Neither one of those gains much from munitions mastery.
AR/EM is the best fit with Munitions as it will give you a hold to leverage ignite with. In either case you have a very bad armor, a redundant Snipe/aoe (You could take that and drop snipe, if you were planning on taking sting of the manticore).
There is just horribly little synergy there. Force or electric would be much better, ice better yet
Arch/Em cant say I have tried but it doesn't look good to me. Arch has little need of boost range, gains very little from power boost (stunning shot the exception). If you do go this way Munitions is just an even worse pairing as there will be no way to get LRM in on aim + BU with ROA
Hrm..
I never really thought of the fact that Archery really doesn't have all that great synergy with EM.. I mean I guess the ranges are already so high that boost range really isnt' going to make a huge difference..
Well.. Now I don't know what I want to do.. haha
50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster
Boost Range is the reason to pair EM with AR. Long range cones make the aoe much bigger. I'm a fan of AR/EM for blasting and causing general mass destruction.
LRM basically gives you a second nuke to pair with FA, and is probably the reason to take the set.
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@Starflier
Well, one thing that Archery gets with /Energy is a bunch of disorienting melee attacks to stack with Stunning Shot.
I agree, though, that, overall, /Energy isn't the best choice for Archery (or for Assault Rifle, for that matter).
One of the advantages of Archery is that you can actually stay at range to deliver your damage, since you don't have any PBAoEs or short-ranged attacks like Power Burst. So, what I think goes best with Archery is a set that allows you to use that range.
The only two Blaster secondaries which let you do that are /Ice and /Devices.
Ice gives you the following (skipping the useless powers):
- Chillblain: The best Blaster immobilize, thanks to its -Run, -Fly, and -Recharge components.
- Build Up: Great damage boost (as I'm sure you're aware).
- Ice Patch: So, a constant knockdown AoE that can neuter a small group of foes instantaneously? Yes, please!
- Shiver: Huge cone that drastically drops your enemies runspeed and recharge rate, allowing you to slaughter them from afar at your leisure.
- Freezing Touch: Not that great on its own, but you can stack it with a hold from your epic power pool to lock down a boss.
- Frozen Aura: I haven't been able to play with this one yet. It's a PBAoE sleep that only affects minions (I believe). A lot of people don't seem to like it, but I can see where it would be useful if a group of enemies manages to get past your other defenses.
Devices, on the other hand, has the following (skipping the useless powers):
- Web Grenade: The second best Blaster immobilize, again thanks to its -Run, -Fly, and -Recharge components. It does no damage, though, which always kind of bugged me. The extra damage you get from, say, Chillblain is quite useful when levelling during the low levels.
- Caltrops: This is pretty much what you're taking the set for. Slows down enemies run speed and then makes them run away from the AoE. If they're running away, they're not punching you in the face, which is very good.
- Taser: Normally this power is kind of skippable, but paired with Archery, it gives another (sort of) ranged disorient to stack with Stunning Shot.
- Targetting Drone: Not the game changer it used to be (ah, six-slotted damage, I remember you fondly), but still quite good. If nothing else, it lets you put another recharge or end reducer in your attack powers instead of a second accuracy.
- Cloaking Device: A Stealth power so you don't have dip into Super Speed, the Stealth pool, or an IO. Not a big deal, but nice.
- Trip Mine: For more single-target oriented Blaster sets, the massive AoE damage Trip Mine puts out is nice, but Archery already has enough AoE (especially once you get Rain of Arrows) that it's not really needed.
- Time Bomb: See Trip Mine.
- Gun Drone: It's always nice to have a pet (especially one that can soak up some agro) but its long set up time is kind of annoying and its damage isn't spectactular.
Personally, I prefer /Ice because of Build Up and the great damage mitigation provided by Ice Patch and Shiver, but either set is viable.
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I agree, though, that, overall, /Energy isn't the best choice for Archery (or for Assault Rifle, for that matter).
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Nothing against everything you have to say about Archery synergies, but I think that /Energy is indeed the best secondary for AR. Mental is also good, Ice used to be fun before the Ignite nerf, but AR+Boost Range is nasty.
Very few better teaming blasters than AR/Em, huge area damage and pretty safe since you're delivering all that damage from well back. At 60-70' you're back far enough for Full Auto to be a decently wide cone, and flamethrower and buckshot are still hitting at that range.
Just to put my two cents in ...
I just got my first blaster to level 35 and she is a Arch/EM and she is bloody awesome 
I stay at max range almost all the time thanks to Boost Range, Hover and the mobs not being able to reach me from that distance lol. I plan on going Munitions also for the LRM Rocket because I enjoy ITF's and other missions with lots of baddies ... and being able to cycle through four AoE's is sick 
AR/EM was my second choice and is also a great combo but don't count out Arch/EM .... I am very happy with mine 
Peace,
Amrat
Grey Ghost Music
I've got an AR/EM and currently making an Arch/EM. Both are absurdly fun especially if you want to stay back out of the main fight and not crowd the tank/scrapper in your team.
AR/EM with its cones is more team-oriented, with Arch/EM's late RoA is more solo till it gets RoA. Both benefit from Boost Range, since they can stay away farther and use the range as a sort-of melee defense tank, especially if they hover.
I've always played the ranged DPS character in nearly all games if I could choose to do so. Some, however, see better use in being a bit closer with a different secondary, and you cant blame them.
Archery, however, demands you practically take all of the primary powers to maximize its use, thereby reducing its "blapperish" synergy.
AR/Em/Mun is a [u]lot[u] of fun on an ITF; you synergize extremely well with a Tanker -- they group the mobs up, and your AoEs flatten them. Boost Range, Build Up, Flamethrower, Full Auto, and all the minions are toasted and the lieutenants are either down or ready to with another hit. And LRM the way I have mine slotted -- three Dmg/Rng HOs, two Acc IOs, and a Rchg IO -- lets you 'reach out and touch someone' from an amazing distance.
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I'd quibble with your views on Munitions with Archery. I personally wouldn't want any of the "AR Powers" with it, but Body Armor and Surveillance are a nice boost for my Arch/Dev/Munitions Blaster. You can pop Surveillance from range (or close, since I have Cloaking Device, etc.) to set up your fight, and Body Armor never turns off even when you're mezzed, and adds on top of ranged defense nicely. Most return fire misses, but Body Armor helps cut down on how much those random shots hurt.
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Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
I'm trying to decide between the two.
Obviously archery gives the second build up which is nice.
Power Boost doesn't seem to synergize with either of them overly well so I'd probably be leaving that one out.
For EM I would probably be skipping:
Energy Punch (Just no room in a ranged build)
Stun and Power Boost
And planning to pick up Body Armor, Surveillance and LRM for Munitions.
Of course If I took Power Boost I could always pick up Cryo Freeze or Sleep and get some enhanced effects..
What would you choose, Archery or Assault Rifle?
50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster