Assualt Rifle questions

I am looking to build a new toon blaster with the Assualt Rifle set. I am fully aware of the other sers being more powerful but I really been wanting to use AR. My 2 questions are:

1. What powers should I avoid?
2. What other set is paired nicely with AR?

I do not solo a lot so I am mainly a team player so if that influences power sets I amanormally in teams.

Opinions will vary of course, but I went with Assault Rifle / Devices just for thematic reasons. All the "powers" in the two powersets are actually external devices of some kind, which fit the concept of that character.

As for what powers to skip in AR... only one I skipped was Buckshot just because of its short range and the fact I already had PLENTY of attacks. Of course, on my AR Corruptor (who does not have a secondary that requires much effort) I took Buckshot and set it on autofire so that if anything gets close enough to me, and I'm not using some OTHER power, Buckshot will activate and (usually) knock them AWAY.

Ignite is situational enough that, even with its massive damage, I could see skipping it. You almost NEED a web grenade or some other means of immobilizing a foe to prevent them from wandering off the very very very tiny Ignite patch. But if you CAN root the foe, then Ignite is nice damage AND it's fire, not lethal (like most of the rest of AR).

Flamethrower has a short range, but it's just too good to skip, I think. Despite what anyone might say, I'd DEFINITELY get Burst and Slug ---- as a blaster, you can use those two powers even while under status effects (asleep, held, stunned, etc).

The only mitigation that AR has (aside from just KILLING STUFF) is beanbag, which is great for stunning pesky LTs like sappers and comm officers and sorcerers and shaman. Some people don't like it because it basically does no damage and only ~stuns~ but that stun keeps a foe out of your hair and I love it.

I have found AR/Ment to be a very nice combination.

Subdual lets you leverage ignite. You have build up which is a must (Under no circumstances pair with devices).

I dropped buckshot as well, with meant I was able to take psi scream, which gave me three different damage types in my AOEs. (Psi, Lethal,Fire) One of those will generally get through.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....ue#Post13726108

The above is my build. Its relatively cheap with good rech and very team friendly.

AR/EM is excellent as well.

Boost range lets you leverage all your cones. If you select teleport as your travel power you then have the fastest form of travel in the game.

Quickguide to AR: RATATATATAT! Boom! FWoooosh! Bthbthbthbthbthbthb! POW! Bwahahahaha!

The last is optional.

As mentioned up above about Flametrower, if I take it, will I miss out on something better? But all in all I should take if I want it, like it, eh?

I originally did not take Flamethrower, but in the high 30s I got to the point I didn't have anything ELSE I wanted so I picked it up. There are still things I don't like about it:

* Short Range -- shorter than the other attacks anyway

* DoT -- does its damage over time, which means foes have plenty of time to attack ME

* Long animation -- I hate getting stuck waving the flamethrower around, unable to move.

That said, there ARE advantages:

* Fire damage type instead of lethal

* Nice big cone

* DoT can defeat a foe after he has run around a corner or out of range so I may not have to chase (of course if the DoT damage were ALL up front he'd just DROP DEAD right there)

for me, the disadvantages are pretty annoying, but then I primarily solo and hence have relatively small spawns. Now that I've got Full Auto, though, I've been working more on using the big cones, so I use Full Auto and as the foes run closer (usually) they close into flamethrower range (and onto my caltrops patch) so then I can use flamethrower, which finishes them off as they try to run away from the caltrops.

So to me I understood that its great for close combat untill Full Auto with some annoying qualities. What the hell, I can still Respec later. Thanks Brach

I, too, went with AR/Dev for teh RP portion and character development...all external items...I skipped Beanbag And Flamethower for the same reasons....it's worked fine so far, lvl 46 and climbing...went Munitions at 41 for Epic for same reasons, if ever on Virtue, Look up Licensed.

I was one of the old AR/Devs back in the day, I never loved it. I tried but Devices ruined all Synergy I was hoping for. In terms of damage Trip mine and Time Bomb are devastating, but unfortunately are very solo friendly as you cannot throw them at said mob or trigger their explosion. Saying Devices is a solo set is an understatement. That being said, its a love hate relationship. Once you hit high enough levels, the sure strength of an entire team will make using your caltraps and mines, obsolete. You can still run in and "alpha" with the tmine but its still and issue I dislike.

With all that in consideration, know that if you pick AR/Dev, you will have access to no Build up type powers. So I would advise for a "better" secondary. EM makes you the "king of cones" making your Full Auto hit more foes which is very nice. Its obviously very strong, and focus's on single target damage. Its just a very fun and fast powerset early on.

If the "pom pom's" arent your thing, try fire melee.

I have an AR/Ice which I find alot of fun.

Ice Patch lets me get more use out of Ignite. I use no melee attacks whatsoever so I use buckshot as my close range/melee attack.

Ice has good amount of skippable stuffs, which will let you supplement your toon with power pools.

with Chilblain, Build Up, Ice Patch, Shiver....your ice package can be most complete.

I got him up to lvl 9 on 2 sewer runs. I like the powers so far so good. I did realize yes caltrops are almost obsolete in big teams but I just then blasted away with my AR. Beanbag I can see the advantages and I like it. Not so good on damage yes, but the Disorient time was nice which can come in handy.

[ QUOTE ]
I have an AR/Ice which I find alot of fun.

Ice Patch lets me get more use out of Ignite. I use no melee attacks whatsoever so I use buckshot as my close range/melee attack.

Ice has good amount of skippable stuffs, which will let you supplement your toon with power pools.

with Chilblain, Build Up, Ice Patch, Shiver....your ice package can be most complete.

[/ QUOTE ]AR/Ice is a powerhouse of AoE damage and debuffing and includes Build-Up. This last factor is not to be trivialized, as it often is by /dev players, who like to pretend damage from Trip Mine and Auto Cannon offset the lack of Build-up, but I tell you, in teams particularly, it doesn't.

The main reason (some) people think of AR as underpowered is because they are used to watching AR/Devs on their teams. Full Auto, Flamethrower, M30 with Build-Up is about 50% more powerful than without it (assuming 100%ish damage slotting).

Build-Up again comes in handy if you plan on taking the Munitions APP, where it boosts the effectiveness of LRM terrifically and allows it to be slotted with only dam/recharge (4 slots to hit ED caps in dam and rech) without fear of accuracy issues.

The power and utility of Ice Patch and Shiver are also tremendous tools for an xx/Ice blaster.

I have an AR/EM that I really do enjoy. He's great solo, and quite fun on teams where he can cut loose even more. I had teammates quipping that I was killing all the mobs on a few teams I was on with him, heh. I've grabbed every power from AR but the snipe, actually. I'd love to be able to fit that in, since it sounds so cool and I rather like snipes. He mostly survives from KB and Stuns, though, so a snipe doesn't really fit in well with that.

I would really recommend getting Buckshot early on. I picked up the M30 in my early levels, since I figured I would want that first because of its much longer range. However, it takes 16 seconds to recharge, which felt like a lifetime when I was mostly using that, Burst, Slug, and the occasional Bone Smasher. The range may be short on Buckshot, but I loved having a much smoother attack chain when I grabbed it.

One other thing. Beanbag is great mitigation, and it pairs decently with Stun from EM. Sure, you have to get in close with Stun, but it's nice to be able to take out a boss of a fight for a long while. This also let's you cut lose with Bone Smasher and Total Focus, with new fear of the boss hitting you back. Nice!

I have an AR/Dev that I really enjoy whenever I play him. Devices is a bit of an acquired taste, but it does have some strong points. For example, Arachnos can be incredibly annoying with their smoke screens, but Targeting Drone totally negates that, along with letting you hit high-defense items like Rikti Drones more easily. Caltrops are VERY nice (my only complaint being the horribly short range). They really put a very effective buffer between you and the mobs. Web Grenade pairs nicely with Ignite. Smoke Grenade stacks onto any defense you're getting from a defender or controller. Tazer is an adequate stun for things that get too close. And they all work nicely in a team setting. Devices gets a rap of being bad in a team setting, but that's really from just those two powers (Trip Mine and Time Bomb).

As for the primary powers, the only one I don't have is Sniper Rifle (which I generally like but didn't have room for). I use all of the other powers frequently. Keep in mind that many do knockback, so you have to use them carefully in team settings, but they function well.

You don't have the damage boost from Aim and Buildup, but I don't find that to be a problem. With almost as much frequency as you'd be using Aim/Buildup, you'll be pumping out heavy damage with Full Auto (though it comes later).

Devices isn't the best secondary (duh), but it does have its charms and grows on you.

My AR/Fire can dish out quite a lot of damage. I'm only at 37 so far but Ignite and Burn are actually both useful for taking on big nasty things, and I tend to have separate attack chains- Full Auto/Flamethrower/M30 Grenade for AoE, Burst/Slug/Buckshot for single target, Fire Sword/Fire Sword Circle/Air Superiority if anything gets to close to me. Yes, I have both Ignite and Burn, since I like fire that much.

Having Build Up and what is essentially Ignite with faster recharge makes the pairing worth it, IMO. Plus there's the level 1 immob, and some nice melee damage- though I tend to use melee as a last resort, to finish foes off or get them away from me.

I haven't tried everything yet though. I recently respeced out of Sniper Rifle (too situational) and picked up Beanbag just to give it a shot- though generally anything that I haven't killed quickly enough can't be mezzed anyway. Knockback is your friend.

Ar/Dev was my first and only blaster to 50. It actually was for me at least the easiest of all my 50s to get to 50.

As others have said, there aren't really any stinkers in AR, and I would hesitate to call it a weak set. I've got an AR/EM (currently lv 37)who just levels spawns, even before boost range came in to play.

Only power I skipped was the snipe (I figured since I was getting boost range eventually I didn't need a super-long range attack, and I was running out of power picks.)

Ignite is powerful, but situational enough I could see skipping it. I mostly use it when teamed with a controller (EM lacks the immob to keep things in it's patch) or on AVs who won't run out of the patch, or as a defense power. Drop it at your feet and enemies will run out of melee range for a minute.

One thing I discovered on the Manticore TF- Ignite and Burn seem to ignore Defense as well as doing tons of damage. Great for removing stubborn bosses. (Paragon Protector MOG, lookin at you)

Let me speak in favor of Buckshot, if only because it gives you the Trifecta of Cones. If you slot Buckshot and Flamethrower for range, leaving Full Auto's range at default, you can get them largely overlapping -- then there's no "Wah, short cone" problem. Cone, cone, cone, and things die. It's a lovely sight.

I will speak against devices, though. I rolled AR/Dev back in Issue Zero, and while it's thematically awesome, my damage was pretty underwhelming and my best tools (the explosives) completely useless on fast-moving teams. Pair it up with a good utility set like En or Ice. Don't plan on blapping -- you want to be a cone master, not a punchy kicky kinda person -- but things like Boost Range, various debuffs, immobs for Ignite, and area denial tools like ice slick are going to help you a lot. And, of course, Build Up, to cut through AR's commonly resisted damage type.

Now that I've had an AR for, oh, FIVE YEARS, I'm keen on the Dual Pistols coming in Going Rogue. I need a new angle on my firearm fun. And hopefully this time it won't lack Aim.

I also encourage you to try Buckshot before discarding it. It's knockback is very useful, particularly in the low levels and the endurance cost is a lot lower than M60 grenade. Full Auto and Flamethrower are the primary damage dealers in the set so take them early and slot them well (as others have noted a little bit of +range helps a lot for flamethrower). Most of the powers are worth taking, the three that I consider marginal are:

M60 Grenade: It's a good power but as the only non-cone AoE it is less useful, also it's endurance cost is high so you need to slot it for end red at lower levels.
Sniper Rifle: It's very useful solo (especially at lower levels) but of limited utility in teams. I like it, but it isn't essential.
Ignite: This power is to situational to allow me to warm to it but the damage is good if you don't mind that.

A couple more thoughss on AR/Dev.....

People say the to-hit debuff of Smoke Grenade is not worth slotting..... I question that. I think it depends on your build. SG has a 4.9% to-hit debuff. A tohit debuff stacks directly onto any defenses you have. Slotted, it adds roughly another 2.5% defense onto your toon, bringing the value up to over 7%. That's not bad. If you have defense from IO set bonuses, you can get some noticeable mitigation. If you're on a team with any defender/controller that either gives defense or debuffs tohit, it stacks right onto it. A lot of characters would jump at the chance to be able to add 7% defense to their character, and it's available to /Dev blasters. The additional slotted defense is not going to be of use for everyone, but it can noticeably contribute to a team and many customized builds. You just have to make sure you slot enough accuracy in it so the debuff sticks.

I recently rolled a AR/Fire Blaster and I am having a lot of fun with it. I just made it to 32 and of the primaries I skipped M30 grenade and Beanbag. I am not sure if they are considered skippable but, I elected not to take them. I recall M30 getting a reputation of being a great way to draw too much aggro, so I avoided it. I left Beanbag out because the stun seemed very situational to my style of play (long range solo, just outside the mobs edge on teams).

I recommend Buckshot, Flamethrower, and Ignite for AOE, though some teams will be bothered by the KB from Buckshot so be mindful of its use. Slug and Burst are staples, and I find that Sniper Rifle is useful both team and solo. I use it often as an opening attack or to pull a mob for the team from the backline (just make sure you have a tank on the frontline to draw the mobs attention as it rushes towards you). It is also a great attack once the mob is tied up with the tankers and scrappers IMHO.

I am still working out all of the nuances of combining my primary and secondary. I have been a little disappointed in the synergy of the two sets I have chosen to this point, but it is still early in the toon's career so I am hopeful a good path will be made clear. Thus far I have taken Ring of Fire, Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, Build Up, and Consume. Fire is PBAoE heavy and I thought I'd be using them a lot more than I do. In the end my Blaster is simply not durable enough yet to make a lot of good use of these power choices.

Recently rolled an AR/DEV and over the last few months I don't really see alll the no Build up and trip mine hate. Get to the Mission and drop 4 or 5 tripmines while people arrive. The goal is to NOT get them blown up.

They provide a defiance bonus of 26.4% per mine dropped. Anyone know if the bonus is additive or multiplicative? Dropping 5 mines and 1 mine between each group gives you about 4 mines going the entire time. The Gun Drone is 39% during its entire life. The 11 seconds listed in the description is incorrect. The bonus last the length of the pets life. Devices "pets" gives you sustained damage increase purely through defiance bonuses over the entire life of the pet.

What the defiance bonus for 5 tripmines that last the entire length of the tripmines? The bonus will go away as soon as a mines blows or self destructs.

Snipe turned from a slightly upgraded slug into a Chuck Norris moment.

Accuracy bonuses from Targeting Drone already.

Also in a group with any controller, bar illusion, and you can FT>FA>Ignite>FT. That should only be useful on those AE boss farms though

Taser seems redundant and I never felt the need for M30.