Nuke Help

ive heard people talking about a move called "nuke"(obviously not the real name), can anyone expand on this?

Many of the power sets get an extremely destructive power at level 32, capable of killing large groups with 1 attack but leaving you drained of endurance. Nova, Inferno, Thunderous Blast, Dreadful Wail and Blizzard are all 'nukes'.

Some defenders get nukes too although not those specific ones.

Mmmmmmm, nukes.

Mmmmmmmmmm, nukes, indeed.

Mmmmm nuke.

But id pigeon-hole Blizzard in with Full Auto and Rain of Arrows rather than Nova, Inferno, Thunderous Blast and Wail.
Even though its the most damaging "nuke" its DoT-ness makes it more pigeon-hole A imo.

All equally delicious in their own way though.

disclaimer - pigeonholes ignore self-Endurance draining properties

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Some defenders get nukes too although not those specific ones.

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And corrupters. Non-blaster nukes are afaik: Psychic Wail, Atomic blast and Blackstar. Rain of arrows was mentioned too I think.

Aaand don't forget Dawn Strike for Peacebringers and Quasar for Warshades.

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But id pigeon-hole Blizzard in with Full Auto and Rain of Arrows rather than Nova, Inferno, Thunderous Blast and Wail. Even though its the most damaging "nuke" its DoT-ness makes it more pigeon-hole A imo.

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Yeah it's not one to use against things that resist slows such as Warwolves.

I have to say I don't think of Blizzard as a nuke, much as I do like the power.

It was a bit of a letdown at first after Inferno and Thunderous Blast, but I do really like it now. My Ice/Ice build is extremely slow orientated though. About as much as it realistically could be without being silly.

My favourite nukes are Inferno for raw damage, and Atomic Blast for all round usefulness as a Defender nuke. The hold on it is excellent even without slotting for it, with FS I can kill +3 minions, but not the luitenents unless there's some pretty good resistance debuffage going on, so them being properly held afterwards is very nice.

Least favourite nukes would be Nova, particularly Defender version, and the Kheldion ones, which would be more rightly termed "scatter stuff around the room making it very angry without actually killing anything much".

I'm a snob when it comes to things like this, I just can't help it.

I like the nukes in game, makes you feel powerful, if even for only a few seconds.

The Warshade Nuke tho, Quasar can be one of the most deadly in the game. Start in Dwarf Form, run into mob, Dwarf Mire, switch to human form, Sunless Mire, Quasar, true the KB will scatter the mob, but given the double mire damage boost effect, most things are likely to be dead before they hit the ground.

MMMmmmmm Nukes.

Be careful though; most Nukes seem to suffer from 'Missing the Barn' at times; where even with massive ACC bonuses; they sometimes miss everything.

They also have no Z axis component, so hitting them when above/below opponents will auto-miss.

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I have to say I don't think of Blizzard as a nuke, much as I do like the power.

It was a bit of a letdown at first after Inferno and Thunderous Blast, but I do really like it now. My Ice/Ice build is extremely slow orientated though. About as much as it realistically could be without being silly.

My favourite nukes are Inferno for raw damage, and Atomic Blast for all round usefulness as a Defender nuke. The hold on it is excellent even without slotting for it, with FS I can kill +3 minions, but not the luitenents unless there's some pretty good resistance debuffage going on, so them being properly held afterwards is very nice.

Least favourite nukes would be Nova, particularly Defender version, and the Kheldion ones, which would be more rightly termed "scatter stuff around the room making it very angry without actually killing anything much".

I'm a snob when it comes to things like this, I just can't help it.

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Hello... Kheldian one, Build up, pop a red, (3 slotted for damage) Nova, all minions and lieuteants are dead, only a boss or two left

I am extremely sceptical that this is the case when fighting at the sort of level you normally would in a team - ie +3s/+4s. I have never seen a Kheldian Nuke be anything more than an annoyance at that sort of level unless the mobs are either locked down, or extremely heavily debuffed for resistance.

Even Inferno needs outside help on top of Aim and Build Up to take out +4 Luitenents, in the form of inspirations, Fulcrum Shift, or maybe a Fireball as well on some mob types, depending on resistances of course.

Id actually be up for testing this. As Im guessing a Shade at his damage cap would out-nuke a Blaster counterpart using just Aim and BU, but with the AT modifiers, and different caps, its sometimes hard to assume.

Id be happy to use my 41 WS and 50 Nrg Blaster.

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Id actually be up for testing this. As Im guessing a Shade at his damage cap would out-nuke a Blaster counterpart using just Aim and BU, but with the AT modifiers, and different caps, its sometimes hard to assume.

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Kheldians cap at 400% (or +300%), so they'll need to be at 85-90% of Blaster damage to compare to a Blaster nuke with 3 Dam SO + BU + Aim. Iirc their human form ranged damage modifier is closer to Defender levels (= 65%), Warshades just have an easier time hitting the damage cap on their own.

Nova form is a different beast, but that doesn't have a nuke available.

Blasters, if I recall correctly off the top of my head, cap out self buff wise at around 360% including base damage, aim, build up and three damage SOs. If I'm not being buffed damage wise I normally use a red or two to put myself at around the 400% mark when nuking - or alternately just precede with an AOE like Fireball or Ball Lightning. Given the higher base damage as well, and the fact that even without any inspirations we can get close to the Kheldian damage cap, I'm confident Blaster nukes do more damage.

If there's a Kinetic there as well then I'll cap, and damage capped Inferno is still going to outdamage anything else in the game in terms of big bangs.

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Blasters, if I recall correctly off the top of my head, cap out self buff wise at around 360% including base damage, aim, build up and three damage SOs.

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They don't 'cap out' there, rather that is as high as they can get with selfbuffs. Better not use the word in the wrong context. You can always use damage inspirations to hit the REAL cap.

Sorry, I guess I assumed the context would have been blindingly obvious, since I also talked about going over that to hit the actual damage cap as well.

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Given the higher base damage as well, and the fact that even without any inspirations we can get close to the Kheldian damage cap, I'm confident Blaster nukes do more damage.

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Kheldian damage cap is 400% (+300%) compared to base Kheldian damage. Not compared to Blaster damage. Damage caps are always compared to the base damage of the AT.

Since human form Kheldian ranged damage has a 0.65 modifier (iirc) that means a capped human form Kheldian will deal damage comparable to a Blaster at 260% (or +160% ~ 3 SO Dam + Aim) damage.

Squid form has a 1.2 modifier and an inherent +45% buff but lacks any attacks above Moderate strength. It is still capped at 400% though, so that compares to a Blaster at 480% (or 20% short of the Blaster cap). A 3 Dam slotted squid only needs ~155% more +Dam to cap, roughly equivalent to 2x 7 hit Mire for a WS.

All nukes are fun and depending on the team have different effects. The best 3 IMO (and because I haven’t seen the others used that much) are;

• Nova (from energy) – Activate it by standing in the middle of a group of foes and hitting the button, bang! If you don’t have the enemy nailed to the floor they will go flying in all directions due to its knockback.

• Thunderous Blast (from elec) – Activate it by targeting a foe and hitting the button, good because you don’t have to be in the middle of the bad guys. You will rarely floor foes with full health however you will drain those you hit of a fair amount of endurance. I would suggest that it’s slotted with more endurance modifiers than damage – however that it pure opinion.

• Inferno (from fire) – Activate it by standing in the middle of a group of foes and hitting the button, pop! If you didn’t have the mobs aggro before then you will now should you not floor them, does damage over time.


Each have their situational advantages, not to mention the ones I haven’t highlighted, and if you have more than 1 nuke in the team then the Nova should always go last if you plan to ‘double nuke’. In theory I would guess that the Thunderous blast should go first however unless done with perfect timing (or a fully taunted group) it doesn’t make too much of a difference and it can have a minor scattering effect because it’s ranged (i.e. the group move towards you).

In short, and with no other outside factors, TB then Inferno then Nova (although you won’t need all 3).


To get the best from your nuke ensure that as many of the following are done before you ‘let off’;

• The enemy are as densely packed into the smallest flat area as possible – A taunting character (Tank/Brute) will do this best.
• The enemy are de-buffed.
• You are buffed by a combination of inspirations, team buffs and self buffs. (A smarties selection of inspirations won’t hurt especially Reds and purples)

The outcome will vary however should result in many arrests/deaths – when this is the result smile to yourself or celebrate in some other way – you’ll certainly get praise for a ‘good’ nuke (don’t tell them that without all the buffs, de-buffs and aggro management it would have been half as spectacular – instead lavish yourself in their worship, for good reason – see below)

Outcomes however can (not too often but can) result in a faceplant (especially for the Inferno) – when this is the result smile to yourself – you’ll certainly get a lot of “nice aggro management Guff” or simple “lol”.

As the caster of either a Inferno or Nova you will always have a best friend with anyone who has the ‘good’ powers from the the Kinetics set. A Fulcrum Shift right before the nuke usually helps flatten the lot plus Transference and Transfusion will both keep you alive and with the ability to hit back quick. Either that or pop a blue and get your defensive toggles on between popping greens. Over all running away after a nuke doesn’t work too well maybe with the exception of the Nova, in my experience, staying put so your team members can regain the aggro from you, heal you and buff you are made so much simpler when the mobs are still standing focused on one spot rather than running after you which usually makes the ‘healers’ job three times as hard. In short don’t be a coward – you caused this mess now you stay and take responsibility for it. In my opinion you’re average survival is no different however staying will benefit the team and could turn a potential team wipe into victory.

Just like to expand on this, my tips for a perfect nova (Energy/Energy/Force Mastery):

1.) Got Personal Force Field from Force Mastery? Use it when running in to deflect the oncoming attacks to prevent yourself being killed before the nova goes off (just remember to turn it off before you click nova!). Before doing this you should activate a good few dmg+acc enhancements+ Build up and Aim.

2.) Make sure to bind when you're going to nuke e.g. /bind F say "Nova commencing, if you have fulcrum shift, fortitude or any other damage/acc enhancing buffs please apply them now!" It's easy to forget to use that bind before you nuke, use it or you're gonna have some upset defenders/trollers!

3.) Ok, so you've added your insps, buffed up and if timed right turned off your Personal Force Field and once you hear the whirly sound and the stacking green items thats fulcrum shift, nuke away!! Now if this is done right, and it's a fairly simple procedure after you've done it a few times can totally wipe the mob out. But remember there is a cap on how many enemies one nova can hit so watch it!

4.) Recovering from a nova: After blasting the heck out of the mob (and even if you missed quite a few) make sure to use a few endurance recovery enhancements as the nova does destroy all your endurance and you will not be able to recover it for a short while. In situations where you're needed straight away after the nuke use 2 or 3 catch a breath enhancements and conserve power from your Energy Manipulation powerset. Conserve power isn't essential after a nuke if you have Adrenalin Boost for example being applied, but if there is no +End recovery powers being applied to you it's something to consider. If you're still recieving heavy aggro due to your Nova not hitting many make sure to activate Personal Force Field again as soon as possible to minimise damage taken until you have enough endurance to get back into the fight. Personal Force Field and nova go hand in hand as it acts as an excellent panic button in any situation. But remember, some attacks can still get through and even detoggle the Force Field off if a hold/stun/sleep gets through.

5.)Slotting- Now this is how I've slotted my Nova, Build up and Aim, it's just an example;

Nova:
1 (50) Damage/Accuracy Hamidon Origin Enhancement
2 (53) Damage Single Origin Enhancement
1 (53) Accuracy Single Origin Enhancement
2 (53) Recharge Time Reduction Single Origin Enhancement.

Build Up:
2 (51) Recharge Time Reduction Single Origin Enhancement
2 (50) ToHit Buffs Single Origin Enhancement.

Aim:

2 (51) Recharge Time Reduction Single Origin Enhancement
2 (50) ToHit Buffs Single Origin Enhancement.

Now I experimented with a few enchancement methods and thats the best so far.

Ok, i believe thats everything you need to know if you're wondering how a level 50 Nrg/Nrg/Force blaster does his Nova!

U should see Shnyets telenova...now that's the fun way to do it!

On the otherhand, a teleDreadfulWail, or just a Dreadful Wail, is a bit more effective, less likely to get you killed in the process and more likely you'll survive the aftermath.(triple stacked disorient...enough to keep those pesky bosses from hitting you when haven't quite taken all their health)

The second accuracy in your nuke is pretty much redundant (personally I wouldn't have put the dam/acc HO in there either, it's be of better use in another attack that really needs an accuracy check). With aim and build up and the high accuracy of the nukes anyway, your pretty much at the tohit cap. With no accuracy slotting in any of my nukes at all I have no accuracy problems at all, and they run at around 95% accuracy which is as good as it gets. Slotting 3/3 on damage and recharge works absolutely fine, as long as you're using aim and build up immediately before hand.

Inferno has the best bonus to it I think. Whereas Nova get knockback - inferno gets a DoT component for anything it hits but does not kill-in-one.

Does the Nova power get higher damage - or another bonus to compensate for that? I don't know - maybe someone can clarify.

In any case Inferno is a show-stopping number when use correctly. I normally get buffed up to my eyebrows and follow in on the tanks heals, pop a purple if a I have one (and any reds) hit BU+AIM and WHAM! Then I immediately pop a blue or two and hit conserver energy and carry on like nothing happened, taking out anything that dared to survive the alpha.

When the dust settles I take out a mirror - check how my hair is holding up, restyle as required and allow my team mates to take turns kissing my hand.

I slot mine with x3 Damage and x3 Recharge as I like to get it up as often as I can (Matron!) during a mish.

PS. I would like to marry Inferno and have baby-infernos with her.

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Does the Nova power get higher damage - or another bonus to compensate for that? I don't know

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Nope, the "bonus" that Nova gets is the KB you mentioned earlier. It makes the nuke a lot safer to use than Inferno.

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hit BU+AIM and WHAM!

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As you're Nrg secondary, remember to fire Power Boost (if you have it) before Aim and BU, it'll put your ToHit through the roof, and justify your slotting.

Nova is the best looking one imo. The mobs flying in all directions appeals to me (even if its not really useful). Inferno is propably the best blaster nuke though cause of its pure damage.