Defiance is great in PvE for the lower levels, but harder to take control of in higher levels. As it just becomes too high risk and your more likely to end up 'planting then being able to have the time to one/two shot enemies (especially as their resistance go up as well).
Ice Blast is definitly powerful, I'm currently playing one and he is level 9 atm, it packs such a heavy/continous punch, it's really good.
(Just a note as well, I started this game pretty much with my heart set on not playing a blaster as they didn't seem to appeal to me at all, after a year of playing every other AT, I tried one and now they are by far my favorite. All I can say is, Have Fun!)
You are playing a blaster exactly like it should be played 
The only difference at higher levels it that you'll be teaming with people who have Rez and you'll be introduced to your new best friend, Mr. Debt. And you'll get addicted to Awakens when soloing and call them Blaster candy like the rest of us...
... Regarding Ice/Ice - Ice Patch is great, Bitter Ice Blast is awesome, Freeze Ray, that melee hold from /ice and a hold from your Epic will make controlling fun.
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go blind lol, blasters are fun, i just rolled a fire/fire and them AoE dmg is great fun, only problem for me is quite a few are PBAoE so i smell debt in the future lol but put me up with anything that does aoe hold/immob/sleep and its mad, dropping foes like nuts i love it. and the new buff's on test... yay its going to be mad
When I first started, I avoided anything with low HP but a year later and Blasters are easily my favourite AT. Defiance is a nice inherient but I'd like to see it come in a little earlier. I have to be scraping 5% HP to see the bar move these days.
To be honest, I don't get the 'all blasters live with debt thing'. I don't seem to faceplant any more than any of the other ATs I play. Maybe I'm doing it wrong...? 
I think the best tip for a blaster is to not be afraid to run away, learn your ranges, Aim/Build Up is your god and don't forsake your secondary set. Good luck! 
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Just want to throw in my agreement as a new and very impressed blaster player.
I had also avoided blasters due to the "debt-magnet" rumors, but my new ice/ice blaster absolutely rocks whether in team or solo
The only issue I have is endurance (she is currently 16 so a bit to go yet for stamina) but she is amazingly fun and basically only dies in the same type of situations where my scrappers would usually find themselves at risk anyway like in purple COT missions and similar
So yes, I am also at risk of becoming a blaster-addict
Ice/Ice is one of the lowest risk blaster sets, lots of control, and good single target damage, you can build them well for AOE damage as well at higher level (requires a lot of slots, as you need to be slotting for slows as well as damage in some powers, so doesn't work as well at lower level). There's a lot of different options really - my Ice/Ice blaster was always the most versatile of the set, not to mention the only one that could have, and did quite freqently, team with 6 scrappers and not soak up debt like a sponge.
Avoiding debt in teams is largely about knowing when to fire and when not to. In larger teams there are few situations where a blaster should be firing first - although having someone who can pick apart larger spawns well can be useful at times, that's a bit of an acquired nack - giving whoever is managing the aggro time to do it will cut down on most of the debt that you would other wise pick up.
Playing with Defiance is a sure fire recipe for early debt badges, once you get past level 15-20 or so, it's just too risky. In addition to which, once you get SOs in, with well slotted attacks and aim and build up, it's simply not needed for a good damage output.
Just be a little weary, I found that after playing for ages on my blasters, that when I switched to a different toon, such as my Scrapper, I wouldn't heal myself straight away when my health dropped because I always had this thing in the back of my head telling me to attack quick because of the increased damage. I've died a few times that way >.>
Blasters are reckless crazy guys who live on the edge of their lifebars
(I admit that in later game its a lot more difficult to use defiance but enjoy it now when you can )
ice doesnt have a snipe does it?
No snipe until 47.
[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]
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No snipe until 47.
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Meaning you can only get the snipe from the ancillary pool weapon mastery. Ice has no snipe of its own.
there must be something going round aat the moment as i rolled a ice/ice blaster last night. seems a hell of a lot of fun to me so keep a look out on union for Ice Master C
First character i rolled: Blaster. Why? Because im an aggressive person 
They are a lot of fun to play but if played wrong and Mr. Debt becomes a sidekick it can get frustrating.
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there must be something going round aat the moment as i rolled a ice/ice blaster last night. seems a hell of a lot of fun to me so keep a look out on union for Ice Master C
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Spooky! I started playing one last weekend as well. Admittedly I'm playing my Ice/Ice regularly with 3 friends - a tanker, a defender and a scrapper - I couldn't decide between a blapping blaster or a controller, so I decided to go Ice/Ice blaster instead and have a hybrid of both
Only problem I have so far is running out of endurance faster than anything I've ever played before (and I include brutes and dominators in that!) - but fortunately one of my regular teammates is getting speed boost next level (so tonight, probably) which should tide me over until Stamina. But I did suspect an Ice/Ice blaster would be bad for end-efficiency pre-SOs - the other Ice-based sets I've played have been end-hungry at low level.
By comparison my other new blaster - archery/energy - is really end-light.
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No snipe until 47.
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well they have bitter freeze ray, which is like a wannabe snipe that does pitifull damage and holds them instead, yeah i hate that power considering freeze ray is better in general (apart from range), getting rid of when i spec.... (i have a lv 50 ice/ice/cold btw)
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But I did suspect an Ice/Ice blaster would be bad for end-efficiency pre-SOs
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Bad post SOs too. The only real weakness of the set, but you do have to build to accomodate it unless teaming solidly with someone who's going to boost your recovery.
My level 50 uses quick bursts of Hibernate to manage end recovery, which is quite effective, although I have taken out most end reducers from attacks with that in mind so exemping is a complete git.
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well they have bitter freeze ray, which is like a wannabe snipe that does pitifull damage and holds them instead, yeah i hate that power considering freeze ray is better in general (apart from range), getting rid of when i spec.... (i have a lv 50 ice/ice/cold btw)
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Hardly a "wannabe snipe", more just a "wannabe". It's just a damaging hold with a long activation time. It cannot be interrupted, has no inherent accuracy bonus and the range is pitiful.
(Hasn't stopped me from taking it on my Ice/Dev)
[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]
I use BFR as an opener in boss fights.
Slotted 2 acc/1 hold, used at the start of a fight on a boss I can hold a boss from range with that combined with Freeze Ray, and then keep them held with a combination of Freeze Ray and Freezing Touch both of which I have more heavily slotted. I prefer to hold a boss from range initially rather than having to close to land my second hold where possible, so I rate is as worth it just for how simple it makes dealing with higher level bosses.
I wouldn't invest many slots in it because of the animatino time and certainly wouldn't consider it worth slotting for damage, but still like the power.
Dude5 is a blaster and it is aussalt rifle all the way for me. Devices, I'm not so sure about .
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I use BFR as an opener in boss fights.
Slotted 2 acc/1 hold, used at the start of a fight on a boss I can hold a boss from range with that combined with Freeze Ray, and then keep them held with a combination of Freeze Ray and Freezing Touch both of which I have more heavily slotted. I prefer to hold a boss from range initially rather than having to close to land my second hold where possible, so I rate is as worth it just for how simple it makes dealing with higher level bosses.
I wouldn't invest many slots in it because of the animatino time and certainly wouldn't consider it worth slotting for damage, but still like the power.
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Totally right about not slotting for damage, but 2 Acc's and 3 Hold SO's, and you have a very handy Boss/Elite Boss opener. Only AV's will not get held, just slowed, but it's still a handy power to have.
How risky is an AR/NRG Master of Cones build? The love the concept and I'm wondering if I should expect to die fairly often. I've got this image in my head of jumping out in front of a big spawn, ripping off a one liner and missing absolutely everything with Full Auto.
Then wake up in hospital with a sore bum.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
So after almost 15 months of playing this game and trying out all the different Ats I finally got round to trying out a blaster. I rolled an Ice/Ice currently at lvl 5. All I can say is I'm so impressed at the moment. I'm not sure how I should be playing a blaster but as I have more experience playing villanous ATs I try to use the inherents as much as possible.
I was playing on a heroic mission at lvl 5 facing mobs of lvl 5 and 6 and found that if I stayed on almost no health I could easily one shot minions and felt really powerful. Should a blaster be played this way or is it as I suspect that the higher lvl you get the harder it is to take advantage of defiance?
Any other tips for a newbie ice/ice blaster will be more than welcome