To nuke or not to nuke?

yes lag spikes mwhahahahaha

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If you're a PvPer, I'd say not to take the nukes, but I don't think you're one of those hardcore people saying I ONLY PLAY PVP. So, w/e xP

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Before defiance was changed you could eat a few lucks drop down from a high fall [capping defiance] in a group and nuke... killed many villains that way... but I was always un orthodoxed when I PVP'd since I did it seldomly.

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True, but that was "BEFORE" the defiance change =/ (Sadly...)

<without reading the thread>

NUUUUUUKE!

*presses the big red button*

It is definately worthwhile to get the nuke power. Thats what blue inspirations are for. Blasters need blues for recovery after nuking just as much much as Tankers need to keep their defense toggles up. Just convert or save blue inspirations. Depending on how you slot your nuke power... you can take minions with lieutenants by double self buffing ( aim + build up ). I have never had a complaint with my Psychic Blaster unleashing psychic wail against enemy groups, AVs, GMs, in patrols, mishs, and TFs. I almost get wows on on how many mobs I can take out at once. Plus Psychic Wail does leave a majority of leftover mobs stunned with - recharge. Dreadful Wail is just as effective for sonics with stun and damage debuff. Nova Blast for Energy is just fun to watch enemies mobs fly and pretty much eliminates the mob group. If it doesn't, most of the mobs have no more than 1/4 to 1/3 of their hit points left. Its just wise to have a nuke in your arsenal.

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The downtime after a nuke makes you lose damage... unless it's the last spawn of the mission, I don't really see much point in a nuke at all.... I find nukes are not worth spending a power choice on.

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Ever hear of popping some blues?

yummy blues

Hi there, I know there is alot of feedback to your reply, but i wanted to chime in my two cents. The great thing about coh is no two builds, characters are the same. You could stand two Energy/Energy blasters right next to eachother, and have them attack the same group, but the way they do so might be very very different. This being said, you can take this down to the single power level. How I use my nuke may be totally different from the way you use your nuke.

One blaster may set out and use his nuke to be up as often as possible

One blaster may wish to do as much damage as possible

One blaster may wish to use there nuke as a swansong

Another may wish to use it to save the life of a fellow hero.

I guess what im trying to say is figure out your own play style, and fit your new power into it. I personally want my nuke to drop as many bad guys as I can, and I want it to be up as often as it can be. On an eight man team my nuke is constanly down due to me using it everytime i can.

on my main blaster i can nuke every few groups and the bosses have mabey 1/4 helth left.

now this took work but i didnt spend billions doing this. but when slotted corectlly a blasters nuke is a thing of beauty.

now on non blasters i dont care for it much. atleast the big nukes that drain end cuz they dont do enought dmg. but rain of arrows and fallout no cost def nukes are ok.

Its funny, i hit 50 on my ele/dev blaster w/o a single debt badge. I wasn't afraid to fight (just ask any of my crew that hit 50 with me) but I played smart. Count to 3 after the tank rushed in, look at how the battle is going, know when to step back an teleport people to the healer, know how to pull when things get rough. We usually ran at a fast pace. Rado's were our prefurred way to level, with a TF from time to time. That being said, with all the PLing that MA has bread, I like seeing a debt badge or two on my teammates. But having more than a couple before 40 means you cant play the game and will get me killed. I don't care about debt, I care about downtime from party wipes.

I use the Nuke sparingly when playing solo. It's mostly a "panic button" power for me, if I'm getting too much melee aggro. In team situations, it's also my "panic button", but I'm also more likely to use it if I happen to be in a massive mob -- and the temptation to cut loose in anticipation of that huge "BOOM" is too great to resist! ;D

In all cases, it doesn't hurt at all to have a few Blues on hand.


W4E

I have an elec/dev and I almost never nuke when I solo. Only in an "OH CRAP that mob was WAY bigger than I thought!" moments.

However on a team I nuke almost as often as it is up. Because it does a decent amount of damage and end drain is ftw. To counter act my end drain I just make sure I have two or three blues and then I'm back in action instantly.

Reasons I wouldn't nuke every time I can on a team include.

1) More than one blaster, there's no point in both blasters nuking the same mob. I have seen four blasters sequentially nuke a mob when the mob has been all but dead after the 2nd.

2) If my nuke does massive knockback or causes them to scatter, elec doesn't really cause this but blizzard and nuke do.

QR

So I took my nuke at 32 (Nova) and loved it ever since...but I had also eagerly anticipated getting it. Hooray for searching Youtube for videos of it in action!

Personally, I rarely use it while solo; I play slow and on heroic, so I hardly ever have enough huge groups to explode. The "mini-nuke" effect of Energy Torrent/Explosive Blast works just fine.

On teams...especially big 8-man teams...it's crazy fun. Some of my favorite moments were watching a tanker herd Freakshow mooks by the dozen to in front of a collapsed dumpster in one of the Portal maps, then jump in and use Nova (after Aim and Build Up, of course). I never even bothered with inspirations, because the rest of the team obliterated the remaining spawn before the crash effect wore off...and with Stamina working nicely I had recovered quite enough endurance to explode again by the time we reached the next group.

So, to the OP...Nukes are wonderful ways to be endlessly entertained in spite of their long recharges (even on crash-less powers like Rain of Arrows). Maybe if you're not thrilled with it you don't need to take it right away at 32...but I would suggest you take it at some point (or take advantage of the dual build option, if you decide against it for your "main").

An old blaster friend told me this once: NUKE EVERY TIME ITS UP.

And so I did. And still do. And destroy everything in my path.

What does YMMV stand for? What is a nuke? I have not heard of these terms yet and I am seeking for answers. What a great forum we have here, eh?

Nothing says WIN like hitting the nuke to drop a tough AV.

YMMV = Your mileage may vary.

In other words: Don't expect what works perfectly well for me to work just as well for you.


Edit: Wow......three responses to the same question in as many minutes. You can really tell when the game's down. XD

I have a 50 eng/eng blaster and I nuke whenever I feel its necessary. This is usually saved for right before dying or when it can help the team stay alive a little longer. It DEFINITELY depends on whether ur on a farming team or running a REAL mission. A farming team is based on speed kills which can be detered by KB. A real mission is all about staying alive and if ur team is about to wipe a well placed/timed nova CAN save the day. But I also always announce right before I nuke just out of respect for my teamates.