2 billion inf blaster pvp build... why not?

OldGravyLeg · 06-23-2009 07:12 AM

Let me first say that I did not actually stroll into Wentworths and drop 2 billion influence on enhancements for a pvp blaster. I have played CoH for almost 4 years and have accumulated alot of resources in that time and I have had several other pvp toons that were retired for various reasons. And since I really liked pvping with my sonic/em, I figured why not get crazy with the build. So here it is...

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Lil Gravy Legs 2: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Scream -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Acc-I(42)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(37), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(37), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 2: Shriek -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Acc-I(27)
Level 4: Build Up -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(11), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(17), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(17), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(50)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Shout -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Acc-I(29)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(15), LkGmblr-Def(45), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 12: Amplify -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(13), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(19), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(23), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(42)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(19)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(42)
Level 22: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(25), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(25), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(27), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(45)
Level 26: Screech -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(29), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(33), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(34), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(34), Acc-I(36)
Level 28: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(36)
Level 30: Bone Smasher -- Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(31), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(31), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(33)
Level 32: Sirens Song -- FtnHyp-Sleep(A), FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(36), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(37), FtnHyp-Acc/Rchg(40), FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(43)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Howl -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(39), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(39), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-Def(46), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46), Ksmt-ToHit+(50)
Level 47: Hoarfrost -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Heal(48), Dct'dW-Rchg(50)
Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
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[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]

JKwervo · 06-23-2009 07:36 AM

Your endurance is killing me. X_X

SonicBang · 06-23-2009 07:44 AM

Sirens Song? Howl? Bone Smasher?

ClawsandEffect · 06-23-2009 07:58 AM

Set mules. My Sonic blaster has the purple sleep set in SS as well. Awesome bonuses for dirt cheap, relatively speaking.

Quote:

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.

OldGravyLeg · 06-23-2009 09:58 AM

I made this build primarily for 1v1 duels in the arena. However, I have alot of fun and success in team arena battles and zone pvp.

My main priority in this build was to slot for accuracy first, damage second, and recharge third. As far as I know, these three bonuses are not subject to DR. However, global recharge and the way that hasten stacks in pvp has changed. In any event, it's not worth trying to get perma-hasten in pvp any more.

With that said, there are a few power choices and slottings that may seem a little unorthodox. First off, I took Siren's Song and Howl, powers that are totally useless in pvp. However, they give me the opportunity to slot purple sets and the sleep set is quite cheap and gives some great set bonuses. Next, you may be asking yourself, "why take a ranged disorient like Screech? I thought mezzing powers were complete crap now?" Yes, the duration is only 2 secs now, but you would be surprised how effective a well timed mez can be in a tough fight. Trust me, this can work, plus it will drop any offensive or debuffing toggles.

The next obvious head scratcher is my selection of the Leadership pool in favor of the very popular Medicine - Aid Self choice. The main reason for this is my selection of Cold Mastery's Hoarfrost which is a big heal, around 40%, and it boosts your HP to the blaster HP cap of 1606 for 2 minutes. In my case thats only a boost of about 50-75 HP, but every little bit helps. It also gives you some Toxic resistance, but that really isn't much of a factor.

About Aid Self, personally I never liked this power mainly because it can be interrupted and, because of its quick recharge, is subject to Heal Decay. Also, I didn't have room in this build to slot it properly or take Power Boost which is really only good for boosting heals now. Power Boost will boost healing power by about 40%, which can be helpful, but it no longer boosts defensive shields. But if you feel the need for another self heal, good luck. Aid self is pretty easy to slot, just frankenslot it. Use either 4 heal/rech/end IOs or 2 heal/rech/end and 2 heal/rech on it, and then fill the last two slots with interrupt reduction. This will make it pretty much "uninterruptible". However, I have never felt that I needed another self heal. Generally, I fill the healing gaps with small heal inspirations. But be forewarned, using any inspirations will put you in travel suppression for 2 seconds. But doing pretty much anything in pvp does that these days.

The Leadership pool gives me two important things, 10.5% damage buff (nice!) and with the Kismet +acc proc, a constant 16.5% tohit bonus (well 13% with DR). Now I realize that tohit is pretty much capped at 20% now and having tactics negates most of the tohit bonuses of Build Up and Amplify (Aim), but those powers were hit pretty hard by DR in the first place. Expect to have somewhere in the range of 68-80% tohit bonus in pvp. In my opinion, they are best used seperately as a damage boost now. If you couple that with the damage bonus of every blaster attack, the need to carry a bunch of reds for damage spiking becomes largely unneccesary. Oh, and don't forget the perception bonus tactics gives. Pretty much everyone has at least a stealth IO, and as the saying goes, "you can't hit what you can't see."

I have given some thought to respecing out of the Leadership pool in favor of the Concealment pool, but have yet to do so. I'm starting to see more people using Phase Shift in the arena recently. If you choose to go this route, skip Hibernate since the no-phase period will really only leave you time to use one of these powers effectively.

I have also seen a few blaster skipping the epic shields, but I would not recommend this. Yes, Ice Armor's elusivity was reduced to 10% and all the resistance and defense stats are hit pretty hard by DR, but something is better than nothing. And in order for a blaster to do well in pvp, they must be able to outpace their opponent in terms of damage dealt vs damage taken. My stats for resistance are: s/l - 28.6% (38.9% w/ archmage), fire - 40% (45% w/ archmage), cold - 42.9% (46.5 w/ archmage), nrg/negative - 30.3% (40.5% w/ archmage), psi - 28.6%, toxic - 35.9% (38.8% w/ Hoarfrost, 42.5% w/ archmage); defense stats: base - 0%, ranged - 8.14%, melee/aoe - 0%, s/l - 11.42% (19.65% w/ archmage), fire/cold - 0% (18.7% w/ archmage), nrg/negative - 15.19% (20% w/ archmage), psi - 11.42%. Note - Archmage is a PITA to get, but it is really worth getting. I usually pop it in the last minute of a duel to give me that little edge sometimes needed to win.

Snow Storm is a personal favorite of mine. It does two very important things, slow recharge time and it puts your opponent in perma-travel suppression. It can also interrupt any power that is "interruptible" like Aid Self or Snipe. It is a toggle debuff so it will drop if you are stunned/held/etc. But as long as you maintain contact with your opponent, it will stay up.

Now for the dreaded HiberNoob! Ignore the taunts in broadcast and use this power! You will need it. They recently changed the appearance of this power so its not as easy to spot. So you get the added bonus of watching people vainly attack you while you hibernate. Note - you cannot hibernate to hit someone in hibernate like you can with Phase Shift. It is also important to note that the activation time is 0.5 seconds so dont wait until the last moment to use this. Also, the regen and recovery are slower than they were in the past so you will need to stay hibernated longer, and any DoT on you will remain so it is possible to be killed while in Hibernate. And there is the no phase period to be aware of, however, the recharge time of Hibernate is about the same as the no phase period so this isn't a big issue.

For those of you who didn't know, the inherent ability, Defiance, has changed. A blaster not only gets a stacking damage bonus from every attack, but they can also use the three powers available at level 1 when mezzed. In my case, Shriek, Scream, and Power Thrust are all usable when held, stunned, or put to sleep. This is important to keep in mind when playing or fighting a blaster. And you will definitely want to have these three powers well slotted for damage and accuracy.

Tactically, you will want to play your blaster aggressively. The best defense for a blaster is a good offense. My attack chain almost always starts with Snow Storm to slow them down, Boost Range quickly followed up with Scream and Shreik to get those resistance debuffs stacked (13% res debuff for 10 seconds), pop Build Up and hit em with Shout. Shout will generally hit for at least 500-600 damage doing this. If that isn't enough to put em down, I use Screech to stun them and disrupt any heal attempts or fleeing and start the chain over. A Sonic blaster can hit extremely hard and I believe has the most burst damage potential of any blaster (very important in pvp).

I have had the most trouble against Stormers. They have some really nasty KB and tohit debuffs. Use Boost Range and try to stay out of melee range. Snow Storm will help with Regens, but you may still struggle against a really good Regen, fortunately for us, most of them have left the game. Well built Dominators and Masterminds can be a tough for anyone, so that goes without saying. With this build, you have enough accuracy to hit through most defensive shields.

Well, that's my 2 cents on Sonic blaster. I hope this helps out a few people. And I would encourage everyone to give pvp a try. Even with all the changes, it can still be alot of fun. If you don't have a ton of influence to spend on a pvp toon, don't worry, alot of the big bonuses given by the ultra-expensive io sets are largely negated by DR. Slotting with yellow and orange ios and a bit of knowlegde and skill can result in a very good pvp blaster. I hope to see some of you out there, I'm on Victory server. As far as I know, PVPEC hosts an arena fight night on every server. This can be a fun and friendly way to improve your pvp skills.

Special thanks to my SG mates, Xury and TDX for contributing to my knowlegde and skill as a pvper.

SonicBang · 06-23-2009 10:23 AM

Thanks for the Sonic tips, I'm sure it will help alot of people that look at this thread!

Normally I don't get much use out of snowstorm after they ruined slows, and in my case it has never EVER caused anything like "perma travel suppression". I still have it as it is a great utility power, but most of the time I play in zones and its really more of a 10 second fight than a 10 minutes duel.

And I don't think anyone would disagree on you're powerchoice of screech and leadership. IMO EVERY blaster should have a mez, because when you fight a rad, cold, or dark, you need to have the power to untoggle them. Also, screech debuffs resistance so it isn't that bad to include in the attack chain.

Leadership if obviously priceless for the damage buff and TACTICS, because perception is a MUST in pvp.

And as a sonic blaster, you have to be careful when you use shout, because you WILL be AS'd if there is a good stalker in the zone. Always lookout for stalkers in the zone or stalkers nearby you. After playing as a Sonic blaster and being AS'd while using shout, and playing a stalker and AS'ing sonic blasters while they use shout, you MUST be careful where you use it!

ClawsandEffect · 06-24-2009 07:11 AM

[ QUOTE ]
And as a sonic blaster, you have to be careful when you use shout, because you WILL be AS'd if there is a good stalker in the zone. Always lookout for stalkers in the zone or stalkers nearby you. After playing as a Sonic blaster and being AS'd while using shout, and playing a stalker and AS'ing sonic blasters while they use shout, you MUST be careful where you use it!

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true. My Sonic/Devices is a hoverblaster. I've pretty much quit PvPing due to some drama on my home server. But when I did I noticed that I didn't get ASed very much. Seems not many stalkers take Fly.

Quote:

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.

Gr33n · 06-24-2009 07:40 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And as a sonic blaster, you have to be careful when you use shout, because you WILL be AS'd if there is a good stalker in the zone. Always lookout for stalkers in the zone or stalkers nearby you. After playing as a Sonic blaster and being AS'd while using shout, and playing a stalker and AS'ing sonic blasters while they use shout, you MUST be careful where you use it!

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true. My Sonic/Devices is a hoverblaster. I've pretty much quit PvPing due to some drama on my home server. But when I did I noticed that I didn't get ASed very much. Seems not many stalkers take Fly.

[/ QUOTE ]

i have fun on my sonic/devices also...

no sets on the guy yet, just plain IO'd out. Still does fine considering my poor skills.

No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded...
"The potato goes in the FRONT."