New player needing tips on blasters archetypes plz
[ QUOTE ]
I currently have self aid which heals 120 at lvl 23. The problem is that it does not activate very fast and is interruptible, so I am not sure how useful it would be in pvp.
[/ QUOTE ]
It is not the fastest power on earth, but... (there is always a but) - when you slot it with 2 Interrupt Reduction SOs, 1 Recharge and 3 Heals, it won't get interrupted that much and will heal a nice sum of damage. When you later get Power Boost, the amount it heals will double, which makes it very effective power.
[ QUOTE ]
To the contrary, I am pretty convinced that stamina would help greatly because I always miss endurance, unless I am buffed.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stamina is pretty much a "Must Have" for a Blaster (and most other characters as well, but Blasters seem to need it the most), so yes, taking Stamina is a good idea.
[ QUOTE ]
I am thus considering ditching stimulant and self aid (together with Ice Storm which I use seldom in pve and won't use in pvp), in order to take swift, health and stamina (health might even somehow compensate for the loss of self aid?).
[/ QUOTE ]
Health doesn't compensate for Aid Self, even with 3 slots of Heal in it, Health is no use in battle - it decreases the time between battles as you heal a bit faster, and provides some help against Sleep (you will still get slept, but won't be for as long as normally).
[ QUOTE ]
What do you think of this?
[/ QUOTE ]
I would drop Aid Self (and take it again at later levels, maybe 28/30, so it's available at Siren's Call levels as you've geared towards PvP) and get Stamina. As you lose your self-heal, you will have to re-think your tactics a bit, but it's a live and learn.
[ QUOTE ]
Also, I'm happy with super jump, but I use either super jump (outdoor) or combat jump (indoor), not both. Should I rather take super speed, coming with hasten which would be useful in all circumstances? How bad would it be to loose the verticality of super jump, from a pvp perspective?
[/ QUOTE ]
Loss of Vertical Movement is not bad, but you will lose Immobolization protection from Combat Jumping and the possibility of taking Acrobatics, which is a Knockback protection, which is quite essential in PvP.
Basically, you'll be wanting the following pool powers in the end (with number of enhancement slots there):
Hasten (3 slots), Swift (1 slot), Hurdle or Health (1 slot), Stamina (3 slots), Aid Other (1 slot), Aid Self (6 slots), Combat Jumping (1 slot), Super Jump (1 slot), Acrobatics (1 slot).
Couple that with Power Boost, Build Up and Aim which are pretty much must-have powers and some others, you have to give quite a lot of thought to what attacks you want to have and how you want to play with your character (ranged/melee/controller style) - It's a process where you'll eventually find the proper balance for your own playstyle.
[b][color=blue]Coldest War /[color=red]/ Omega Patient[/b]
[url="http://www.the-cow.net/"][color=red]The CoW Network (Blog) /[/url][url="http://www.collegeofwar.com/"][color=blue]/ College of War[/url]
[ QUOTE ]
Also, I'm happy with super jump, but I use either super jump (outdoor) or combat jump (indoor), not both. Should I rather take super speed, coming with hasten which would be useful in all circumstances? How bad would it be to loose the verticality of super jump, from a pvp perspective?
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't PvP much but some people like to stay high up or even airborne (i.e. jumping, flying or TPing between rooftops), so if you don't have a way to bring them down I guess your only recourse would be to run away. I know a lot of melees use SuperSpeed for jousting too (queueing an attack, then running past someone so it goes off once you're past them, so they have no chance to retaliate unless they saw you coming and also queued an attack) - been in fights like that myself, though they ultimately feel a bit futile (especially as most of mine have been brute vs tanker or scrapper).
From a PvE perspective losing the vertical component could be bad - there are always zones with sunken or raised areas which might prove tortuous to travel around (CoV has lots, like the Pit in Sharkhead, Primeva in Nerva, most of Grandville - CoH has a fair bit too, I understand, like Shadow Shards, Terra Volta, Faultline - probably other areas too). The jump pack from the Good vs Evil edition could mitigate some of that, giving you 30secs of limitless vertical jumping every few minutes, and also the flight/jump temp powers in the game (more of which are being added with Safeguard missions in I8 I understand). So you can mitigate a loss of a vertical component in your travel power, but not all the time. Of course you could take Hasten+SS then still pick up Combat Jumping later - on top of Hurdle and backed by the momentum from SuperSpeed you can jump quite a way with that, though nowhere near as high as SJ.
I think you'll find Stamina very useful to have too (not to mention Swift and Hurdle too - Health won't add much to a blaster as you don't have the hit-points of a scrapper/tanker/brute so the regen gain is hardly noticeable in combat, or even for reducing downtime - honestly it's barely noticeable on my brutes). You may find yourself slotting Aid Self back in later if you have space.
Not only is vertical movement important in PvP for a 'hunter-killer' type of character like a blaster, acrobatics is god-send in PVP. More important than aid self I'd say, even though you can play in sirens call without acrobatics.
On the subject of Stamina, I've yet to see, play with, or make a non-Stamina blaster build that doesn't feel seriously substandard without the constant attention of a kinetic, regardless of the endurance recovery/saving powers they take from secondaries/epics.
Medicine is handy for PvP, but Stamina is pretty near to a "must have" for any blaster. If you want medicine, I'd look at working it in to your build at a higher level.
Regarding losing the leaping pool, I would advise against it for PvE, and definitely not consider it for PvP. The leaping pool provides more than just a vertical travel power, it opens up Acrobatics to you, and over the next few levels you'll increasingly be looking for anything that can give you knockback protection, and the limited hold protection you can get. CJ and Acrobatics gives you excellent knockback protection, and limited hold and immobilise protection, SJ is just for getting around (although you can run acrobatics with SJ to give you a bit of hold protection while running around.)
When I create a blaster, I generally automatically accept now that I'll be putting aside 6 power slots for hurdle, health, stamina, combat jumping, SJ and acrobatics.
OK, guys, thx for your answers.
Clearly, on the long term, I'll keep self aid and I'll get stamina. I was just trying to see how I should prioritize between these two as I won't be lvl 50 any time soon (I don't have so much leveling time). I guess I'll stick with self aid and see how I'm doing in the arena and if I need to respec.
On the long term as well, I'll take acrobatics, which implies staying with super jump.
For now, I'll just try to learn how to use my unlotted self aid
nostra
[ QUOTE ]
I currently have self aid which heals 120 at lvl 23. The problem is that it does not activate very fast and is interruptible, so I am not sure how useful it would be in pvp.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well it may feel awkward at first, because it needs a bit of proactive play to use it (don't use it next to your enemy). Ie. SJ away, and when u land, hit aid self. Falling will interrupt aid self so you cant use it mid-jump. Straight after the green number appear you can jump away again, don't have to wait for animation to finish. Also, you can slot aid self with 1-2 interrupt time redux.
Health can never substitute aid self, but you can PVP without aid self. When you start to do more hardcore arena action, you will appreciate having aid self though