Draft guide--feedback please. Primaries Overview
Assault Rifle you forgot Full Auto.
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
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There is *no* penalty for 're-draw' animations. The cast times will be exactly the same whether you have to redraw a weapon or not.
This was recently in the 'Myth thread' in the general forum.
We used to run a series in the City Scoop called "Myth Smashers" and at the time we found out that there was weapon redraw time penalties... sometimes. Pretty much killed the series.
The current situation for Broadsword, Katana and Dual Blades is that there IS a weapon redraw penalty. There was a deliberate decision to make the attacks faster and smoother, in the non-redraw case.
I do not know if AR and Archery has any weapon draw penalties, but given that this was the "left-handed flying girls get penalized" game... I'd like to see an official Dev post (or better, an Arcanaville post) before believing that there are none in those two sets.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Comments on the OP:
Generally good. Have some minor points to mention.
1) At the risk of adding too much detail, you may want to clarify some of the AOE damage.
From the descriptions, it's hard to tell that Fire/Fire Breath does something like three times the AOE damage of Sonic/Shockwave.
2) On Blizzard and Rain of Arrows, you may wish to point out that they can be cast from around corners, for 100% damage mitigation.
3) Ignite: I'm told that AV's don't run no matter how much you light them on fire. I have not personally confirmed this.
4) Blatant judgement call: I tend to weight rains very lightly because the damage is so slow and so avoidable. My blaster has a half-life of about 5 seconds, so damage over 20 seconds is rarely my friend.
5) Ice, and this seems petty to mention, can be slotted for MOVEMENT slow only. RECHARGE slow stacks, but cannot be slotted, and can provide spectacular mitigation by blaster standards- and it's entirely free because it happens while you're shooting badguys. Which you would be doing ANYWAY.
6) Renamed Aim powers ("psychic focus") might be worth mentioning, as might the surprisingly good bonus Aim gives to damage. I don't know if the latter really belongs in a comparison, but it's easy to overlook for a new blaster.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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There is *no* penalty for 're-draw' animations. The cast times will be exactly the same whether you have to redraw a weapon or not.
This was recently in the 'Myth thread' in the general forum.
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Even if there is no actual "penalty" to redrawing, there can be a high annoyance factor where it feels like there is a penalty even if there is no difference in the attacks.
And I would also like to see actual numbers from a Dev or Arcanaville before making a flat statement that there isn't any redraw penalty.
EDIT to Add:
I think this type of guide is what is missing recently. Too many times we see "guides" that are really just builds without any sense of how the powerset actually "feels" during play. Numbers are all well and good, but knowing that Psychic feels different from Fire due to things like the comparative number of ST attacks vs AoEs is missing from a guide that just tells you to take X attack at Y level and slot it thus and so.
I agree with Fulmens that adding a bit more info regarding "Aim" and the various color-effect names it goes by and how much damage boost it adds might be a good addition/clarification. While most of us here already know it adds such a nice damage boost, at first glance it only seems to be about adding "to Hit".
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
I am one of those players who consistently posts 'what is this blaster like' questions. This guide is amazing. TYVM.
Edit: One useful piece of data might be how the set plays early, middle, late game. For example, Archery may be a strong AoE set but not until late game - early and middle game it is more single target focused. Helps set expectation on people who start off fresh. IMHO.
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
Your overview makes me want to play my Ice Blaster again. Nice job!
Oh, good, some comments. Guess it wasn't totally a lost cause. I'll address some of them right now.
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Assault Rifle you forgot Full Auto.
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I actually didn't-- it's under the "Nuke" section. I've added a mention of it in the conventional AoE section as well, though, since that's more what it acts like.
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There is *no* penalty for 're-draw' animations. The cast times will be exactly the same whether you have to redraw a weapon or not
This was recently in the 'Myth thread' in the general forum.
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We used to run a series in the City Scoop called "Myth Smashers" and at the time we found out that there was weapon redraw time penalties... sometimes. Pretty much killed the series.
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I don't know myself what the current redraw status is for AR and Archery. To tell the truth, when I wrote it I was thinking more of the annoyance factor than about any penalty. It'd be great to have a definitive answer. I'll poke around a bit in the forums and the wiki and see if I can find one. It would be a good thing to mention, one way or the other.
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2) On Blizzard and Rain of Arrows, you may wish to point out that they can be cast from around corners, for 100% damage mitigation
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Added, thanks.
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3) Ignite: I'm told that AV's don't run no matter how much you light them on fire. I have not personally confirmed this.
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Anyone know this for sure? That's pretty cool, if so.
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5) Ice, and this seems petty to mention, can be slotted for MOVEMENT slow only.
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Ooops! That's what I meant, but I didn't make it clear at all. Edited to clarify.
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6) Renamed Aim powers ("psychic focus") might be worth mentioning, as might the surprisingly good bonus Aim gives to damage. I don't know if the latter really belongs in a comparison, but it's easy to overlook for a new blaster.
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I should say something about Aim. The only mention I made of it is to note that AR doesn't have it. I think I'll put a little description of it at the beginning, as part of the intro. Then I can just note when it has a different name.
The other stuff, I need to think about for a bit. Not about whether they're good ideas or not, because they are, but about how to fit them in. I'll be back. Thanks to everyone who commented!
I have never seen an AV, GM, or Sniper run out of an Ignite patch. AVs and GMs have huge resistance to Avoid, it seems, and this can work against them.
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I don't know myself what the current redraw status is for AR and Archery. To tell the truth, when I wrote it I was thinking more of the annoyance factor than about any penalty. It'd be great to have a definitive answer. I'll poke around a bit in the forums and the wiki and see if I can find one. It would be a good thing to mention, one way or the other.
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The only developer statement on redraw came from BAB, and that was when he said redraw can add up to 0.67s to cast time. It was in an Archery thread, but he didn't specify whether that was only for Archery, or across all weapon sets, or whether it was a specific power or powers, just that redraw "can add up to 0.67s to the cast time".
That is currently the only information on whatever "redraw penalty" may exist.
It is noteworthy, however, that even if this 0.67s were applied to all powers in all weapon sets, the average cast time should still be faster relative to when many (most?) weapon attacks had additional redraw time "baked in".
My take on it, as a player who spends the majority of time playing a weapon set paired with a weaponless set: it's not even noticeable unless you're using two weapon sets (like Bots/TA with personal attacks) or constantly switching back and forth between weapon and weaponless powers. In either case, the player is more likely to be inconvenienced and irritated by the rather craptastic results of playing badly than by redraw.
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I have never seen an AV, GM, or Sniper run out of an Ignite patch. AVs and GMs have huge resistance to Avoid, it seems, and this can work against them.
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"Avoid" is a status effect that AVs and GMs simply resist, so they don't run away (for the most part). Snipers CANNOT run away, as they have an inherent power that immobilizes them completely. I've heard tales of friendly snipers gaining the ability to move when buffed with Clear Mind.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I don't know myself what the current redraw status is for AR and Archery. To tell the truth, when I wrote it I was thinking more of the annoyance factor than about any penalty. It'd be great to have a definitive answer. I'll poke around a bit in the forums and the wiki and see if I can find one. It would be a good thing to mention, one way or the other.
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The only developer statement on redraw came from BAB, and that was when he said redraw can add up to 0.67s to cast time. It was in an Archery thread, but he didn't specify whether that was only for Archery, or across all weapon sets, or whether it was a specific power or powers, just that redraw "can add up to 0.67s to the cast time".
That is currently the only information on whatever "redraw penalty" may exist.
It is noteworthy, however, that even if this 0.67s were applied to all powers in all weapon sets, the average cast time should still be faster relative to when many (most?) weapon attacks had additional redraw time "baked in".
My take on it, as a player who spends the majority of time playing a weapon set paired with a weaponless set: it's not even noticeable unless you're using two weapon sets (like Bots/TA with personal attacks) or constantly switching back and forth between weapon and weaponless powers. In either case, the player is more likely to be inconvenienced and irritated by the rather craptastic results of playing badly than by redraw.
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Last I heard, BABs rooted all "redraw pauses" from all weapon sets, Assault Rifle included. It used to be that the cast time would be the same whether you had the weapon out or not, but this is no longer the case. These days it's a safe bet that any powerset which includes a weapon will run faster if you don't have to redraw.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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On to the meat of the subject: The guide! I'd like to start out by saying that this is a very nice write up, and I want to thank you for making it. I did have a few observations:
Archery: I'd emphasise the added base accuracy for Archery power much more. It is SIGNIFICANT. At 1.155 inherent power accuracy, you're going to be shooting high-level stuff and hitting through defences with a LOT greater ease. I've taken on enemies +2 and +3 with just DOs and still barely missed a shot. In my eyes, this is the single greatest strength of archery - you can rely on it to never miss anything, or come very close to it, and it doesn't take much to get there.
Assault Rifle: There are a couple of things worth noting - more than most other Blaster sets, Assault Rifle's AoE potential depends on positioning very heavily. Full Auto is a very narrow, very long cone best used from far away, as close to its maximum range as you can get without leaving anyone off, as the arc is widest at the end. Flamethrower, by comparison, is a very wide, relatively short cone best used from close range and against a broadside of enemies. Buckshot is somewhere inbetween, and M30 isn't range-dependent. Assault Rifle AoE really depends on positioning.
Additionally, you should really caution about combining the set with its thematic partner - Devices. As Assault Rifle lacks Aim and single-target attacks and Devices lacks Build Up and conventional attacks, this produces a combo that REALLY struggles with bosses and ends up relying on time-consuming, laborious combos. Targeting Drone does provide a not-insignificant damage boost to Sniper Rifle (something you may want to mention) but it's not enough to offset things. The combo ends up as a quasi-Controller that can face some particularly irritating problems.
It's also probably worth mentioning that Assault Rifle works very well with Munitions Mastery. Not only does the set not suffer redraw from the pool, Surveillance actually supplants the sets single-target weakness by offering a single-target resistance and defence debuff.
Electrical Blast: Thunderous Blast has lower-than-average damage, assumedly to make up for it being ranged. Might be worth mentioning that.
Energy isn't as rarely resisted as it seems. Anyone in good-condition power armour will have some resistance to it, including Crey Tanks, Rikti Chiefs and, most notably, Malta Titans. It's not OFTEN resisted, going by number of enemies, but those that resist it tend to be NASTY, especially for a Blaster.
Voltaic Sentinel should probably receive a cautionary warning. The little blue guy is untargetable and uncontrollable, meaning it will shoot at all enemies in range whether you wanted it to attack or not, and all aggro it generates is coming to YOU, because it cannot be attacked. Starting a fight unprepared is one of the worst things that can happen to a Blaster, and Voltaic Sentinel wouldn't think twice about doing just that if given the chance.
Also, you might want to give the set a little more credit for control outside of endurance drain, because it has a full hold where many other sets have to make do with a stun. Few things are resistant to holds, but many are resistant to stuns - the Anathema and Malta's Titans, for instance, fit that description.
Energy Blast: Random chance for knockback isn't as good a source of mitigation as you make it out to be. Make no mistake, it's GOOD, but far from "the best." A solid hold or two or plain killing stuff in one volley is both easier and tends to be more reliable. As well, it might be worth mentioning that, to get full mileage out of knockback mitigation, you REALLY want to use Power Push as often as you can. It really is a nasty power if abused.
Also, Smashing isn't as often resisted as it seems, and in fact many things are weak to it. Many robots are weak to it, as are hard targets like rocks. As well, many targets resistant to Lethal aren't resistant to smashing, too. Not a big deal, but worth mentioning.
Fire Blast: You vastly understate Fire's AoE potential. Fireball does more damage than conventional targeted AoEs, but Breath of Fire does around 50% more damage than a comparable cone, and all fire. It is, therefore, worth mentioning that with anything other than Devices, a Build Up + Aim + Fireball + Fire Breath combo is enough to level most spawns and leave only stragglers, or at the very least deliver SERIOUS damage when on a team.
You should also mention that Rain of Fire's scatter effect can be very dangerous to a team as it causes enemies that the Tanker may have gathered together to flee and shoot at you from range, making regaining control of them difficult. It delivers a lot of damage, but at a significant risk.
Also, Fire's form of control is MDK. Unlike most other sets, a Fire Blaster can kill stuff dead with frightening speed, and dead stuff don't shoot back. That's probably worth mentioning, as it's essentially the only fast way to solo one.
Ice Blast: I wouldn't be as critical on Ice Blast's AoE potential. A slow or AoE immobilize power, say something like Shiver, can keep enemies almost motionless inside your rain, but even just a combo of Frost Breath + Ice Storm can keep those not resistant to slows in for most of its duration, and the two together do an impressive amount of damage. Sure, they cost a lot to use, but they are very effective. Remember - both Forst Breath and Ice Storm debuff run speed.
It's also probably worth mentioning that Bitter Freeze Ray and Freeze Ray can (and should) be stacked to hold a boss, something NO other Blaster primary can achieve on its own, and having two holds can go a long way towards being safer.
Not enough experience with Psi or Sonic to comment.
I hope this doesn't come out like a put-down lecture. I really do believe those are all worth mentioning. You have a very nice guide there, and it was a good read.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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I'm posting to second Samuel_Tow's comments concerning Voltaic Sentinel and the Frost Breath + Ice Storm combination.
I think a possible reason FB and IS are underutilized is due to competition within the Ice Blast set. Five or six-slotted FB and IS are awesome, but it's tough to come up with those slots and power selections with so many other great powers to choose from.
Voltaic Sentinel is sadly not a fire and forget power, except in certain situations. Unless I summon it right at the feet of an enemy group, I have to waste time making sure the stupid thing enters within its own aggro range. I wish it used a "defensive" AI rather than "aggressive."
A quick response to Blizzard. In regards to the comment about keeping mobs within blizzard, you may want to note that this is easy, by applying Ice Storm either before Blizzard, or after. You maximize damage if your attack chain is Aim/BU/Blizzard/blue/Ice storm. Ice/energy can use Power boost/aim/bu/blizzard as power boost augments the slow.
More villain than hero these days
Since Blizzard drains your end, I'd definitely apply Ice Storm *before* Blizzard. 
And I do. BU+Aim+IS+Blizzard, all around a corner, is an awesome combo.
To the OP, the guide is very well thought out and is prolly comprehensive enough for anyone looking to make a new blaster. Everything I write below can be used as a reference, but honestly can be ignored for a beginner's guide. Having said that, some number crunching comments:
There are nukes, and there are NUKES. Thunderous Blast is a low damage nuke. Higher than the non-end drainers (RoA, FA), but lower than Nova, Inferno, etc. It's what you pay for having range. FA, I wouldn't even categorize as a nuke, just a high damage cone, tho because of the long animation time, its DPA is rather meh. In fact, FA has the lowest DPA of all of AR's cones. Also lower than Fistful or Energy Torrent as a comparison (but higher than Fire & Frost Breaths and far higher than Howl).
RoA, while a nice mini-nuke, also suffers from a long animation time and its DPA end up being merely good, not great. Fire Ball is higher. Still good tho, it's just that Fire Ball is fantastic. Of course, it almost matches Thunderous Blasts' total damage, and at range, and w/no end drain, which speaks more to TB, I think, than RoA. Dreadful Wail is also a low-end Nuke, the lowest PBAoE nuke, but has fantastic secondary effects and is somewhat fast animating (a true emergency power). Nova & Psy Wail are both NUKEs and Inferno's king of the PBAoEs, almost getting up to Blizzard level w/o all the fuss about DoTs (well, there's some, but they're nearly instantaneous).
ST damage: w/just the T1 & 2 attacks, AR is about middle of the pack. Arch & Elec are a bit lower, En, Fire, Ice & Psy above. Son is just pathetic on pure damage, but maybe makes up for it w/the -resist debuffs. I tend not to think so in most fights, since the front loadedness of blaster damage will tend to kill things before the debuffs really add up. AV fights and the like are exceptions.
When you add in your heavy blast, Fire, Ice & Psy (more Fire than Ice or Psy) run away w/it. Blaze is just sick and BIB & TK Blast aren't far behind. Blazing Arrow is actually pretty good too, not too far behind TK Blast, so Arch pulls above avg here. Energy kinda fades here cuz Power Burst's animation kills its DPA which isn't much better than the T1 & 2 blasts. Elec & AR don't even get a heavy hitter. Son's heavy is equally pathetic as its T1 & 2 blasts, though its debuff lasts longer. Even if you remove the animation time, Shout barely outdamages Power Blast straight up.
AoEs, you did a pretty good job of them, except again, Son's cones are rather pathetic, though they all have very good secondary effects attached to them. Even w/-resist in mind tho, *every other cone* in the blaster stable at least *DOUBLES* Howl's DPA, with the only exception being Frost Breath which merely beats it by like 80%. Buckshot nearly TRIPLES Howl's DPA.
In short, I'd rank ST damage as:
Fire >> Ice > Psy > Arch >> En > AR > Elec >>> Son
AoE as:
Fire > AR > Arch >> En > Elec > Ice > Psy >>> Son
or if you can fully leverage your rains and Ignite patches and whatnot:
Fire > AR > Arch > Ice > En > Elec > Psy >>> Son
and mitigation as:
Ice = Son > Elec > Psy > En > AR > Arch > Fire
Mitigation is a lot harder to gauge since it depends a lot on playstyle, team or solo, what secondary you take, etc.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
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Since Blizzard drains your end, I'd definitely apply Ice Storm *before* Blizzard. And I do. BU+Aim+IS+Blizzard, all around a corner, is an awesome combo.
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Dave, it's the damage. That portion of Aim and BU you lose when activating Ice storm before Blizzard drops your damage output. For many targets, this may not amount to much, though, since most things die inside Blizzard. I'm just being anal. 
More villain than hero these days
Wait, why would you lose the Aim (assuming you lead w/Aim) by the time you fire off Blizzard? Not considering Arcanatime, Aim & BU both activate in 1.17s and IS & Blizzard both have 2.03 cast times. That's not even close to Aim (& BU's) 10s duration, or are you saying the rain pseudopets lose the buffs as they wear off?
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
The rains do lose the buff when the duration of Aim or Build Up wear off. It's a bummer, but it's better than nothing. Which they used to get, I believe.
Anyway, it looks like I can no longer edit my post. I thought the edit window was longer than that.
Thanks for all feedback. I'm encouraged by the fact that, even though it has a fair number of views, no one has yet piped up with "This is a STUPID idea!" So that's good 
. Special thanks to folks who filled me in on Voltaic Sentinel. I've never used it, so I didn't have much idea about how it works in practice. I just didn't know what to say about it, which is why I didn't say much.
I'm going to do a little re-writing on this, possibly but not definitely before the weekend, incorporating a least some of this stuff. The problem I'm having now is that there are so many things that would be good to mention, but OTOH I am trying to keep this relatively short and newbie-friendly. There has to be a balance between including too much and including too little, and I hope I can find it.
Speaking of that: Here's a section that I was going to edit into the OP, but it won't let me. This is to go at the beginning. Now, another question. Should I put in the stuff labeled "Optional Section", or leave it out? A true newbie might find it helpful in understanding the rest, but it's long and might detract from the main point.
So how about a survey? Yes or no? Thanks.
Edit: Or include just parts of it?
Begin new section.------------------------------------------
Fairly often, someone comes into the Blaster forum with a question like "Which blaster should I choose?" or "Is this set good for soloing?, or something of that nature. This is an attempt to help with that question. It's meant to be an overview of the different blaster primaries and how they compare to each other--what they're good at or not so good at compared to the others, plus any special quirks they might have. If you're looking for specific, detailed info about a certain primary, you're probably best off looking for a guide to that primary; but this should give you a start.
I want to start off with what they all have in common: they all do a lot of damage. That's what a blaster's for, after all. They all have some limited ability to protect themselves (although, admittedly, that ability might be "kill them first"), but none of them have the degree of self-protection available to other AT's. Just keep that in mind.
The primary powers can be broadly categorized as single-target (ST) damage, area of effect (AoE) damage, and control or self-protection powers. Generally it's a trade-off among these three things. A set that's excellent in one of them will normally be below average in one or both of the others.
Optional Section
Terms and General Concepts. This section discusses some terms that I use below without explanation, and some general info about blasters. If you already have some familiarity with blasters, or even with the game as a whole, you might want to skip this part. It'll be boring.
Single Target Damage
Tier 1 and Tier 2 (T1 and T2) blasts. Every primary starts with two ranged single-target attacks. One will be quicker (in both cast and recharge) but do less damage, and the other will be a bit slower and more damaging. I haven't said much about them below, because they're pretty similar across sets. The cast times are identical for each set, by design. Some sets' T1's and T2's are a bit slower and heavier than others, but the difference usually isn't considered a defining characteristic of the set.
Both of these blasts can always be used, even if you're Held, Slept, Stunned, whatever. If you don't know why this is important, don't worry, you will.
Most, but not all, sets also have a third ranged blast that does a lot more damage and has a slower recharge and greater endurance cost. They usually have a shorter range as well. The differences in these powers (and their presence or absence) go far to explain the difference in the single-target potential.
Snipes: Some sets include a snipe power. This is an extremely long-range blast that does a lot of damage. The downside: it takes a long time to cast, and the first part of that time is interruptible. If you're affected by anything, like damage for example, during that time, it won't go off. It also checks the target both at the beginning and at the end of the animation, so if during that time the target goes out of range or behind something, it won't go off. There's a good deal of controversy over how useful these powers are. I'm of the camp that thinks they could use a little something, but can still be useful especially for a soloist.
AoE damage. These attacks do damage to all targets within an area. As a general rule, the larger that area is, the lower the damage to each target will be. AoE comes in several flavors.
PBAoE: Centered on you, and you don't need a target to fire it off. It affects all targets in a radius around you (up to a limit). There aren't many of these in blaster primaries, but there are more in the secondaries. The radius is different among powers.
Cone: You target an enemy within range, and all enemies within a cone area, with you at the point, are affected (up to a certain limit). To make best use of cones, you really need to pay attention to your positioning. Ideally, you want your targets to be at the far end of the cone, where the width is the greatest. Cones get a lot of benefit out of Range enhancement, because increasing the range of the cone increases the area of effect (his is not true for the other types).
Spherical AoE: You target an enemy within range, and all targets in a radius around them (up to a certain number) are affected. Range enhancements will not increase the radius..
Location AoE: You cast this at a location on the ground. All targets in a radius around this location will be affected. Range enhancements do not increase the radius.
Rains: A special type of location AoE. Damaging rain falls from the sky around that location--in the case of blasters, they all last for 20 seconds. Any enemy in the area will be affected, even if they enter it after it's already been cast. They hate it though, and will try to run out. Luckily, rains also slow their movement. You need to be careful with rains, especially on a team. The scatter is often really not helpful. If they can be immobilized, though, or further slowed by other powers that do that, the rain will do a lot of damage. The scatter effect can even be useful in some situations. Use your best judgment there.
Nukes. In many people's minds, the defining powers of blasters. The "standard" or "conventional" nuke does massive damage in a PBAoE--enough, after enhancement, to take care of a whole spawn. The downside is it has a very long recharge, and it will drain all of your endurance and leave you unable to naturally recover any for 20 seconds. Several sets have nonconventional nukes instead.
Controls: These are powers used to keep an enemy from acting, rather than do damage to them (although most of them do a little damage as well.) There are several types, but these are the main ones available to blasters.
Holds: some sets have single-target holds. The target is unable to move or act for a short time. The easiest and most reliable of the controls.
Stuns: some sets have single-target stuns instead. The target is unable to act but can still move. Usually they just stagger around, but every now and then they'll run away, still stunned, sometimes at astonishing speed. For some reason I've never been able to fathom, Stuns have twice the recharge of Holds, without controlling the target for any longer time than holds. Go figure.
Sleep: The target is napping and unable to act. If he takes any damage, though, he'll wake up and can act normally.Very effective solo if you have some good single-target damage. On teams, they're a little harder to get good use of, since most teams have someone who'll be using AoE damage.
Knockback: The target goes flying back, sometimes for some distance. He'll have to get back up before he can do anything. Lots of fun, and very effective at reducing incoming damage, but a lot of teams find it annoying because they like to have the spawns all bunched up. Several sets have powers that do knockback, and one has a lot of knockback.
Aim: All sets except one, Assault Rifle, have the Aim power, sometimes under a different name. Aim increases your accuracy and your damage by a lot (accuracy more) for 10 seconds. It might sound like that's not enough to make a difference, but just trust me on this one. If you can take this power, do.
End Optional Section
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The rains do lose the buff when the duration of Aim or Build Up wear off. It's a bummer, but it's better than nothing. Which they used to get, I believe.
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Wow, learn something crappy every day. Guess I'll be modifying my attack chain a bit. 
I like your add ons, but it might threaten to overwhelm a completed newbie to blasting. If you're considering an intermediate section, I'd also write something about activation times and how they affect overall damage output. This is sort of a pet peeve of mine, but a lot of ppl just look at the big numbers and don't consider how long it took them to achieve it or that a string of faster, but smaller attacks will often beat the big slow attack out. Then again, there's value to burst damage as well, so maybe something about burst vs. sustained damage might be appropriate for a 200 level course.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
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I like your add ons, but it might threaten to overwhelm a completed newbie to blasting.
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That's exactly what I was afraid of. So this is what I think I'm going to do. I'm going to keep the three introductory paragraphs, because the thing needs an intro anyway. I'm going to keep the bit about Aim, and possibly the stuff about the T1 and T2 blasts. The rest of it will go--or I may make it an annex at the end. If I do that, I may also add some of that other stuff you're talking about.
If I get really ambitious, I'll make this multi-part, and do an overview of secondary sets. With all the variety, that'd be harder, so I'll think about it.
I probably will do a little editing on the original today. I'm home with some kind of stomach bug, and I have to do something to occupy myself.
I liked this guide alot! I do want to make a side mention (and this is very small) but Elec with Ice can provide a team with alot of viable control options (Ice Patch, Chill Blain, Tesla Cage) while Ice Patch doesn't completely stop them, it's certainly a huge boon to blasters wanting to keep melee attackers at bay.
Ipso_Facto, thanks so much for doing this. Although there are some other comparison guides they are all rather old and dusty. You write clearly, and it is a pleasure to read something which summarizes so much information.
I look forward to your upcoming guide on the secondaries!
Great Guide Ipso.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas Jefferson
So, I wrote this thing. There've been a lot of questions here of late along the lines of "what blaster should I pick", "is this set good for soloing", etc. Well, I thought, I have a little free time, maybe I could write a little guide for that.
This was just supposed to be the first part, a short overview of all the primaries. But then it grew ..... So, well, then I figured maybe it could just stand on its own. Let's see what others think.
So here are my questions for the gallery:
1. Is it worth posting as a guide? Think it'd be helpful to players new to blasters who are trying to pick out a set?
2. Did I get anything really wrong, or miss something important? A lot of this is opinion, because it has to be, but what I'm trying for is a balanced view of each set, what they're good at or not so good at compared to other sets, plus any special quirks they might have. I'm totally open to changing something if the consensus is that I'm wrong.
3. I'm pretty iffy on AR, Electric, and Psychic. I haven't played them that much, so a lot of what's there comes from just browsing forum posts, or looking at the numbers and guessing. If anyone who actually has experience with them could chime in with any suggestions, that'd be great.
4. I have nothing for PvP, because I know very little about it. Think that's a problem? If anyone wanted to fill me in, I'd include it.
5. This one again: is it worth posting as a guide? I'm serious about the question, because I'm not sure.
So, hope for some feedback.Thanks.
Edited to incorporate some comments, (6/9 1:25 pm).
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(Intro paragraph goes here. Will write this later.)
Archery
Single target damage: About average. 3 blasts (Snap Shot, Aimed Shot, Blazing Arrow), 1 snipe (Ranged Shot). Blazing Arrow has Fire DOT in addition to its regular damage, making it a higher DPS attack, but its cast time is a little slow.
Conventional AoE damage: About average, if you don't include the non-standard nuke, excellent if you do (see below). 1 cone (Fistful of Arrows), 1 spherical AoE (Explosive Arrow). Fistful is the only short-ranged attack in the set (40 feet). Explosive does knockback.
Nuke: non-standard. Rain of Arrows is a location AoE with an 80 foot range, and does less damage than a traditional nuke but with a much shorter recharge and no endurance crash. This makes it easier to use, and more efficient, than a standard nuke (but, at least for some peoples taste, less dramatic). Since its cast at a location, it can be cast from around a corner, so you're out of line of sight for possible retaliation.
Controls: Below average to average. 1 ranged ST Stun (Stunning Shot). Explosive Arrows KB also provides some mitigation.
Damage type: Almost all Lethal. Blazing Arrow has some Fire (DOT), and Explosive Arrow has a Smashing component. Lethal is one of the damage types commonly resisted by NPC's.
Secondary effect: All attacks have increased Accuracy. Blazing Arrow has extra DOT, and Explosive Arrow has a chance of knockback.
Range: High. All but two attacks have range of 80 feet or more, including the nuke. The exceptions are Fistful of Arrows at 50 feet and Stunning Shot at 60 feet.
Notes: Archery is renowned as an AoE powerhouse, and it is one; but this is only true after level 32, with Rain of Arrows. Before level 32, its AoE potential is no better than average.
Because of its high range, Archery is an excellent choice for an all-ranged blaster.
Redraw of the bow can be a disadvantage. There is no archery-based secondary, so no matter what secondary you take, youll be forced to redraw the bow every time you use a secondary (or pool) power and then switch back to the primary.
Assault Rifle
Single target damage: A bit below average. 2 blasts (Burst, Slug), 1 snipe (Sniper Rifle). Ignite can also provide ST damage if your secondary has an immobilize, as most do.
Conventional AoE damage: Very good even if you don't include the nonstandard nuke (see below), even better if you do. 2 cones (Buckshot, Flamethrower), 1 spherical AoE (M30 Grenade). Ignite is also an AoE, albeit small and taking a little effort to use.
Nuke: non-standard. Full Auto is an 80-foot, 20-degree cone. It does less damage than a traditional nuke but with a much shorter recharge and no endurance crash. This makes it easier to use, and more efficient, than a standard nuke (but, at least for some peoples taste, less dramatic).
Controls: Average. 1 ranged ST Stun (Beanbag). Several powers have a chance of knockback.
Damage type: Mostly Lethal. Ignite and Flamethrower do Fire damage, and M30 Grenade has a Smashing component. Lethal is one of the damage types commonly resisted by NPC's.
Secondary effect: varies by power. All attacks have slightly increased accuracy. Burst does a bit of defense debuff. Several other powers have a chance of knockback.
Range: Three powers, including the two conventional cones, are short-ranged (40 feet). Beanbag is 60 feet; the rest are 80 feet or above.
Notes: Assault Rifle is called the king of cones for good reason. Its emphasis is more on AoE than single-target, which makes it a good team blaster. The cones benefit a lot from range boosts, either from Energy Manipulations Boost Range power or from range slotting.
AR has a unique power in Ignite. This is a location damage powerall foes who enter the area while its active will take ticks of damage. Unfortunately, it has a very small area (4 foot radius), and includes an avoid component, so anything that enters it will run out as soon as possible. If foes are somehow immobilized in the patch, it can be very effective; youll need either something in your secondary, or a cooperative teammate.
Its the only set that does not include the Aim power.
It has the same redraw problem as Archery. No matter what secondary you take, youll be forced to redraw the gun every time you use a secondary (or pool) power and then switch back to the primary.
Electrical Blast
Single target damage: Below average. 2 blasts (Charged Bolts and Lightning Bolt), 1 snipe (Zapp). Voltaic Sentinel also adds to your single-target damage.
Conventional AoE damage: Below average to average. 1 spherical AoE (Ball Lightning), 1 PBAoE (Short Circuit). Ball Lightning is a standard AoE, but Short Circuit is usually more considered for its high amount of endurance drain than for its damage (even though its damage is actually decent considering its large radius.)
Nuke: Ranged, but other than that a typical nuke. You can cast Thunderous Blast from up to 60 feet away. It does extreme damage in a 25-foot radius. With good slotting, and Aim/Build Up, it should defeat pretty much the whole spawn. It also does a lot of endurance drain to any survivors. It will drain you of endurance and keep you from recovering any for 20 seconds.
Controls: Either below average or great, depending. 1 ranged ST Hold (Tesla Cage). Short Circuit can be either fantastic control or not, depending. If you have the /Electric secondary, you can get another endurance drain power; the two powers together can drain the mobs completely and keep them that way, leaving them helpless to attack. If you have /Energy, Power Boost will increase SCs endurance drain enough to do the job that way. If you have enough recharge to get SC to cycle in less than 10 seconds, you can do it that way. If you dont have any of those, then Short Circuit will only partly drain their endurance, which is no better than not draining them at all.
Damage type: Almost all Energy. Thunderous Blast has a Smashing component. Energy does not tend to be highly resisted by NPC's.
Secondary effect: Endurance drain and endurance recovery. All the powers drain some endurance from their targets, with a chance of returning some of it to you. This is handy, but not overwhelming.
Range: Not sure how to rate this. All the powers except Short Circuit have a pretty good range (at least 60 feet, most 80); But on the other hand, the total amount of ranged damage isnt that high.
Notes: Electric Blast is odd in that its performance depends a lot on which secondary its paired with. If paired with /Electric or /Energy, it makes up for its lower damage with a massive amount of safety and control (and these two secondaries also provide a great deal of damage to the combo.) Other secondaries mesh less well and will make for a somewhat lower-damage blaster, but are still very safe with enough recharge (from whatever source) to make Short Circuit cycle quickly.
Note that when I say its below average or lower damage, I mean for a blaster. It still does more damage than most other characters can do.
Electric is the only blaster primary that comes with a pet, Voltaic Sentinel. It follows you around and shoots electric bolts at your enemies. Its untargetable and cannot be destroyed.
Energy Blast
Single target damage: About average. 3 blasts (Power Bolt, Power Blast, Power Burst), 1 snipe (Sniper Blast). Power Burst is short-ranged (40 feet) and a little slow, but a nice attack, with a high chance of knockback.
Conventional AoE damage: About average. 1 cone (Energy Torrent), 1 spherical AoE (Explosive Blast). Energy Torrent is short ranged (40 feet). Both have a 50 percent knockback chance, which actually makes them pretty good mitigation
Nuke: When people think of a blaster nuke, Nova is usually what theyre thinking about. Its PBAoE in a 25-foot radius. With slotting and Aim/Build Up, should take out just about a whole spawn. All mobs hit will be knocked back. It will drain you of endurance and keep you from recovering any for 20 seconds
Controls: At least average, depending on how well you leverage your knockback. Solo, all the KB gives you about the best mitigation you can have. On teams, its still good mitigation, but it can also slow the team down, or even endanger it, if used indiscriminately. In addition to the chance of KB in all the powers, Energy has one power (Power Push) whose sole purpose is knockback (single target, 100 percent chance of KB).
Damage type: All attacks do Smashing and Energy. Energy does not tend to be highly resited by NPC's, but Smashing does.
Secondary effect: Knockback. All powers have a chance of knocking the target(s) back, with the probability depending on the power.
Range: Fair. Two attacks (Power Burst and Energy Torrent) are at 40 feet, Power Push is 70. The rest are 80 feet or above.
Notes: Energy is often described as the jack of all trades of blasters. It does some of everything blasters do, and does it pretty well, without being outstanding in any of them.
One nice thing about Energy is that its single-target potential matures extremely early: if you choose, you can have all three single target blasts and the snipe by level 8. On the other hand, you have to wait until level 26 before you can have more than one AoE.
Okay, it has to be mentioned: the knockback. You may have heard that people hate teaming with Energy blasters because of the KB. This is true to an extent, but its exaggerated on the forums. KB can be annoying to teams, but there are a variety of techniques you can use to mitigate that; if youre planning to team with your Energy blaster, it would be a good idea to learn them. Even so, a few people feel strongly enough about KB that they will still complain, or even refuse to team with you. This is very rare, though, in my experience. Dont worry about it, and find a different team.
Fire Blast
Single target damage: high. 3 blasts (Flares, Fire Blast, Blaze), 1 snipe (Blazing Bolt). Blaze casts very quickly and is the highest DPA attack in any primary. Flares and Fire Blast recharge quickly (2.18 and 4 seconds, respectively), but do about the same damage and use about the same endurance as comparable attacks that recharge in 3 and 6 seconds. Blazing Bolt is the highest-damage snipe power.
Conventional AoE: high. 1 cone (Fire Breath), 1 spherical AoE (Fire Ball), 1 rain (Rain of Fire). Fire Breath and Fire Ball do slightly higher damage than similar attacks in other primaries. Fire Breaths cast time is a little slow. Rain of Fire is something to be careful with: it makes enemies scatter. It does have a Slow Movement effect, so they wont do it quickly, but they do scatter. This can be good as a panic button to give you some breathing room, but not so good in other situations. If you have some control or Slow Movement from your secondary, or are teamed with someone who can immobilize or slow them, theyll take a lot of damage from being in the rain for its duration. If not, RoF will piss off a team even more effectively than knockback.
Nuke: Inferno is pretty much like Nova, but with more damage and no knockback. Massive PBAoE damage in a 25 foot radius. It will drain your endurance and keep you from naturally recovering any for 20 seconds.
Controls: Essentially none. Rain of Fires fear/scatter can provide a little mitigation, but thats it.
Damage type: Almost all Fire. Fire Ball and Inferno have a Smashing component. Fire does not tend to be highly resisted by NPC's.
Secondary effect: extra damage. This is why all the attacks do a little more damage than comparable attacks in other sets. Fire attacks were balanced for recharge/end by the standard formula, then extra damage (usually DoT) was added.
Range: fair. Fire Breath and Blaze have a 40-foot range. Rain of Fire can be cast 60 feet away. All the other attacks are 80 feet or above.
Notes: If what you want out of a blaster is damage and plenty of it, and dont care about all that sissy mitigation stuff, Fire is for you. Thats what it does. This can make soloing at higher levels a challenge for many people, although its certainly doable. Fire blasters are highly appreciated in teams, at least the ones who dont die all the time.
Speaking of dying: Fires AoE potential, like Energys single-target potential, matures very early. You can have all three conventional AoEs by level 8. Many inexperienced fire blasters faceplant a lot because of all the aggro generated by this, especially at lower levels when teammates mitigation powers arent that powerful yet. This is not inevitable. You just need to time it right. Give your teammates some time to take the alpha and establish some control before you let loose.
Ice Blast
Single target damage: high. 3 blasts (Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, Bitter Ice Blast), 1 combined blast/hold (Bitter Freeze Ray). Bitter Ice Blast is quick-casting, the 2nd highest DPA blaster primary attack, and has higher range than other heavy blasts. Bitter Freeze Ray is hard to categorize: most people use it primarily as a hold, but unlike most control powers it also does decent damage (about midway between Ice Bolt and Ice Blast.)
Conventional AoE: below average to average. 1 cone (Frost Breath), 1 Rain (Ice Storm.) Frost Breaths cast time is a little slow. Ice Storm is a lot like Rain of Fireit delivers its damage over a period of time, and causes enemies to scatter. (See the Fire discussion for more info). Its advantage over RoF is that its Slow Movement component can be slotted to make enemies more likely to stay in for the duration.
Nuke: Blizzard is another rain power. It can be cast at range (60 feet) at a location, and you can also cast it around corners so you're out of line of sight. It will deliver massive damage over a period of 10 seconds. Enemies hit will scatter, but will also be Slowed and have a chance of being knocked down. The movement slow can be slotted. If enemies can be made to stay in the rain for the duration, this is the highest-damage nuke.
Control: Above average. 1 ST Hold (Freeze Ray), 1 ST hold/blast (Bitter Freeze Ray). Bitter Freeze Ray does decent damage, but is usually used as a Hold. Its cast time is quite slow, so is best used at the outset of the fight. Ice Storm causes Slow and scatter, which can provide some mitigation. All attacks slow the movement and recharge rate of the targets. This is fantastic mitigation for a blaster, especially the recharge slow, and without the cost of taking time to use a control power.
Damage type: All attacks do Cold damage. Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, and Bitter Ice Blast have a smashing component; Ice Storm and Blizzard have a Lethal component. Cold damage does not tend to be highly resisted by NPC's; Smashing and Lethal are more so.
Secondary effect: All attacks Slow movement and recharge. As mentioned, this can add up to a great reduction in incoming damage. The movement slow, but not the recharge slow, can be slotted for, and both effects stack.
Range: Fair. Only one 40-foot-range attack (Frost Breath). Bitter Ice Blast is 50 (high for a heavy blast). Freeze Ray, Ice Storm and Blizzard are 60. Just 3 attacks have 80 foot range, and none are higher.
Notes: Ice is the classic blastroller set. Especially if paired with a high-control secondary, like /Ice Manipulation, it can play (if you choose) almost like a high-damage controller. Its among the safest of the blasters, no matter what secondary its paired with. Ice is the only set that can, without assistance, hold a boss at the outset of an encounter.
Ice is known for its single-target strength, for good reason. Its well above the average (Fire and Psychic might be a bit higher). Many discount it entirely as an AoE set, first because Frost Breath is a slower attack while the ST attacks are generally fast, and second because they dont really count Ice Storm. I think this is mistaken, and Ices AoE potential is better than it gets credit for, but its still not an AoE powerhouse.
Ice is an excellent soloist that also brings good damage and a useful secondary effect to teams.
Psychic Blast
Single target damage: high. 4 blasts (Psionic Dart, Mental Blast, Telekinetic Blast, Will Domination), 1 snipe (Psionic Lance.) Psionic Dart, Mental Blast, and Psionic Lance do recharge (but not movement) Slow. Telekinetic Blast has a high chance of Knockback. Will domination has a very high chance of Sleeping the target.
Conventional AoE: low. 1 spherical AoE (Psionic Tornado). The Tornado does recharge Slow and has 50 percent chance of Knockup (not Knockback).
Nuke: Psychic Wail is a standard (Nova-style) nuke: massive damage in a 25-foot PBAoE. It will drain your endurance and keep you from naturally recovering any for 20 seconds. Surviving targets, except bosses, will be Stunned.
Controls: Average to above average. 1 single target Stun (Scramble Thoughts). The knockback in TK Blast, the knockup in Psionic Tornado, and the Sleep in Will Domination all provide some control, although its not completely dependable. The recharge slow in several powers also gives some mitigation.
Damage type: Almost all Psionic. Telekinetic blast also has a Smashing component. Psionic damage is one of the damage types commonly resisted by NPC's.
Secondary effect: Several powers do recharge (but not movement) Slow. One does knockback, one does knockup (AoE), one does Sleep.
Range: High. Every attack except the nuke has at least an 80 foot range.
Notes: Psychic is the newest blaster set, and really hasnt found its niche yet. Its obvious strength is in single-target damage4 single target blasts, all available by level 8, in addition to the snipe. Its obvious weakness is AoE. The high range should also be considered a strength by those who choose to play blasters at range. Control and secondary effects are above average but not overwhelming.
Sonic Attack
Single target damage: about average. 3 blasts (Scream, Shriek, Shout). Shout is short-ranged (40 feet) and quite slow. All three slightly debuff the targets damage resistance (all types) for a few seconds. The debuffs do stack if you attack fast enough to overlap them.
Conventional AoE: Average to above average. 2 standard cones (Howl, Shockwave), 1 damage/control cone (Sirens Song). Howl debuffs resistance for a few seconds. Shockwave does guaranteed knockback (unless target is resistant). Shockwave and Sirens Song are both fairly low damage for cones, Sirens Song in particular (although its not terrible.) Sirens Song is usually more appreciated for its control effect, Sleep, than for the damage.
Nuke: Dreadful Wail is a standard (Nova-style) nuke: massive damage in a 25-foot PBAoE. It will drain your endurance and keep you from naturally recovering any for 20 seconds. Surviving targets, except bosses, will be Stunned.
Controls: Great for solo, probably a little below average for teams. 1 single target Stun (Screech). Sirens Song is a long-lasting sleep in a large cone. Its quite powerful, but can be hard to leverage in teams, especially teams with a lot of AoE. Shockwave does KB, another form of mitigation that can be hard to leverage in some teams but is excellent solo.
Damage type: All attacks except Sirens Song do Smashing and Energy. SS does Energy only.
Secondary effect: Most powers slightly debuff damage resistance for 5-12 seconds. The effect stacks.
Range: Below average. Only two attacks have 80 foot range. The rest are from 40 to 60.
Notes: Sirens Song is a cornerstone of the playstyle of most soloing Sonic blasters. Its quite easy to Sleep an entire spawn (sans bosses) and take them out one at a time with single-target attacks. This is particularly true if you pair it with /Energy or /Electric for more single target damage.
Its hard to quantify the damage of Sonic because of the resistance debuff, which adds to the damage either a little or a lot depending on the situation. Its most important when fighting a single hard targetespecially on teams, since every team member will be doing more damage as a result. In the AoE's, it will increase the entire team's damage against all targets as well, so this is a very team-friendly secondary effect.