Don't forget Ele/Nrg with PB 
@Rooks
"You should come inside the box... Then you'll know what I mean."
PB->vanguard->EMP (3slotted)..
You can sprint from Hollows to PI, say hi to that Tower guy, sprint back, buy new set SO's, check AH, join up some costume contest in Atlas and go back to hollows and they still would be stunned 
At the end every set has its pro and cons. Certain lvl-ranges 1 is stronger (more usefull) then the other, other times time and preperation makes it all more usefull. At the end, you have to like it and it has to suits your play style (risk vs time vs control), Fotm's come and go but your toon you will be stuck with for at least the next 100 play hours.
tested builds:
Ice/nrg - 50
Nrg/ice - 50
AR/ice - 42
Ar/dev - 31
Elec/elec - 34
fire/ice - 27
ice/fire - 29
Son/dev - 19
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
I like both my Archery/Devices and my Ice/Fire builds, and I've been trying for a long time now to find to find one combo I liked and in the end found too,
Archery/Devices is a bag of tricks waiting to happen
Ice/Fire is an AoE monster (built the way mine is)
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
[ QUOTE ]
I like both my Archery/Devices and my Ice/Fire builds, and I've been trying for a long time now to find to find one combo I liked and in the end found too,
Archery/Devices is a bag of tricks waiting to happen
Ice/Fire is an AoE monster (built the way mine is)
[/ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
AR beats fire on aoe's Specialy with /ice 
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
AR beats fire on aoe's Specialy with /ice
[/ QUOTE ]
Quoted for truth and AR/Ice supremacy.
[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 ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously I meant Fire/- is the AoE monster and -/Ice the bag of tricks. Works for me.
But if you classify fire/ as AoE monster, basicly every set would be a AoE monster (fire has 4 Ball/breath/rain/nuke, elec has 3 ball/circuit/nuke, ice 3 breath/rain/nuke, nrg 3 torrent/explode/nuke, sonic 4 shockwave/sleep/cone/nuke, Arch 3 cone/explode/nuke). AR even with 5 (cone/grenade/flame/ignite/fullauto).
AR would beat fire then
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously I meant Fire/- is the AoE monster and -/Ice the bag of tricks. Works for me.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, My Fire/Fire sure can't dish out a sufficient amount of AoE carnage with just her primary
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously I meant Fire/- is the AoE monster and -/Ice the bag of tricks. Works for me.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, My Fire/Fire sure can't dish out a sufficient amount of AoE carnage with just her primary
[/ QUOTE ]
Depends what you consider 'sufficient'
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure most people will disagree with something...
[/ QUOTE ]
Why do people hate Blizzard so much? 
[/ QUOTE ]
No idea, I love it. I've an Ice/Ice which has reasonable AOE potential - not as much as my fire/fire obviously, but then it's also got buckets more single target and control capability. It certainly has a lot more than people seem to give it credit for. Shiver makes primary AOEs quite viable.
Mind, I also rate the Ice Manipulation set in general a lot more than most people seem to. Like both sets a lot.
Blizzard is a great power.
Blizzard sux big time
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
Blizzard sux big time
[/ QUOTE ]
nub
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Blizzard sux big time
[/ QUOTE ]
nub
[/ QUOTE ]
Being the 2nd ice/nrg on the Defiant server.. naaaaah
And on the US boards there's a big post about RoA, FA vs Blizzard (the dot's), where blizzard isnt doing any better then the first 2 (RoA wins big time). That post mentioned earlier is fun, but its only about 'perfect cercomstances', 99% of the time impossible.
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Blizzard sux big time
[/ QUOTE ]
nub
[/ QUOTE ]
Being the 2nd ice/nrg on the Defiant server.. naaaaah
[/ QUOTE ]
Ooooh, you must be awesome then! 
[ QUOTE ]
And on the US boards there's a big post about RoA, FA vs Blizzard (the dot's), where blizzard isnt doing any better then the first 2 (RoA wins big time). That post mentioned earlier is fun, but its only about 'perfect cercomstances', 99% of the time impossible.
[/ QUOTE ]
The trick is to make that 1% happen... a lot Just teasing of course, but still I LOVE MY BLIZZ (and my Inferno and my TB)
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
Pft. Blizzard is a ToHitDebuff, not an attack. Silly people... You use it to prepare your moving into the mob so you can tank them.
[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 ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Blizzard sux big time
[/ QUOTE ]
nub
[/ QUOTE ]
Being the 2nd ice/nrg on the Defiant server.. naaaaah
[/ QUOTE ]
Ooooh, you must be awesome then!
[/ QUOTE ]
Offcourse, i beat Plight in a PvP match with him
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
In my opinion /fire is better AoE madness than Fire/ so if you want AoEs and control its better to find a primary with the control and take /fire than go Fire/ and find the AoEs
This is purely based on what I think is fun and not any hard numbers. Combustion and Fire Sword Circle are lovely, slap on a couple of damage auras, slow them, burn them and get back your used end. Of course none of the above would be half as fun without Ice Storm
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously I meant Fire/- is the AoE monster and -/Ice the bag of tricks. Works for me.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, My Fire/Fire sure can't dish out a sufficient amount of AoE carnage with just her primary
[/ QUOTE ]
Depends what you consider 'sufficient'
[/ QUOTE ]Enough to kill lots of stuff fast
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
... and Fire / Ice is an AoE monster with a bag of tricks. Try it!
[/ QUOTE ]Yeah, /Ice has so many AoE damage powers...No, waitasec...
[/ QUOTE ]
Obviously I meant Fire/- is the AoE monster and -/Ice the bag of tricks. Works for me.
[/ QUOTE ]Well, My Fire/Fire sure can't dish out a sufficient amount of AoE carnage with just her primary
[/ QUOTE ]
Depends what you consider 'sufficient'
[/ QUOTE ]Enough to kill lots of stuff fast
[/ QUOTE ]
In that line, its never enough
50)Sinergy X/(50)Mika.
(50)MaceX/(50)Encore
Sign the petition, dont let CoH go down! SIGN!
Besides MaX lacks Rain Of Fire, so he is far from "sufficient"
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
[ QUOTE ]
In my opinion /fire is better AoE madness than Fire/ so if you want AoEs and control its better to find a primary with the control and take /fire than go Fire/ and find the AoEs
This is purely based on what I think is fun and not any hard numbers. Combustion and Fire Sword Circle are lovely, slap on a couple of damage auras, slow them, burn them and get back your used end. Of course none of the above would be half as fun without Ice Storm
[/ QUOTE ]
But, but... but then you need to be in the middle of the baddies to use your AoEs!! 
Isn't that a bit dangerous for a blaster?
I really respect blappers (heck, my 50 is an Energy/Energy so I blap a little myself) but I enjoy range a lot more. And die a lot less.
With aim+BU+firebreath+ball of fire I can deal enough carnage to kill most minions and leave lieutenants severely damaged. And then blaze and ice sword do the rest, with the ocasional fire blast to finish some bugger.
On the other hand... is Rain of Fire actually good? I have read that it scatters mobs a lot, but if you tell me it is worthwhile, I'll try to squeeze it into my build and definitively forget the Medicine pool...
I'm basing my thoughts on RoF on Ice Storm but if the tank actually has the agro I can dish out more with Ice Storm than any other attack I have at the moment.
I also love being in melee range on all my toons, the only one that it doesn't work with is my Fire/TA which is why she is retired. If I had Fire Ball I'd be slamming it into their faces point blank so I might as well go for the visually impressive FSC and Combustion instead. Am enjoying having blazing Aura too, even though I've only had it for half a level at the moment. Will soon be thinking about control and ST damage, starting with Bitter ice Blast, then worrying about the control. Way I see it they're dead, then they're controlled. But sometimes a couple of ST holds would be really handy so will work on that
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
(I am sorry if all that I am going to say is too obvious)
As others have pointed out, all comes down to playstyle and primary/secondary synergy.
For example, Fire/Fire, though is great in AoE power and does insane amounts of damage... has a very limited survivability playing solo, because it lacks any kind of control and requires melee proximity to the enemy to use the AoEs from the secondary.
My experience is quite limited (lvl 50 Energy/Energy, lvl 22 Fire/Ice and lvl 6 Elec/elec) but I see */Energy has to be great with any primary that has a secondary effect different from damage (ie, not Fire). Power boost is a defining power of this secondary and among other nice effects it doubles the time of mezzes, doubles the end drain, etc... also Total Focus is a great heavy-hitter and offers great control (you can stun a boss in a single application).
One of my favourite combos was power boost -> aim -> build up -> Total Focus on a boss -> teabag emote -> finish the boss (you have plenty of time, even to use Total Focus again). Bone Smasher is very good too.
The highly demonized knockback is not so bad if you don't pick as targets the enemies your melee teammates are fighting. What I usually do is, if I pick an enemy and knockback it, I stay with it until I finish it.
With my Fire / Ice I have great damage in the primary and also the tools to mitigate incoming damage in the secondary.
Ice patch is simply great. You can create the patch, and then back some steps and begin blasting. When your enemies come running, they are slowed and also fall to the ground repeteadly.
Shiver will be great too, to slow down a lot of foes, just enough time to make them eat several Fire Breaths and Fire Balls.
Chilling embrace is very good too to mitigate damage and stacks nicely with Shiver.
Freezing touch will be a nice hold to have too (hard control). Maybe not so much for Ice/* and Elec/* (that have ranged holds) but simply great if your primary lacks control.
All in all, I think */Ice has a lot of useful tools that enhance survivability.
With my Elec/Elec I am aiming to a stamina-less build once I get Power Sink (I plan my builds in three or four stages, each stage ends with a respec). I think one hold in the primary (tesla cage) and one in the secondary (shocking grasp, much later) will offer quite a lot of survivality solo.
Again, I rambled a lot and in a quite chaotic way... uhm...
To finish this, ask yourself:
At range or melee?
Solo-capable or always on teams?
I play mostly concept characters and probably I am biased to some combinations of powers and not others (Sonic/Fire??, Elec/ Ice??), so my advice may not be the best to do the most efficient character.
What I do is choose a set (be it the primary or the secondary) that I really want to play (usually because I haven't played before). Then I try to pair it with other set that fits thematically and offers good synergy if possible.
Blasting is very fun.
I did it for 50 levels and whant to do it again. I even play my Warshade as a blaster (that can turn tanker).
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.