Well, welcome back, first off 
I'm not a blaster guru, but I do team with some good blasters.
With IOs (invention origin enhancements), blasters have gotten tougher than they were in past issues, to the point where they can be capped to ranged defense. With the "new" defiance, Level 1 attacks from the primary/secondary are usable even when stunned, held, etc.
So, blasters don't necessarily need a good tank to solo or even manage AVs, though skill, build, and the right powersets may factor in.
That said, teams still love blasters.
Mental Manip. is a great set, with a long-range damaging immobilize, a great cone, and some nifty aoe powers, including +regen/recovery powers. It is very popular nowadays for a good reason.
Psy, not so much, though I think you hit the nail on the head - resists. Psy is great, until you run into Mech Men and other critters with high Psi resists. Its all or nothing.
Most of my SG mates are still not certain of what they think of Rad/
I do have personal experience (as a corruptor) with Sonic, and it is an excellent set. You will melt faces with it. Plus it has some nice perks - a Mag 3 stun, a Mag 3 cone sleep (makes soloing very easy), and a Knockback cone.
The Aoe damage is limited in Sonic, the one cone (Howl). But you can pair this up with MM's psi cone.
On my corr I tend to use the cones in groups, and ST/Sleep solo. Nice thing is, Sonic makes everyone else do better, too, so you have some minor utility to add to groups.
With the new difficulty sliders, you can set your solo missions to no bosses and just farm away.
Wish I could give you more info, I'm sure one of the old hands in this forum can offer more. You came back at a great time, CoH is really coming into its own this past year.
53 Bots/FF/Mace Mastermind | 53 NRG/FF/Electricity Defender | 50 Time/Dual Pistols/Soul Defender | 50 Demons/FF/Mace Mastermind | 51 Necro/Dark/Soul Mastermind | 50 Thugs/Time/Mace Mastermind | 50 Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker | 50 Plant/Rad/Earth Controller | 50 Illusion/Trick Arrow Controller | 50 Gravity/Force Field Controller
Yes, I like Force Fields.
Hey thanks for the post, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with sonic as my main, I like the fact that i can put a debuff on the enemy, and i haven't seen to many sonic blasters so far, just a lot of fire. I'm just very unsure of what will mesh well with sonic for my secondary, any suggestions?
So far I'm thinking mental or energy and after that im not sure
I like the control that i get with mental and that its a different dmg type.
I like energy because of the utility i get from power boost, boot range build up and conserve power
I see some melee attacks in there as well, is that like shooting yourself in the foot?
Alright, so with sonic as your main, I'll go ahead and say, from where my experience comes from Sonic/Mental meshes absolutely perfectly. Psy contributing extra AoE, Sonics area sleep allowing for safe Drain Psyche Alpha, variety in damage type, multi debuff/control etc etc, and the IO possibilities are nearly endless.
I'd say sonic/mental is an excellent jack of all trades, versatility means you never feel like you're not contributing... however, some specialized folks pass you up doing things like...
Sonic/EM, which leads into the blapper (melee blaster) niche, as one of the top dogs of that group. You're going to find yourself lacking in AoE, however due to -res and powerful melee attacks, the single target damage is extraordinary. The AoE sleep from Sonic allows you to pick off each enemy of a spawn one by one in total safety so it is definitely not "shooting yourself in the foot"
So which fits your playstyle better? Enjoy your character either way, and play til drain psyche... that'll get you hooked.
"Fascinating. I'm not bored at all, I swear." -Kikuchiyo
I like sonic/fire, sonic has some great mitigation with the cone sleep which helps make up for the lack of mitigation in fire (well at least not until really late in the set) Fire has some awesome AOEs ie (FSC, Combustion, HF etc.) which helps with the lack in sonic and sonic debuffs really is sick and wrong when tied to the damage output fire manipulation can dish out
"...well I have wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor and I am happy to state I finally won out over it." Elwood P Dowd (from the movie Harvey)
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Mental manip meshes well with everything. I have it with fire, assault rifle, archery, ice, and psy. I wouldn't take psy for pve and if I had the option of a total respec I would use it on that toon. People say good things about psy in pvp. i don't know how much of that may be from a bugged ??? proc though and how much would be from the overall usefulness of the set.
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Originally Posted by Shiver_NA
Hey thanks for the post, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with sonic as my main, I like the fact that i can put a debuff on the enemy, and i haven't seen to many sonic blasters so far, just a lot of fire. I'm just very unsure of what will mesh well with sonic for my secondary, any suggestions?
So far I'm thinking mental or energy and after that im not sure I like the control that i get with mental and that its a different dmg type. I like energy because of the utility i get from power boost, boot range build up and conserve power I see some melee attacks in there as well, is that like shooting yourself in the foot? |
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the great tips, I decided to go with the sonic/psy build so far its pretty fun (only at level 9 though)
One thing that still greatly confuses me since starting again is the (new?) IO Enhancements, is it worth it to make Tempest: Accuracy/Damage at level 15? or is there better ones then that?
I only bother with IO sets at levels 27+ (for the level 30-35 IOs*).
The only time I bother with IO sets that early are for some of the more exotic powers that really need the frankenslotting (like Acid Mortar, or Roots).
Otherwise, save your inf til you are ready to get down to brass tacks. Better non-purple sets are Entropic Chaos, Decimation, Thunderstrike and Devastation.
Why do I wait til 27+?
Well, level 30-35 IOs are as good as 50 SOs. Plus, if they have set bonuses, if I plan on mentoring down, I won't lose the bonuses once I'm X-3 level lower than them, where X is the level of the IOs. Usualy I tend to mentor down to the mid 20s to 40s, so I keep my bonuses.
Of course, if you dont care about losing the bonuses of that IO set, or they are just regular non-set IOs, or you don't mentor down, then go for the highest level IO you can get for your inf.
53 Bots/FF/Mace Mastermind | 53 NRG/FF/Electricity Defender | 50 Time/Dual Pistols/Soul Defender | 50 Demons/FF/Mace Mastermind | 51 Necro/Dark/Soul Mastermind | 50 Thugs/Time/Mace Mastermind | 50 Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker | 50 Plant/Rad/Earth Controller | 50 Illusion/Trick Arrow Controller | 50 Gravity/Force Field Controller
Yes, I like Force Fields.
Quote:
At level 15, IO's aren't going to make a world of difference, especially hybrid IO's since you'll only be getting a training origins worth of both. In fact, until SO levels enhancements in general aren't going to make a load of difference, so just stick with DO's and you'll be fine.|
Originally Posted by Shiver_NA
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the great tips, I decided to go with the sonic/psy build so far its pretty fun (only at level 9 though) One thing that still greatly confuses me since starting again is the (new?) IO Enhancements, is it worth it to make Tempest: Accuracy/Damage at level 15? or is there better ones then that? |
First off, there are a few things you may need to know if you're not already familiar with them.
A.)Enhancement Diversification
B.)Archetype Inherent Abilities
C.)Beginner's Luck (Pre-20 you get a tohit bonus now so it's not so hard to hit things pre-SO's)
And then the invention basics.
Invention Origin Enhancements...
1.)Never age (never go red)
2.)IO>SO's at level 35 (meaning they always perform as +3 SO's)
3.)If in sets, cannot have two identical enhancements of the same set in the same power.
4.)Have sets that grant bonuses as you slot each different enhancement of the same set into one power. (bonuses listed in recipes).
5.)Have set bonuses which usually effect your character "globally" which means if slot thunderstrikes, and get 9% accuracy bonus, that's 9% bonus to all powers. Global increases are NOT effected by Enhance Diversification.
6.)Are never *necessary* as PvE is not balanced around them.
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So, best not to worry about IO's until 35 to begin with, replace SO's with Generic IO's, never worry about IO's getting worse. Start "frankenslotting" powers that need it as you please (drain psyche can be enhanced lots of ways, by taking say an Acc/heal/rech IO from the accurate healing sets, you can help yourself out a good deal.)
Around level 40some start thinking about selecting sets that enhance some bonus stat you want higher, popular choices are recharge, defense, and recovery, as players are constantly fighting with E.D. to get these higher.
If you have any trouble understanding any of that, or you've picked that up already and want to know more, I'd suggest looking at the "guide to guides" in the player help section of the forums.
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There's surely plenty of stuff I've missed, enjoy all the new costume options and customizable weapons, Sonic/Mental is a load of fun.
Welcome Back
"Fascinating. I'm not bored at all, I swear." -Kikuchiyo
To start off, my account has been inactive for over 3 years. I just reinstalled yesterday.
My main is a 50 psy/kin defender, for a long time i have wanted to make a blaster but never played it to long before going back to the other ATs.
Anyways as the title states I would like to have some input on a psy/mind build. I read up on the forums but there doesn't seem to be to much on this build.
I have read that it can suck at higher levels when mobs get resistance to psy dmg.
is this more for pvp? Also my secondary could be swapped out and im not opposed to swapping the primary for sonic or rad.
From what I understand blasters as long as they are teamed with a good tank should be all about face melting aoe and single target for pvp and soloing?
Comments will be greatly appreciated