melee, but for a ranged, highly mobile blaster (which is how I play mine), it's very, very situational (there's that word again). Great for soloing and setting up corners and what (it's saved me in many a boss/EB fights), but for fast, high DPS teams (where Fire/* really shines), not so useful.
Shiver is great in conjunction w/things like RoF, but again, highly situational. It can be skipped easily or picked up later.
Fire Breath--I have to stress how important it is to slot for range for any cone. If you just increase the range by 20% (a single SO), you're increasing the overall area of effect by almost 50%. If you max out the range (ED capped at close to 60%), you increase the AoE by 250%!!
So how do you increase the range w/o sacrificing acc or damage? IO sets, and cheap ones. Even prior to i13, all the */Range set IOs were dirt cheap. Pick up the Damage/Range IO from Posi, Detonation & Air Burst and you get almost a 50% boost to range (assuming lvl 50 IOs) w/almost no sacrifice. You'll be amazed at how many more things you can hit with added range to this power. Even if you were doing straight SOs, I'd do 1 Acc, 3 Dam, 1 Rech and 1 Range.
Epics? Anything w/a hold in it (so no Cold or Force for you!). Why? Because if you don't take Freezing Touch from your secondary, there's really no purpose to being /Ice. And FT + epic hold = insta-held boss (or 2 pesky lts). Personally, I like Flame since it fits the concept well (again, Cold is out), has a good shield, and Char activates the fastest.
Overall though, a great writeup by Camo. The above are mostly nitpiks and personal preferences.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
I will preface everything that follows by saying I consider ALL powers to be situational.
I read through and found some interesting tidbits that I had missed in my own rise on my Fire/Ice blaster, but had a minor disagreement in the area of Rain of Fire.
I will agree that it is NOT a fire-and-forget power, which is what many generally mean when they call a power 'situational'. It DOES require some thought to get the most mileage out of it, making it less desirable to buton-mashers, but even out of the box it is usefull.
Blasters tend to be weakest in regards to Melee attackers, but with Ice Patch + Rain of Fire dropped on top of yourself you can turn them into non-issues. Chilling Embrace and Shiver can enhance this. Also, remember, this power will tag fliers as well just adding to its desireability.
You can also make great use of it as an area-denial power in missions that have you protecting some object from waves of attackers. Since most attackers tend to be melee, they hit the RoF and move away, and with the wide radius even ranged attackers can be driven off with it placed appropriately (also usefull in the previously mentioned bit about using it for self-defense).
When used in conjunction with the powers of other ATs it becomes a good force multiplyer for smaller teams, especially duos which I tend to be on if I am not solo.
Inside buildings you can have a tanker grab agro and run into a side room, you run up at the tanker's signal, drop IP in the doorway and then RoF in the room and possibly throw a fireball in for good measure. Presto, no more bad guys.
With controllers, and certain defenders, your options are greater. If they do a control, of virtually any type, on a group of enemies, by the time they are mobile RoF can have melted them to nothing.
There are numerous other possible tricks that can be used to leverage the power of RoF, both on teams and solo, but I won't go into them all here. Think of it as 3-dimensional as opposed to 2-dimensional like Fireball.
Outside of that little quibble I rather enjoyed the OP and gleaned some little items I may try to incorporate into my own character's playbook.
Thanks.
Proud Member of
'Well, I found the "fight" button, so lets do that.' Bun Bun
My Characters
Although I agree that RoF has it's issues, my personal opinion is that almost everything is dead with the use of your other powers. When I run through missions on my Fire/Ice, I don't see a time that RoF will have more than a few seconds of usage time when I'm firing off Fire Ball and Fire Breath, which kills nearly everything with Aim/BU up. That combined with using the ST attacks, and everything is dead before you have a chance to use RoF.
Agreed re: RoF, which is why I only picked it up for massive invasion-like events (or the MS raid). It definitely has more uses at 50 than getting there, and if you're running a lean, mean, high-DPS team, RoF will rarely get used. Hell, sometimes I don't even bother w/Fire Breath, cuz by the time it finishes animating, there's nothing for me to throw my Fire Ball at. 
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
[ QUOTE ]
Agreed re: RoF, which is why I only picked it up for massive invasion-like events (or the MS raid). It definitely has more uses at 50 than getting there, and if you're running a lean, mean, high-DPS team, RoF will rarely get used. Hell, sometimes I don't even bother w/Fire Breath, cuz by the time it finishes animating, there's nothing for me to throw my Fire Ball at.
[/ QUOTE ]
I disagree, because you won't always be on a 'lean, mean, DPS team'. If you run at higher difficulties than Heroic, then you tend to encounter larger groups of Minions to fry. If you're on an Indoor mission, like most low-mid level missions, then the walls help contain the baddies and they stay in the fire.
If you're solo, then RoF gives you time to put some serious heat on the threats. It's More useful before you've got your fireball 5-slotted and can wipe out the whole spawn with a few shots. I like it. I take it. I use it.
I also tend to play a more defensive game than some. If you're successful with a more aggressive style of play, consistently get on larger teams, or get PL'ed past the 'lowbie levels', then more power to you. I don't, so I take my tools and use them.
Be Well!
Fireheart
As I stated before, I use it as a utility tool, and I usually run on small groups generally with a tank which allows for more useage.
Again I point out the greater area that it covers as well. This is something that is OFTEN overlooked.
I was just trying to point out that it has more uses than most people think, and some of those uses are for more than straight DPS.
When I read through originally, and through the replies to my post, the impression I get is that most of you are saying "If its not high DPS its garbage!"
I guess what I want to say is think of RoF as a good controller power in the middle of a blaster primary. Think about how you would use it as a controller, or a defender if offered it would use it, and suddenly the options open up. How will a tank or scrapper benefit from your useage of it? Another blaster could stand in it, or on the other side, and benefit from its area denial ability.
Thinking outside the button-smashing high DPS box (a valid playstyle), can be rewarding, and incredibly usefull.
Proud Member of
'Well, I found the "fight" button, so lets do that.' Bun Bun
My Characters
I will comment and say that Fireheart, above my previous posting, is usually my teammate and we enjoy trying to figure out how to leverage various powers for greatest effect.
Proud Member of
'Well, I found the "fight" button, so lets do that.' Bun Bun
My Characters
Hey, that's not my fault, you crazy Scrapper! Honestly, I'm usually trying to get him to Slow Down!
Seriously, though, the Devs rarely give us 'useless' tools. If you look at all of the things that a power does, you may be surprised at the usefulness.
Soloing, Rain of Fire lets me pretend to be a Blapper and dash in to lay some heavy damage on a bad guy. Or I can drop it at my feet and laugh, as they all run AWAY from me, instead of beating my brains in. Drop it in a room or the end of a corridor, and watch the mobs scurry around (slowly) looking for an exit, while you fry them one at a time.
Being a Blaster doesn't only mean DPS or damage on target - yes, that's a Blaster's biggest thing, but we ALSO use Distance and Time to make our damage count. Blasting gives us Distance (as does running away, or clever pulling tricks), Distance gives us Time, Time means that we can lay down the damage and 'arrest' mobs before they have a chance to squish us.
It may be Blaster Blasphemy, but Sometimes 'Fireball' is not the best answer.
Be Well!
Fireheart
So, er, what part of my post exactly are you disagreeing with again? Please actually read what I said before responding.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
First Post- Intro and Fire Blast powers
Second Post- Ice Manipulation Powers
Guide to the Fire/Ice Blaster
Welcome to my i11 guide to the Fire Blast primary and Ice Manipulation secondary. I made my Fire/Ice Blaster Camo Fire back in December 2005 and have loved playing him since. I chose the build based on my love of fire and the interesting effects of the ice secondary. I didnt know the build would work out to be as good as it really is today. I will break down each powers in the 2 sets, with some help from Mids Hero Designer and my own experiences.
Dont worry, Im not good with numbers either. I wont provide all that confusing math some other people do.
If you are looking for a certain word/phrase, remember that windows users can hold down the ctrl key and hit f, type in a word in the box that pops up, and click Find Next. It will search for the word/phrase that you typed, making it easier to browse this lengthy guide.
Power Availability Charts:
Fire Blast:
1- Flares
1- Fire Blast
2- Fire Ball
6- Rain of Fire
8- Fire Breath
12- Aim
18- Blaze
26- Blazing Bolt
32- Inferno
Ice Manipulation:
1- Chilblain
2- Frozen Fists
4- Ice Sword
10- Chilling Embrace
16- Build Up
20- Ice Patch
28- Shiver
35- Freezing Touch
38- Frozen Aura
Fire Blast
*Flares , If this was i10 or earlier, I would say this is a skippable power and you should only get it if you find that you have a hole in your attack chain. But since the Defiance update a little after i11 and the shortened animation time, I would say its something good to get when you can, although it isnt a top priority. This power helps a lot to build up your Defiance, providing you with better damage. Also, thanks to Defiance, you can use this power while mezd (Held, Slept, Stunned, etc.) to greatly add to your DPS. Top it off with a cheap endurance cost and its a decent power. This is a single target attack that does minor fire damage.
Recommended Slotting:1 end, 1 acc, and 3 dmg. If using IO sets, I recommend looking through the ranged damage sets and using this power for extra set bonuses.
*Fire Blast , Now here is a power you will be using a lot. I VERY highly recommend this as your starting power. The endurance cost is a little higher than Flares, but I find it to be worth the damage. It also helps to stack Defiance quite well. This is a single target attack that does moderate fire damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 3 dmg, 1 end, 1 recharge. If using IO sets, I recommend the Thunderstrike set.
*Fire Ball , The Fire Blast set is known for its great AoE capabilities, and this power along with Fire Breath is why. It is a targeted AoE attack, which means it will get your target and anyone around it within 15 feet. As explained later, this power is great for a mini nuke. It does moderate fire and smashing damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 3 dmg, 1-2 end, 1 recharge. If using IO sets, I recommend the Detonation set.
*Rain of Fire , This is definitely a situational power. I am personally not a big fan of it, but some people take it for the occasional time that its useful. It is location AoE, meaning that you choose where to place it (a marker comes up around your mouse when you click on the power in your tray) and it lasts for 15 seconds, damaging anyone in it. The unfortunate part is that it has a fear effect, meaning that enemies will run away from it, although slowly since it also has a speed effect. It does minor fire damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1-2 endurance
*Fire Breath , This power and Fire Ball work great together. It is a cone, meaning it will hit your target and anyone in a 40 foot range and in a 30 degree arc. Remember that the farther you are from an enemy you are, the larger the arc is. I will explain later how this power can be used with Fire Ball to make a mini nuke. This does moderate DoT fire damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 3 dmg, 1-2 end, 1 recharge. If using IO sets, I recommend Air Burst or Detonation.
*Aim , This is a click power which lasts 10 seconds and has a 90 second recharge. It temporarily gives you a tohit buff of 37.5% and a damage buff of 62.5%. Only the tohit buff is enhanceable. This is a great power to use along with Build Up before Inferno or your mini nuke.
Recommended Slotting: 2-3 recharge
*Blaze , This is my absolute favorite power of this set. Get it at 18, no ifs, ands, or buts. It does high single target damage and, when enhanced in higher levels, can almost 1-shot a white minion. It doesnt seem like much, but it has a cast of about 1 second, so it brings your DPS WAY up. It also helps a lot against bosses, EBs, and AVs. Some people recommend slotting range into it, but Im against that. Damage, accuracy, and recharge are MUCH more important. This does single target high fire damage.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc, 3 dmg, 1 end, 1-2 recharge. I wouldnt recommend using IO sets in this power, but if you do, try Thunderstrike.
*Blazing Bolt , This is a snipe power, meaning that it is very long range and does high damage, but it can be interrupted during the 3 seconds of casting time. It also has high accuracy, meaning that you dont really have to slot it with accuracy. A great fight opener and puller.
Recommended Slotting: 1-2 end, 1 dmg. For IO sets, try Executioners Contract or Extreme Measures.
*Inferno , Finally, here is the power youve been waiting for- your nuke. This is a PBAoE power, meaning you dont need to have a target to use it, and it will hit any enemies within 25 feet. The main drawbacks of this power is that you have to jump right in the middle of a group to use it and after use it drains all of your endurance and stops your recovery for a few seconds. Endurance inspirations still can be used though. This power should only be used right after using Aim and Build Up, or it will feel gimped. If you dont hit any enemies, you will lose 20 endurance and no other penalties.
Recommended Slotting: 1 acc optional, 3 dmg, 2-3 recharge. If using IO sets, I recommend Multi-Strike.