I have a lvl 45 elec/elec blaster and am loving it. I kinda wish that I went elec/NRG, but hey, this guy does a ton of damage. You need to slot him good also. I am still working with that. My advice is to stick with that elec blaster or go back and make an elec/NRG.
Fire/Mental. Remember that on a big team, it is someone else's job to take the alpha.
miniguide written mostly so I don't have to repeat myself so much.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Fulmens, your mini-guide is freaking genius. Thank you!
Jeremy: When does my damage get good? It takes me 3-4 hits just to kill an even-con. Do I need 3 dam SOs to feel uber?
Thanks guys!
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch
fire/something with a lot of damage. elec, nrg, mental and fire all fit the bill for secondaries. Let the rest of the team worry about buffing, defense, alphas, etc.
@Dysc, on virtue:
Virtue blues: Overnight (DP/MM), Kid Ridiculous (FC/rad), Panorama (Ill/time)
Virtue reds: Block Party (SS/SD), Goldcrush (earth/fire), Deadwire (claws/elec), Snowcrush (ice/kin)
I tried Fire and really liked it. The only thing keeping me from Fire is my two highest level toons are a fire/kin and a fire/fire tank, so I was hoping for something besides fire...
But fire/* is dang fun.
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch
Fire/Fire-perfect for teams because all you is damage
Fire/Mental-more ranged then fire/fire and three AoE attacks
Fire/Ice-much safer then either of the two and you bring some awesome mitigation to your team
Archery/Mental-crashless nuke and two great cones
Archery/Ice-great aoe as well as great mitigation
Electric/Energy-AoE Sapper
Electric/Electric-Adds some great mitigation and some great melee attacks.
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
Fire/Fire played like a complete nutjob with no regard for his own safety. If the team is good you will stay alive and put out truly sick damage numbers.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
If you want camera spin, running around the spawn like a madman lining up enemies like a thresher lines up wheat: AR/Mental
Cones: Buckshot, Flamethrower, Full Auto, Psychic Scream
TAoE: M30 Grenade (Ignite)
PBAoEs: Psychic Shockwave (World of Confusion, Drain Psyche)
() - Somewhat less than a damaging attack; utility
Is it pickup groups, or are you playing mostly with the same group of people?
Well, whichever it is, the thing you probably want most is AoE damage. That's what teams are usually looking for in a blaster. Fire is a great choice. AR should be good, too, with all the cones. Archery has outstanding AoE, but only after level 32 with Rain of Arrows.
If you're playing with the same people all the time, who will get to know your playstyle and who you know have your back, then I'd say forget about anything but getting the most AoE damage. Fire/Fire or maybe Fire/mental.
If it's pickup groups, then personally I'd like having some mitigation capacity, because you never know how good the rest of the team will be at that. One possibility is to take a high-AoE primary and pair it with a high-control secondary like /Ice. (I always have to plug Fire/Ice, I can't help myself.)
Or take a primary that gives a little control (a hold or stun, knockback, something to protect yourself from a troublesome mob you can't kill immediately), even though its AoE damage isn't quite as high. AR is better in that department, and still has a lot of AoE, so that might be good.
Or just go for max damage and take your chances. On some teams you'll die a lot, but you probably get used to it.
Sorry, kind of rambled there.
You guys rock - thank you. Lots to consider.
I've enjoyed AR but aren't M30 and Buckshot both knock back, not knock down? Knock back seems to be a great way to make enemies quickly in a PUG 
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch
Yeah, they're knockback. The KB hatred is overblown, but some people will have a problem with it. There are various tricks you can do to keep it from causing you enemies: hover above and shoot down, aim them into corners or against walls or other obstacles, etc. As an energy blaster I've gotten used to this, I imagine it might be the same for AR.
One suggestion if you're really bothered by the KB thing and don't want to play fire. Pick any other primary besides Energy (because it has even more KB) or Psychic (because it only has one AoE power), and pair it up with Mental Manipulation. You'll have at least four AoE's, at least two (and probably three) of which will be ranged.
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You guys rock - thank you. Lots to consider.
I've enjoyed AR but aren't M30 and Buckshot both knock back, not knock down? Knock back seems to be a great way to make enemies quickly in a PUG
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You can choose to let the KB hate make your decision or not. Buckshot and M30 do indeed KB, M30 more reliably. KB, despite the hate, is still an effective survival tool. You can mitigate the KB by following the suggestions Ipso gave. I am a long time player of sets like AR and Storm, so I've built up an immunity to the KB hate by using it as intelligently as I can without undermining my performance. YMMV.
I thought the OP meant 8 of the same kind. I'd be tempted to go w/Sonic then, tho few things would survive 8 BU'ed Fireballs (and 8 Blazes take care of those), so maybe it's moot.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
I run with a full to near full team constantly with my elec/nrg blaster. I can deal out decent damage when needed but also Sap too. I often open up with the snipe after the tank starts heading in and then switch over to draining the mobs as we steamroll everything pretty quickly most of the time.
And I have to agree with FF, KB can be a real personal lifesaver and can also help mitigate against team wipes when something has gone seriously wrong.
I like AR for large teams. Making careful use of knockback can be helpful in certain situations. Use M30 before Full Auto. The grenade takes a moment to reach the spawn, and the knockback doesn't occur until it gets there, by which time FA will be animating. A hail of bullets on helpless enemies. When they get up, if they get up, torch them.
Anything with decent AoE should do well on a large team, assuming you have a decent tanker or troller.
They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
@Starflier
a group of defenders. 
(J/K)
Thanks again all - I am trying several, but I think AR is becoming my favorite. I like cones - I like the twitch action of circling the spawn to line them up - and I like the AoE. And I like the machine gun graphics - good times.
I paired it with Energy just because Power Thrust has been my favorite power in CoH since 2004. Nothing feels more Super Hero than a punch that send them flying.
Thanks again.
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch
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Fire/Fire-perfect for teams because all you is damage
Fire/Mental-more ranged then fire/fire and three AoE attacks
Fire/Ice-much safer then either of the two and you bring some awesome mitigation to your team
Archery/Mental-crashless nuke and two great cones
Archery/Ice-great aoe as well as great mitigation
Electric/Energy-AoE Sapper
Electric/Electric-Adds some great mitigation and some great melee attacks.
[/ QUOTE ]
All great choices I have an Arch/Ice that was great on teams and could still solo at 50. I have 2 Arch/MM.. liked the first so much I wanted another... one of the first characters I have ever had that I enjoy using my secondary powers as much as the primary. My Fire/Fire just hit 30 and somewhere around level 15 became a Blapper.. not sure why he just seemed to get awesom on DOs and even better with SOs. I don't own any Elec/Elec YET but have payed on teams with them.. great powersets.
Enjoy and remember... when all else fails RUN RUN FAST RUN FAR lol (not nearly as necessary these days since blasters got love).
�We�re always the good guys. In D&D, we�re lawful good. In City of Heroes we�re the heroes. In Grand Theft Auto we pay the prostitutes promptly and never hit them with a bat.� � Leonard
�Those women are prostitutes? You said they were raising money for stem cell research!� � Sheldon
My vote, Sonic/Nrg. Res debuff, and the ability to greatly enhance the debuff, its great for large teams (you not only up yor damage, but everyone else's). Outside of that, My first 50 was a Ele/Dev blaster, and I loved every level of it. Its not a build for everyone though.
I will point out something about /dev. It is great for soloing, and if your team is facing pwipe after pwipe, the mines are fantastic. But noone wants to wait for you to setup. Also with MA being the "way to play" now, noone ever goes up against anything that /dev is good with. If its that hard, they just reset and pick an easier arc, or decide tay would rather have more /kins on their team.
tragically, MA killed my Ele/Dev, but hey my fire/shield scrapper is just eating all this up.
I've been having a lot of fun trying various blasters in 8 man missions. I do not enjoy soloing much in CoH so I'll only play in large teams. Which seems to be best?
I seem to like circling the spawn, blasting away. I would imagine a cone or AoE heavy set is best for teams that are minion crunching.
I like the elec/elec I got to level 14 but her damage feels a little weak - I do like the Short Circuit/Ball Lightning combo. Maybe if I paired it with MM to get one more cone it'd be better?
I also enjoy AR and it seems like eventually it'll be the cone king, but for now nobody seems thrilled with Buckshot knockback.
Any ideas? I'd prefer something that is fun from level 10+.
When you see yourself in a crowded room / do your fingers itch,are you pistol-whipped
Will you step in line or release the glitch / can you fall asleep with a panic switch