Blaster Nukes

Nukes have a 140% To Hit modifier (something like 100% To Hit on an even con) and are USUALLY used with Build Up or Aim or both. That makes the numbers on a +3 something like 70% chance to hit with no acc slotted.

I have, less than five times in five years, had to use a nuke as an emergency measure (BU and Aim not available) and therefore, because I am paranoid, I try to slot a little Acc in there. One Acc/Dam, three Dam/Rech [one will cost you for salvage, one will cost you for both] and one Rech and you're pretty much set- 25% or so Acc, 95% or so Dam, 95%+ Rech.

Nukes actually have 105 base ToHit, 150% of the 75 base ToHit most attacks have. Aim + Nuke, both unslotted, is still 95% chance to hit against +4 enemies. Slotting accuracy is a waste of slots.

Slotting a lot of acc is a waste of time. Slotting a little (a third enhancement on a set IO that enhances three attributes) goes a long way, because of the high base value, toward helping to hit things with high defense totals. And, you give up practically nothing in other enhancement values to get it. It also acts as insurance for those odd occasions when both aim and build up are down, when you'd like to use your nuke.

No, the OP is not exaggerating. With 98.1% damage slotting in T-Blast, 20.5% global damage from set bonuses, aim and buildup, there is nothing remotely unusual about nuking +1 and +2 arachnos spawns and seeing minions standing with quarter health or more when it's over. They have been hit. They just lived through it. Since the initial pulse from T-Blast hits exactly as hard as the other nukes, this should be as common in energy and radiation if nothing else, since they're using the same proportion of the same two damage types and should be facing the same resistances.

It's nice to dream of the devs changing blaster nukes to be crashless but I don't think that's going to happen. Now this suggestion isn't for everyone, but one option that you can try is to roll up a Kin Corruptor. On a team you can easily self-buff to the damage cap, then nuke, pop a small blue and do Transference to regain a full blue bar. Corruptor damage cap is substantially lower than a blaster, but being able to nuke every single time it's up (and it'll be up a LOT with Siphon Speed boosting your recharge) is pretty damn fun.

A lot of folks who like playing blasters will absolutely hate playing a Kin. Speed Boost is an awesome but short duration buff, so you'll either be doling it out a lot or you'll be resented as a "bad kin" by your teammates. So caveat emptor. But if you can handle the playstyle, it's a great option if you wan to be a nuke-maniac.

Thunderous Blast works great for my E3.

Build Up
Aim
Ball Lighting
Thunderous Blast

dead mob.. no problem...

I'm not sure where exactly the numbers being discussed here come from, but crash nukes have more than just two possible outcomes. I don't remember Thunderous Blast offhand, but each nuke is based off a total scale damage of 6.0, with a guaranteed damage component of 3.0 (which is more than a snipe), a possible damage component of another 1.5 at a chance of 75%, and another possible damage component of 1.5 at a chance of 50%. This would give you four distinct possibilities at just base, base +75%, base +50%, base +75% +50%, but since two of those are identical, you actually end up with three. You can get 3.0, which is more than a snipe, 4.5 which is more than Total Focus (sane scale damage, but at a higher mod) and 6.0, which is close to a successful Assassin's Strike. On EVERY target.

As well, nukes have a 1.4 native accuracy, which isn't really linearly comparable to either accuracy slotting or to-hit buffs, but suffice it to say that anything you get from to-hit and enhancements is increased by 40% of itself. That basically soft-caps you against anything up to +2, though I would still slot an accuracy in there just so you can hit things like Rikti Drones, Banished Pantheon masks, Fake Nemesis and so forth.

Unfortunately, it's 5 AM and I'm not good enough at statistic to figure out how much the chance of each and every level of damage is to happen, but let me put it like this - I've had a lot of experience with both Nova and Inferno, and I know what they are - Spawn-B-Gone. The biggest problem with them by far is gathering enemies close enough for the nuke to catch them all. If it does, they go down. Yes, the errant minion here and there might survive, but that's hardly a concern to anyone who carries inspirations and actually uses them.

As for crashless nukes, AKA Full Auto and Rain of Arrows, those do have their uses, and it's cool to have them, but crash nukes do have their uses, as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

New day, fresh head, time for some numbers and probabilities. I'll try to explain as best I can without getting into anything too boring.

Each nuke has three components - a 3.0 scale damage component that always fires, a 1.5 scale damage component that fires at a 75% probability and a 1.5 scale damage component that fires at a 50% probability. This gives you four situations - neither, just first, just second or both, with just first and just second doing the same damage, and so being the same situation for a total of three final situations. So what's the likelihood of any of them happening? What's the likelihood of the different damage components firing.

Situation 1: Zilch. Neither additional damage component fires. This means that both components fail. The first additional damage component has a 75% chance to fire, so it has a 25% chance to fail. The second additional damage component has 50% chance to fire, and so a 50% chance to fail. The chance for both of them to fail at the same time, therefore, is 0.25*0.5 = 0.125, or 12.5%.

Situation 2: One added damage component. This comes in two varieties.

Situation 2.1: First additional damage component fires, second additional damage component fails. The first additional damage component has a 75% chance to fire and the second additional damage component has a 50% chance to fail, so the chance for the first one to fire while the second fails is 0.75*0.5 = 0.375, or 37.5%

Situation 2.2: First additional damage component fails, second additional damage component fires. The first additional damage component has a 25% chance to fail and the second additional damage component has a 50% chance to fire, so the chance for the first one to fail and the second fire is 0.25*0.5 = 0.125, or 12.5%

Situation 2 tally: With a 37.5% chance for the first additional damage component to fire and the second fail, and a 12.5% chance for the first to fail and the second fire, the net chance for this whole situation to occur is 0.375 + 0.125 = 0.5, or 50%

Situation 3: Both additional damage components. The chance for the first additional damage component to fire is 75%, and the chance for the second additional damage component to fire is 50%, so the chance for both of them to fire at the same time is 0.75*0.5 = 0.375, or 37.5%.

Final Tally:
Chance for nothing - 12.5%
Chance for something - 50%
Chance for everything - 37.5%

Basically, you have a very good chance of at least one additional damage component firing, a slightly less good chance of BOTH damage components firing, and a relatively remote chance of neither firing. To my eyes, that's good enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

I do not want minions surviving my blaster's six minute recharge, drain all my end and keep it drained nuke. Yes, there are ways to recover the endurance, but they are not part of the design of the power. The power is designed to eliminate your ability to fight for the next twenty seconds, and at that price minions should not be walking away. +3, +4 and heavily resistant to my damage type, possibly, but even con, +1, +2, should not have a one in eight chance to get hit and live through it, and the 1 in 20 chance to be missed completely is pointless.