I dont think its weak, its just different. The inherant accuracy means that with tactics and TD you can forgo the usual pvp spec minimum of 2 acc SOs and slot recharges and end reds for quicker chains.
As for Energy one shotting stalkers, I have never been one shotted by anything (on my stalker that is 
)
**Acceptable "support" responses**
Its your fault
Its your computers fault
Its your ISPs fault
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I dont think its weak, its just different. The inherant accuracy means that with tactics and TD you can forgo the usual pvp spec minimum of 2 acc SOs and slot recharges and end reds for quicker chains.
As for Energy one shotting stalkers, I have never been one shotted by anything (on my stalker that is )
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It sucks pure and simple AR needs a lot of love to be of any use in PvP. Heck even in PvE it needs some love if it was my choice I would say get rid of it as a choice for blasters now as ED has killed it. I got Sharp Shot from 1 to 50 and all I can say is that it was a chore I was ou damaged by scrappers tankers and controlers and that was before ED after ED you may as well re-roll mate what was once a cool but challenging set has been nerfed to hell and and as far as I see theres no coming back for it. 
I'm currently running a FF / Arc defender on Union, working out ok so far...I know it's not the same, but I figured having a +acc and faster recharge on attack rates would help me solo a bit. If it goes lala, then PFF is there Need to get it a bit higher level to see how it works out.
I was lucky enough to get my AR/Devices blaster to 50 just before ED hit. The effect was way over the top and reduced her to a piece of sandpaper - she just wears the mobs down with weak attack after weak attack. One good thing I guess is that she doesn't do enough damage to aggro anything now unless she opens the fight with flamethrower or something.
She only comes out to play if a sg team needs an additional slot filled. She no longer earns her place on a team as an effective damage dealer. It's sad really but there you go. 5 respecs later and she's just about an acceptable team member but certainly not worthy of being a first choice for a slot. Certainly not on a par with any other type of blaster, in PvE that is, don't know about PvP.
I think AR is still a pretty acceptable set, and can be fun if not spectacular in PvP (in a word: Beanbag - stun and toggle dropping fun.)
Would agree it could use some love though - esp as Lethal and Smash are the most commonly resisted types, could use some more damage types. (For example: you could have a "Build-up" style button for Incendiary Rounds - boosts damage slightly and adds a DoT burn component).
Is it time for the dance of joy yet?
I don't think it's AR but the lack of a Build Up type power with Devices. I'm afraid with that secondary you really won't be doing the types of damage that a /eng can produce. 
I'm Eng/Dev and theres no way I could one shot a stalker. All /dev blasters have no real power I'm afraid. We used to be able to replace a damage enhancement from an accuracy because of Targetting drone but because of ED we don't even have that anymore. The only decent damage I have is mines/teleport and if they nerf that I'll definately **** off.
AR may have it's problems , but I've still not given up on it. Need someone else to do the numbers comparison, but here's my two inf worth.
Burst - Low DoT, seems a lot lower than slug - would like to see this upped a bit (without it being unbalanced compared to other rank 1 attacks).
Slug - Reasonable damage plus knockback. Staple for the set even if my concept is autofire rather than single shot! GRR!
Buckshot - Cone. No idea as it didn't fit my concept.
M30 grenade - Most people slag this off, but I just love all those little orange numbers. A little damage boost wouldn't go wrong. Knockback can annoy other team members (esp. tanks).
Bean bag - Essential for PVP, I believe.
Sniper Rifle - Gone are the days of one-shotting an even level minion and aggroing everything else in a 5-mile radius. Now you still get the aggro but not the damage. Stick a couple of range enhancements and an +acc in slug and it's just as good and can't be interrupted.
Flamethrower - Range sucks, end heavy, takes a bit of fiddling to use well. Burn you suckers, mwuhahahahaha! /em cough. I quite like this one too. Needs range and endreds in addition to dmg enhancements.
Ignite - Not in my build - don't know much about it.
Full Auto - Heard it's been nerfed in both dmg output and recharge time. Will still be taking it.
Not part of the primary set but weapon mastery is one of the most conceptually compatible ancillary pools and the one I'll be taking...
Sleep grenade - No-one seems to like it It might work in a chain with LRM, M30, Sleep and Flamethrower for AoE goodness. I'll be giving it a go, but if it doesnt work it'll get respecced out.
Cryo freeze ray - Everyone seems to like it!
Body armor - yes please!
LRM - Long range nova! Yo mama!
UNION @Flitz 50, Lead Hose 50, Red Rag 50
DEFIANT Rose Bloodthorn 34
VIGILANCE Captain Caledonia 20 - Yeah, I made toons on the French server coz we only had 4 back then (might have to transfer/recreate them on one of the US servers)
..and many more!
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I don't think it's AR but the lack of a Build Up type power with Devices. I'm afraid with that secondary you really won't be doing the types of damage that a /eng can produce.
I'm Eng/Dev and theres no way I could one shot a stalker. All /dev blasters have no real power I'm afraid. We used to be able to replace a damage enhancement from an accuracy because of Targetting drone but because of ED we don't even have that anymore. The only decent damage I have is mines/teleport and if they nerf that I'll definately **** off.
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True. But you do get fun toys to play with on Devices:
- Targeting Drone: combined with AR, you ain't gonna miss much.
- Cloaking Device: I don't know the numbers, but this seems to have better DEF and less end drain than Stealth, plus no movement penalty.
- Trip Mine: BANG!
- Auto Turret: Handy little aggro magnet
...and more 
I'd been thinking of cooking up an AR/Energy blaster for a whiles though... might do one as a test.
Say:
Slug, Power Thrust, Energy Punch, Build Up, Buckshot, Hasten, Beanbag, Sniper Rifle, Super Speed, Conserve Power, Flamethrower, Swift, Health, Stamina, Bone Smasher, Power Boost, Combat Jumping, Full Auto, Boost Range, Total Focus, Body Armor, Cryo Freeze Ray, LRM Rocket, Sleep Grenade
Is it time for the dance of joy yet?
My take on the blaster primaries is that there are some sets that are very definitely a lot better than others. AR isn't one of my favourite primaries really, there just seems to be little it does that another set doesn't do better.
From my experience of the sets I've played Fire and Ice primaries feel the strongest, Ice is by far the easiest to play.
Fire balances out it's massive damage with a complete lack of control and high dependance on good team mates in larger teams to function at full capacity, and by being a comparatively weak soloing set. But when you play in a good team with a well built fire blaster, you really do know about it. There's no question of "I wonder how we're getting through these mobs that quickly?".
Ice blast is definitely most versatile and an already good set will only get better if/when ice storm and blizzard become buffable by aim and build up. Currently the set is comparatively weak in the AOE department which I personally think it needs to be to give it even a semblance of balance. Changing that too much will mean that anyone who puts thought in to making characters that work well will be hard pushed to pick a different primary. Ice has holds, single target damage, a cone, an AOE which is good slotted for slows, a nuke which can be useful for a variety of different things and which does pretty decent DoT. Add the sort of AOE damage that you'd be looking at by making the two AOEs buffable, and unless you're building for concept, why make anything else?
Energy is OK, the AOEs are hard to use well though, combining them is a non-starter in a lot of situations simply because after the first one, you aren't going to hit more than 1 or 2 with the second one anyway. Single target damage is alright, damage mitigation which is good for soloing. For teaming, well, less good. Knockback can be used well but is more often used badly in my experience. Teaming with a nova using energy blaster is a pain in the butt for other squishies - nothing like having several irate bosses land behind your shoulders now well out of any debuffs and looking for someone to take their wrath out on - but for the user itself it's got a fair bit going for it particularly for soloing and small teams.
Electricity Blast is in itself not the greatest of sets, the damage is fairly low, the animations are long, and its low on attacks. A pet for a blaster was never something I liked - I prefer to control my own aggro - and tesla cage, while very handy, really doesn't compare to freeze ray. On the other hand it does have a ranged nuke, it meshes exceptionally well with the electric epic, and with certain secondaries it's a good set for blapping. Used to be a great set with certain secondaries, but end drain was hit particularly hard by ED so now I'd say merely a good set in some circumstances, a moderate set if you're not using elec or energy secondary.
AR. Some reasonable AOEs, OK damage but resistable damage type which detracts a lot more from this as you go up in level, long rooting on a lot of the attacks. Overall I wasn't impressed with this primary. Again, AOEs with knockback are a pain in the butt, the single target damage isn't that fantastic, and blasters, in my opinion, are very much about front loaded damage which is why I dont rate highly the sets without aim/build up.
Archery just seems to be AR made worse, how did they do it? Why did they do it? I hear the "it's low endurance" or "the attacks recharge quicker" and this really doesn't change the fact it's a low damage high endurance cost set. Why high endurance? Because you have to attack twice as many times to get the job done and with the faster recharge on the attacks endurance usage over time is high, damage over time is feeble.
Sonic is the only blaster set I've never played. I teamed a lot with a sonic blaster and was moderately impressed with the set. The AOEs are OK, the resistance debuff is definitely handy at times, but having not played it I'm really not sure how good it is to play. I always sort of fancied trying one, but I hated the animations on the attacks.
[ QUOTE ]
Having great fun with my AR/Dev blaster in PvP. The lask of any special effects pointing back to me when I snipe usually allows me enough time to loose off another couple of attacks before being targetted.
But the sniper rifle seems fairly poor and the lack of "build up" means none of the attacks sub-30 are particularly devastating. I here energy can 1 shot stalkers. Whereas the sniper attack will usually take off around a 3rd of the hps.
So I was wondering how AR compares with the other sets. Comments?
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AR isn't weak on it's own. I think most AR/* will tell you a totally different story than AR/Dev.
A small tip, which I have yet to deploy myself (seeing how I don't own an AR/Dev Blaster ATM) is to try to slot Buckshot and Slug for range. That will efficently put them very close to Sniper Range. It might be worthless, but if one would learn how to control that range, well. Just staying at max range all the time would mean the ability to pull of 3 shots at sniper range.
Before EDs a */Dev Blaster could basicly 6-slot all attacks for damage and run TD 24/7 to provide enough accuracy. Now you don't gain as much by trying to 6-slot your attacks.
There was a bit of discussion in the Corruptor thread about AR. I put some theories in there. Go ahead and have a read. They apply to Blasters as well.
Nova used to be the ultimate in Solo/Team killing; now it's just a Death-Toll for the Blaster unless there's a good taunter/controller on hand and someone else has the primary aggro.
Yay ED
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Buckshot - Cone. No idea as it didn't fit my concept.
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My blaster has it slotted with 3 knockbacks. as the damage is so low its not worth trying to cause damage but the "get away" factor is nice.
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Ignite - Not in my build - don't know much about it.
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It is burn by another name without the immob protection. used with caltrops, or webgrenade can be used for chipping small amounts off the enemies health, or to stop some enemies from running though doors. Nice party trick too.
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Full Auto - Heard it's been nerfed in both dmg output and recharge time.
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It used to be "HAHA Eat lead foul miscreants". Now it's "I am going to DIE!". Should be renamed Full Agro.
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- Cloaking Device: I don't know the numbers, but this seems to have better DEF and less end drain than Stealth, plus no movement penalty.
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If I remember correctly it is the same def, slightly less end and no movement penalty. However since they made it so that if you throw a smoke grenade the stealth drops it is of little use on its own.
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- Trip Mine: BANG!
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Surely you mean,
fiddle
fiddle
fiddle
fiddle
BOOOM
Miss
The damn things take 2 accuracy rolls. One to see if they go off and another to see if they hit. To me this makes them less reliable damage dealers than ignite.
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My blaster has it slotted with 3 knockbacks. as the damage is so low its not worth trying to cause damage but the "get away" factor is nice.
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Silly you . Buckshot recharge speed is exactly the same as Slug. Compared to cones such as Fire Breath and Frost Breath (and AoEs such as Fire Ball and Ball Lightning) it rechages twice as fast. Effectively meaning you can (purely theoretical and mentioned before in that corruptor thread) fit in two Buckshots during one Flame Breath, effectively making the power higher damaging than Fire Breath if you would cycle just the one power.
It's a bad example, but it is a fast recharging cone and will give you more damage over time than other cones in the set. However, as a Blasters main tool of survival is to clear a mob quickly, before they can start hitting back it's counterproductive.
The damage isn't that bad though. As soon as it hits more than one target it's higher damaging and more end effective than Slug for taking out multiple targets. A cone is a cone, no matter how lousy it is. I would slot it for damage.
Another problem is that people tend to think AR/Dev as soon as you spit out AR. There are plenty of */Dev and plenty of AR/* as well. AR/Energy can obviously be pretty fearsome, even those basic attacks suddenly become quite deasant with an early Build Up.
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The damn things take 2 accuracy rolls. One to see if they go off and another to see if they hit. To me this makes them less reliable damage dealers than ignite.
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Yep. But one +ACC slot sorts that out and they're wonderfully effective against boss mobs (particularly Freak tanks - finished the Freaklympics arc last night by playing Trip Mine pinball with Mistah Static).
Is it time for the dance of joy yet?
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The only decent damage I have is mines/teleport and if they nerf that I'll definately **** off.
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With the risk versus reward factor imo it shouldnt be. There is a long action time to laying a mine, a fair recharge to the tripmine power and higher chance in the mine not being used. In teams it is often quicker not to bother with the power at all and no one is going around saying the AR/DEV blaster is a godlike pvp build. "Whilst laying his mines he was mullered by all the villains on the map". My mates stalker for one went completely undetected.
As for ignite i thought it was a bit of an unedgy power but on test using it in combination with webgrenade i think its a wicked power, must be great for pvp on any squishie you can immobilise.
i love my AR i am tempted to lose fitness pool altogether as my endurance only drops when i leave superjump on and fully kit my toon out with all the primaries and secondaries. The damage output aint great and the slash and lethal damagetypes widely resisted, long action times that commit you to a move but has good recharge capabilities.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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Nova used to be the ultimate in Solo/Team killing; now it's just a Death-Toll for the Blaster unless there's a good taunter/controller on hand and someone else has the primary aggro.
Yay ED
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It used to be "HAHA Eat lead foul miscreants". Now it's "I am going to DIE!". Should be renamed Full Agro.
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Nova and Full Auto are still useful tools (and in more situations than the above outlined scenario, Weez). There's entirely no point crying over spilt enhancements, and adding "Yay ED " to the end of every other post you make on the subject isn't going to change anything. I'd suggest maybe learning to adapt your playstyle to reflect the changes, or perhaps dropping down your difficulty if you're finding things to be too great a challenge - but I know I can use Full Auto just as well as I ever did in teams or solo, without jumping into a debt-filled hole at the end of it. In fact, if anything, it grabs less aggro now than it ever did in large teams (aggro cap notwithstanding) - you just can't really use it as an opener and expect to mow down groups of +1 mobs like *that*.
The best part of the ED changes was that we now have Energy/*, Elec/*, and Fire/* Blasters who level past 32 and still use their other attacks. I remember playing at post-32 levels on my Claws/SR prior to the ED changes and going days without seeing an Energy Blaster using anything other than Nova, without hyperbole - upper-level gameplay in random pick-up groups (my guilty pleasure 
) has become more than Herd > Nova > Herd > Nova, and I'm more thankful for that than I am irked that the orange figures I make aren't quite as big as before.
@Synaesthetix
"Here, take some more bees with you. You may need them."
Union: FU//LoUD
"that Syn is that that" - Mothers Love
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The best part of the ED changes was that we now have Energy/*, Elec/*, and Fire/* Blasters who level past 32 and still use their other attacks
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ED had relatively little impact on how frequently people nuke, other than that some people got rid of it. The aggro and AOE caps were what really changed the tanker/herd/nuke that used to be so devastating, and probably quite boring to play with at times. Also, as someone who had an elec and a fire blaster post level 32 before any of these changes, I don't understand how you could not use other powers. The nukes were just the icing on the cake back when blasters were a hell of a lot squishier than scrappers comparative to now, and frankly, needed then to compare in usefulness in team situations.
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ED had relatively little impact on how frequently people nuke, other than that some people got rid of it. The aggro and AOE caps were what really changed the tanker/herd/nuke that used to be so devastating, and probably quite boring to play with at times.
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I was referring to the ED changes in the global sense, sorry if that didn't come through.
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Also, as someone who had an elec and a fire blaster post level 32 before any of these changes, I don't understand how you could not use other powers.
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You and me both, but that didn't mean I didn't see it time and again. Blaster would run in, nuke, and run away (if he was lucky) and do nothing until the nuke had recharged, leaving the rest of the team to clear up any stragglers, whilst the (usually Fire) Tank moved onto the next group. Needless to say, I left those teams very quickly - luckily, I had a good network of in-game friends who I could get good teams with, but that would be of little solace to the more casual players who lacked such a network, and would invariably be forced to team with such groups, or solo.
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The nukes were just the icing on the cake back when blasters were a hell of a lot squishier than scrappers comparative to now, and frankly, needed then to compare in usefulness in team situations.
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This mindset, I don't understand. Whether I was playing my AR/Dev, or whether I was playing my Energy/Energy Blapper (back when Blappers were considered more oddity than uber), I never felt less useful than any Scrapper I teamed with - sure, I couldn't turn into a pseudo-tank, but I could consistently outdamage them. I'm willing to accept that the two builds I chose may have had more damage output (AoE or ST) than other Blaster builds, but I don't believe myself to be that much of an exception.
@Synaesthetix
"Here, take some more bees with you. You may need them."
Union: FU//LoUD
"that Syn is that that" - Mothers Love
No, I can't say I ever had a problem with feeling useful in teams with any of my blasters, but in a time when tankers and scrappers were a lot tougher, from a blasters point of view I wanted to be doing a lot more in other areas because when even in non-herding team it was common place for a tanker to get 2-3 groups at once, which would generally be somewhere between +3 and +5, a blaster was more work to keep alive, both on the part of the player and any defender in the team. The only thing that a fire blaster does better than everything else is damage, it really is. Elec has some other nice quirks, it blaps well, the end drain used to be very good, but fire does damage and that's about it until you add an epic to that. If all you do is damage, then you damn well want to be doing a lot more of it than anyone else.
The nukes were a good balance out at that stage for sets like fire which has very very little in the way of damage mitigation, not in terms of overall game balance, but in terms of character balance in the context of the game at the time.
Think about how survivable a perma-eluding SR scrapper was? An issue 2/3 regen scrapper? Particularly a fully HOed up one of which there were many. At that stage blasters needed something else to put them on an even keel, and the outrageous damage of the nukes, or really any AOEs if you were firing at 30-40 mobs, was a great leveller at that time. Did it make for good team play? No, but then did having virtually unkillable scrappers make for good team play? Or tankers who could herd an entire map then kill them with burn and FSC? Or illusion/radiation controllers who could solo virtually any AV in the game with just a mediocre build? Probably not.
I tend to view most of the I4/5 (think I got my issues right off the top of my head) changes as quite separate from ED, basically because quite a lot of them in my opinion changed the game for the better. ED on the other hand was an abitrary and badly thought out "accross the board" solution, which actually ended up hitting some character types a lot lot harder than others, and it wasn't always the best ones that were hit the hardest. I'm absolutely certain that not all the implications for all the power sets were considered before it was implemented, and it left us with a few sets that really are quite laugable now, and others, which were good anyway, being comparatively unscathed other than the fact they've lost perma-hasten. Personally I have no problem with the game being made harder, frankly, I think it needed it, but I hate badly thought out changes.
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The only decent damage I have is mines/teleport and if they nerf that I'll definately **** off.
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With the risk versus reward factor imo it shouldnt be. There is a long action time to laying a mine, a fair recharge to the tripmine power and higher chance in the mine not being used. In teams it is often quicker not to bother with the power at all and no one is going around saying the AR/DEV blaster is a godlike pvp build. "Whilst laying his mines he was mullered by all the villains on the map". My mates stalker for one went completely undetected.
As for ignite i thought it was a bit of an unedgy power but on test using it in combination with webgrenade i think its a wicked power, must be great for pvp on any squishie you can immobilise.
i love my AR i am tempted to lose fitness pool altogether as my endurance only drops when i leave superjump on and fully kit my toon out with all the primaries and secondaries. The damage output aint great and the slash and lethal damagetypes widely resisted, long action times that commit you to a move but has good recharge capabilities.
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have to say I aggree i dont think since ed there is any "need" for stamina so much as ppl thorght before. I quite happily go with out on a few of my toons and normally up to lvl 24 is where i do my testing, By picking powers i might not be sure about instead of the ones i might know work.
E.g i got the pressence pool on my invul/axe and no stamina. and wow it workes great for me aoe fear is just like more defence to me and team imo.
Also im doing ok with out stamina on my bow/dev blaster atm too only a few times i run out on end but im not fully slotted yet at lvl 24 so will save my respec just in case
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Nova and Full Auto are still useful tools (and in more situations than the above outlined scenario, Weez).
[/ QUOTE ]
Really? I'd find a 2 second animation, with slightly more damage than Explosive Blast followed by 15 seconds of High Aggro/No End; less of a tool and more of a crutch.
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There's entirely no point crying over spilt enhancements, and adding "Yay ED " to the end of every other post you make on the subject isn't going to change anything.
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Slightly unfair on that point Syn; but I think that Statesman blase dismissal of 2000+ posts about ED, including some VERY good points is wrong; and I would prefer that it's looked into at some point.
I've altered my tactics to fit but all that has happened with ED is that it's made the 'tap XP here and there' time happen earlier, thus slowing the end game down.
I can still act as the I4 Weasel if I want, just by going against blues/greens; but the missions aren't accurate enough to provide a decent challenge without having a few of the cull characters which make me burn my inspiration tray trying to stay alive. Defiance is close to useless as I'm already hitting damage cap most of the time.
In the tools department, I'd rather have a mop than the I4 scrubbing machine or the ED toothbrush if I'm wiping floors.
ED took a peak and trough situation and reduced the peaks without touching the troughs. Peaks are where people have fun; and granted, shouldn't be THAT often; but Troughs just annoy.
It was a switch from Primary based Sets to Secondary based Sets and has altered the game purely to coincide with the new one; and I for one would rather the World changed to fit the Actors; rather than the Actors to the World.
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ED on the other hand was an abitrary and badly thought out "accross the board" solution, which actually ended up hitting some character types a lot lot harder than others, and it wasn't always the best ones that were hit the hardest. I'm absolutely certain that not all the implications for all the power sets were considered before it was implemented, and it left us with a few sets that really are quite laugable now, and others, which were good anyway, being comparatively unscathed other than the fact they've lost perma-hasten.
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Not to labour the issue, but could you give examples? I think there's a great deal of difference between perception and reality on this issue, but I'm interested in hearing the power sets you consider "laughable" since the inception of ED.
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Slightly unfair on that point Syn; but I think that Statesman blase dismissal of 2000+ posts about ED, including some VERY good points is wrong; and I would prefer that it's looked into at some point.
[/ QUOTE ]
And including some very POOR non-points as well. I don't blame the guy for not responding to address what amounts only to a difference of perspective, even in the better posts - he's stated that he's happy with the overall effect of ED, and whilst some might see that as a brusque response, it's still a response. The Dev Team are still analysing (and changing) powersets on an individual basis - for my money, it would be far more productive and positive to fully detail any problems you think exist in a powerset/power and suggest possible feasible changes, than to keep banging the drum with "Yay ED ", which smacks somewhat of throwing the rattle out of the pram. A practical, rational argument is far more persuasive than an emotional one, at the end of the day.
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Really? I'd find a 2 second animation, with slightly more damage than Explosive Blast followed by 15 seconds of High Aggro/No End; less of a tool and more of a crutch.
[/ QUOTE ]
(my highlight)
This is part of the reason why I find your argument weak - stating something that is demonstrably not true only serves to dilute any point you have. Nova does far more damage than Explosive Blast, trying to state otherwise is at best sophistry, at worst deliberately misleading.
@Synaesthetix
"Here, take some more bees with you. You may need them."
Union: FU//LoUD
"that Syn is that that" - Mothers Love
You seem in a bit of a bad mood today Syn. Have another coffee, seriously.
As I can pump Explosive blast, but pumping Nova has less effect as I'm already closing on Damage Cap; then using two /three Explosive blasts is cheaper/more efficient/safer/faster/less chance of danger/less annoying than one Nova.
High Damage vs. Extreme Damage is no longer an issue when the Damages are closer to each other.
The original powersets were designed so that Tier 1 was N points better than Tier 2 etc. With the stopgap that ED provides, Tier 7 catches when ED stops working and Tier 8/9 appear to be far less powerful than they were designed to be.
Tier 4 of the Power Pools started to dominate as well until they were 'dealt' with.
With general assumption of Tier 1 Primary being 'skipped' this does leave a large gap as when you are able to magnify Power Effects by SO's; there's still a huge difference the first time you get SO's; but when you 3 Cap them; there's suddenly no significant change.
This may lead to different combinations being used; but the system we have in place atm means that testing all of these combinations is ludicrous; PvP relies primarily on Secondary Effects and TP Foe; and significant differences between the AT's have been watered down to give us a different game to which we were 'brough up' in.
For a Tier 9 power to do similar effects to a Tier 6/7; but to cripple you at the same time seems wrong to me; as you could just chain Tier 2/4/6 (for instance) and acheive the same effect of the Tier 9 with none of the associated risks.
No Energy Blaster would use Nova on an AV/or PvP/or on a Timed Mission/or where he was soloing unless he was showing off; so why would you take this Tier 9 power anymore?
That's the point. Sorry if it seems laboured, but ED has hurt a lot of concepts to the point of unplayability; and it's NOT due to challenge; often to the reverse.
And I really don't post this on every other posts; a lot of mine are constructive; well-meaning or just silly.
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As I can pump Explosive blast, but pumping Nova has less effect as I'm already closing on Damage Cap; then using two /three Explosive blasts is cheaper/more efficient/safer/faster/less chance of danger/less annoying than one Nova.
[/ QUOTE ]The damage cap is persentage of the base damage of the power, not some set number. With the same amount of enhancements in nova and explosive blasts, and the same amount of buffs, nova is just as damaging in comparison to explosive blast than it was prior to ED.
Having great fun with my AR/Dev blaster in PvP. The lask of any special effects pointing back to me when I snipe usually allows me enough time to loose off another couple of attacks before being targetted.
But the sniper rifle seems fairly poor and the lack of "build up" means none of the attacks sub-30 are particularly devastating. I here energy can 1 shot stalkers. Whereas the sniper attack will usually take off around a 3rd of the hps.
So I was wondering how AR compares with the other sets. Comments?
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