Institute : The thinking man's Fire Blaster

When my Controller hits 50, I'll have a level 50 toon for each of the basic 5 AT's on Union. But I miss the days when I dealt some actual Damage on Heroes, so, with limited slots on Union, I've been on Defiant creating a few Blaster and Scrappers.

Since my level 50 Blaster on Union is Archery/Elec, she tends very much to single-target damage (except Rain of Arrows, of course [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]) and Blapping, so she is not what one would call a "proper" Blaster. So, on Defiant I'm striving to find a good "proper Blaster" build, i.e. plenty of AoE's, a Nuke, more team (and Tanker) dependant, but with a little solo-ability thrown in.

So, Fire is the obvious choice for Damage, especially where AoE is concerned, and Ice seems good for providing that little bit of support and solo'ing ability, so find below a prospective build for Institute, currently a level 4 Fire/Ice Blaster. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

1. Fire Blast
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
1. Chillbain
--> 2xAcc
2. Frozen Fists
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
4. Fireball
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
6. Rain of Fire
--> 3xDam, 2xEnd, 1xRec
8. Swift
--> 1xRun
10. Chilling Embrace
--> 2xEnd
12. Combat Jumping
--> 1xEnd, 3xDef
14. Super Jump
--> 1xJump
16. Health
--> 3xHeal
18. Blaze
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
20. Ice Patch
--> 3xRec
22. Stamina
--> 3xEnd
24. Build-Up
--> 3xRec
26. Blazing Bolt
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
28. Aid Other
--> 3xHeal, 1xInt
30. Acrobatics
--> 2xEnd
32. Inferno
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xRec
35. Freezing Touch
--> 2xAcc, 3xDam, 1xEnd
38. Aid Self
--> 3xHeal, 1xInt
41. Personal Force Field
--> 2xEnd
44. Temporary Invulnerability
--> 2xEnd, 3xRes
47. Force of Nature
--> 3xRec
49. Aim
--> 3xRec

Notes
Aim left to very late in the build because I'm not sure it's needed in PvE when I'm slotting everything with 2xAcc, and Aid Self is a much higher priority.
No Fire Breath or Ice Sword because they don't fit the concept, being that he's a Techie Hero.
Once again taking the route of the limited Mez protection offered by Leaping and Medicine pools.

Main Concerns

The only thing that really concerns me are the prospect of Bosses and Elites. Without a couple of Holds or Disorients to stack up, there's no way I'm going to be mezzing them for safety.

However, what I do have is Chilling Embrace, Ice Patch, Aid Self and a load of Damage. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] (Ignoring the Hold aspect of Freezing Touch as it's being used more as a Melee attack, and is therefore slotted accordingly.)

I'm guessing a viable tactic when Bosses etc are encountered is to Snipe from range, run round a corner, drop Ice Patch on afore mentioned corner, let the Boss run on to the patch then bounce merrily while I roast him to death.

So What I need to know I guess is: How good is Ice Patch? Will it keep Bosses bouncing considerably often enough to effectively neuter them?

The other concern would be Endurance. No powers like Power Sink are included in either set, so I might be taking a knee more often than I'd like ...

So, whattaya reckon? Is this build sexy for PvE? Will I struggle with Bosses and the like? Should I give a crap when things will be buring and dieing around me?

And yes, I did have time to think about all this and type it into Notepad while the Forums were down. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

any particular reason why you went for ice secondary [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] i'd recomend fire secondary with fire primary, fire sword cricle and consume are lovley [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Ice patch is perma out of the box, just slot the default with 1 recharge - unless you want multi patches. For any mob types without KB res, it will keep happily keep bosses on their backs.

Slotting wise, CE is much nicer with 2end/2slow.

Do you really want to use aid other that much? Perhaps aid self slotted 3heal/2rech/1 interrupt might be better use. You'll need it! :P

I doubt you'll need 2 acc in inferno either. 1 is fine when used with aim and build up. Better to slot a couple of toHit buffs in aim imo.

And same with Blazing Bolt. 1 acc,3dam,1 int,1end, enables you to use it in combat. Has a reasonably high accuracy and again with aim/bu should hit most things.

Combat jumping really does give so little def for those slots. The default 1 slotted for defense is fine. The end use is minimal and really not needed, even in an end heavy build.

And ice sword really is worth taking imo. Even if it doesn't quite fit the concept (how do you explain frozen fists?), i'm sure you can think of summat Mbar! [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Yeah, but */Fire offers nothing in the way of Damage Mitigation, which is what I believe you need if you want to have an easier time versus Bosses and the like. */Fire is all Damage, and mostly AoE Damage at that.

Good news about Ice Patch then. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I'll whip the additional slots out of it and put them in Chilling Embrace.

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And ice sword really is worth taking imo. Even if it doesn't quite fit the concept (how do you explain frozen fists?), i'm sure you can think of summat Mbar! [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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You see, according to Hero-Planner, Frozen Fists actually does more Damage than Ice Sword. It's probably lieing to me, but whatever ...

As for why no Ice Sword, partly because I don't want to go Blapping too heavily again, but also conceptly. I'm thinking along the line of the toon using a coolant which freezes on contact with air, hence all he has to do to get Frozen Fists is have his gloves quickly excrete a coating of the coolant over his hands, equally instant Ice Pom-poms. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Crafting a sword out of Ice in a spilt second is a little bit more difficult ... [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Ice sword does way more damage. I'll show you if you're around tonight. And with all the tech available sure it's just an ice sabre? Instant ice sword created by using a hand held propulsion device to shoot said coolant into the air which freezes on contact. Designed just so that it reaches a certain distance before the coolant reacts and freezes. The sword breaks on contact when you've hit something meaning you have a finite (endurance limited!) number of 'shots'.

Kron' lil explanation could also then explain Freezing Touch and Ice Patch.......

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Kron' lil explanation could also then explain Freezing Touch and Ice Patch.......

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Indeed. 3 different setting on the device which at the touch of a button projects the coolant in different ways! [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Maybe even 4 settings, with the 4th spraying it as a thin mist rather than a direct bolt (for CE)

Concepts ftw!

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Kron' lil explanation could also then explain Freezing Touch and Ice Patch.......

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Nah, thats easy. Thats inaccurate projection of coolant over an area (whether the area is a badguy or the ground).

Kronos is talking about accurately firing coolant into the shape of a sharp(ish) Ice Sword.

Again, that's a little harder to explain away. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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Kron' lil explanation could also then explain Freezing Touch and Ice Patch.......

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Nah, thats easy. Thats inaccurate projection of coolant over an area (whether the area is a badguy or the ground).

Kronos is talking about accurately firing coolant into the shape of a sharp(ish) Ice Sword.

Again, that's a little harder to explain away. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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Not really. If you propel the coolant at a certain speed, and you know how quickly it react with the air, the forming of the sword is just a by product of how it projects. I.e. excess forming at the sides. The projection is done from a thin rectangular slot giving rise to a wideish 'sword' shape, with gravity affecting the shape, hence the curved tip, which you just flip round to have an upward curved tip. [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Oh, and it doesn't have to be 'sharp' as such. You are going to hit someone with a big sword shaped block of ice...it's gonna hurt.

The settings on the device change the shape and projection speed of the coolant! Simple! [img]/uk/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Slotting of ice fist is really not to be recommended. It's really nothing more than a mediocre attack and for a squishy, I can't see it being used much. Most people go blapping with blasters as some of the attacks in the secondary are so effective(total focus etc)., frozen fists is not one of those.

Also, the slots in CJ and health are next to useless as the numbers on both are just not worth it. At lvl 50, you'll be lucky if a 3 slotted health gave you more than a couple of HP per second and it's rarely going to save you(I should memorise the HP per second number on that as everytime I quote it for blasters their reaction is normally 'wow, it really is rubbish')

I'd probably drop slots from aid other as well. The slot's you now harvested back would definitely go as to hit buffs in aim/build up and in aid self, this will save you a LOT more often than 3 DEF in CJ!

For inferno, I'd go three rchrg, 1 acc, 2 dmg or 2 rchrg, 1 acc, 3 dmg. You should be using a build up or aim beforehand and if you solo, the fact it's available more often will speed things up.

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Slotting of ice fist is really not to be recommended. It's really nothing more than a mediocre attack and for a squishy, I can't see it being used much. Most people go blapping with blasters as some of the attacks in the secondary are so effective(total focus etc)., frozen fists is not one of those.


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It's definitely worth slotting imo. Stick it on auto and not worry about it. It's an extra attack whilst in melee which is where a /ice blaster should be to get the benefit from CE, plus it's an extra 'slow' attack. It also recharges quickly and uses very little endurance.

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Yeah, but */Fire offers nothing in the way of Damage Mitigation, which is what I believe you need if you want to have an easier time versus Bosses and the like. */Fire is all Damage, and mostly AoE Damage at that.

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With fire/fire you don't really need much in the way of damage mitigation. With aim and build up running you will pretty much cream a spawn faster than they can take you down. With the fire secondary you get more front loaded AoE damage in the form of the fire sword circle and Consume to get your end back up. I rolled a fire/fire a short while ago and the huge amount of damage you can put out means you can solo Elite Bosses without too much trouble. I can't wait to meet infernal and show him what real fire power means [img]/uk/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Main Concerns
The other concern would be Endurance. No powers like Power Sink are included in either set, so I might be taking a knee more often than I'd like ...


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Pellonia my Fire/Ice Blaster is now level 36 and since getting Stamina three slotted with SO's at 22 I have not had an endurance problem. I have a couple of main attacks slotted with a single Endurance reduction Enhancement as well.

elec/elec

as much damage as you need, got a nuke, got control, can solo, doesn't really need pools to survive. I would read the thread but after half the OP i realised it's bed time

Plight