Personally, I'd go with Cold Mastery and work on smashing and lethal defense instead.
Smashing and lethal cover a large percentage of attacks in the game, someone calculated it as being over 60%. With your 34% melee defense you should dodge most melee attacks, but what about groups like Council who like to stand back and shoot you with machine guns? S/L defense covers that.
Here ya go. With just a few slots being moved around and a different Epic pool, I got you to 44.9% defense to smashing and lethal.....while only losing 4% to your melee defense (it's still just over 30%) And you get Hibernate as an "Oh crap!" button, probably the same thing you were going to use PFF for anyway.
Yes, Frozen Armor is ugly, but this build will survive better.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
X32290: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Decim-Build%(45)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(7), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(13), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(46)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Knock%(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(19), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(23), Ragnrk-Dmg(23)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng(11), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(13), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Oblit-%Dam(17)
Level 12: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 18: Blaze -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(25), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(27), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(27), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam(31), RctvArm-EndRdx(31), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(31), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(33)
Level 28: Consume -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), LkGmblr-Def(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+(40)
Level 32: Inferno -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(36)
Level 35: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), LkGmblr-Def(36), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(39), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(39), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(39), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Flash Freeze -- LgcRps-Acc/Rchg(A), LgcRps-EndRdx/Sleep(42), LgcRps-Acc/EndRdx(43), LgcRps-Sleep/Rng(48)
Level 44: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(45), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(46), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 47: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Build%(50)
Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I think that in your strive for the melee softcap (or within reach by a Luck, which you accomplished, pretty good) that you sacrificed a lot of the performance of the character. You don't have Build Up *or* Aim, which will seriously hurt your damage capabilities, and for all the melee defense you worked up, other than two pbaoe toggles you really don't have much else to do in melee that you can't do at range.
Plus, I don't think melee defense is as good as you think it is. A blaster's main issue is lack of HP and mezzes. Since a large number of the mezzes in this game are ranged, melee defense will do very little for you against them. And while you did pump your HP up to base brute levels and pick up some rather decent S/L resists, all of those ranged attacks are going to hurt. There are a lot of enemies that can pump out high damage at range, especially late game, and a lot of the defense debuffs you are going to have to deal with are from ranged attacks.
If I were going to aim for defense on a squishie, I'd go for S/L, instead of Melee, since almost all of those defense debuffs do lethal damage. Also, something like 85% of all attacks have either a smashing or lethal component, so it will work against all of those attacks, instead of just the melee ones.
I managed to work up a build that's softcapped to S/L with much better recovery, two decent ways to get blue back, two ways to get green back, and mitigation, to boot.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Decim-Build%(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Decim-Acc/Dmg(27), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(A), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(3), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(3), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(9)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Knock%(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(17), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Fire Sword -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 6: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(13), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(15), Oblit-Dmg(15)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 16: Super Speed -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 18: Blaze -- Apoc-Dam%(A), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(46), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(29)
Level 22: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 26: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(29), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(33), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 28: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(34), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(34), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod(37)
Level 30: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(31), RctvArm-ResDam(31), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(33), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Inferno -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(43), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 35: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(36), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(36), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- CtlSpd-Acc/Slow(A), CtlSpd-Dmg/Slow(39), CtlSpd-Acc/EndRdx(39), CtlSpd-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(39), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(40), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Flash Freeze -- LgcRps-Acc/Rchg(A), LgcRps-EndRdx/Sleep(42), LgcRps-Acc/EndRdx(42), LgcRps-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Hoarfrost -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(48), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Rchg(50)
Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 9.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 23% Defense(Smashing)
- 23% Defense(Lethal)
- 3% Defense(Fire)
- 3% Defense(Cold)
- 6.13% Defense(Energy)
- 6.13% Defense(Negative)
- 3% Defense(Psionic)
- 15.8% Defense(Melee)
- 4.56% Defense(Ranged)
- 3% Defense(AoE)
- 2.25% Max End
- 42% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 56.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 4% Enhancement(Heal)
- 3% Enhancement(Immobilize)
- 2% Enhancement(FlySpeed)
- 2% Enhancement(JumpSpeed)
- 4% Enhancement(Sleep)
- 2% Enhancement(RunSpeed)
- 2% Enhancement(JumpHeight)
- 5% FlySpeed
- 149.1 HP (12.4%) HitPoints
- 5% JumpHeight
- 5% JumpSpeed
- Knockback (Mag -4)
- Knockup (Mag -4)
- MezResist(Immobilize) 13.8%
- MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
- MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%
- 9.5% (0.16 End/sec) Recovery
- 46% (2.31 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
- 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
- 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed)
- 3.78% Resistance(Fire)
- 3.78% Resistance(Cold)
- 1.88% Resistance(Negative)
- 5% RunSpeed
Should work better for what you want it to do, without making *too* many sacrifices in powers/slotting.
Gentlemen,
I thank you for your responses. Due to the lateness of the hour here on the East Coast, I must wait until tomorrow to fully review your suggestions. If I might make one imposition upon you, would you mind posting a DataChunk that I could plug straight into Mids'?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Marka Ragnos
Gentlemen,
I thank you for your responses. Due to the lateness of the hour here on the East Coast, I must wait until tomorrow to fully review your suggestions. If I might make one imposition upon you, would you mind posting a DataChunk that I could plug straight into Mids'? |
You should be able to click on the DataLink to open Mid's up with the build already loaded. Pretty sure mine works (It did for me at least, I check them after I post to make sure). If you're having problems with it I can post the Data chunk when I get home from work.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Gentlemen,
I thank you once again for your assistance. The debate over Melee vs. S/L Defense is intriguing. I did not think that I would be able to get as high of a Defense rate with S/L as you have done. Further, it seemed that much of the Fire Secondary required one to be in Melee range, thus making the Melee Defense even more attractive. Unfortunately, I do not think that I can bring myself to switch over to Cold Mastery for concept reasons. I should have mentioned that in the beginning. My apologies. That being said, I have a few responses regarding Melee Defense and my neglecting both Build Up and Aim.
It seems that my weakness to Ranged attacks will not be to difficult to surmount if I properly leverage Hot Feet and Blazing Aura (i.e. I jump into the middle of a spawn with both toggles running and huck a Fireball). In my experience, they will be feared by HF and begin to slowly run away, only to be drawn back in by BA and further AoE carnage. I do not think that I have ever run into a situation where my prey flees and does not come rushing back for more. Further, the current build has about 23% S/L Defense already, as well as nearly 50% S/L Resistance. It occurs to me, then, that what Ranged attacks do come in will face reasonable mitigation by virtue of the S/L Defense and Resistance.
As far as my neglect of Build Up and Aim, it was done with purpose. With both Build Up and Aim activated, the build WarronPeace has shown me outdamages mine by an average of about 60 damage per attack (discounting HF and BA). When they are down, mine outdamages his by an average of about 100 damage per attack (discounting the same). In addition, Build Up and Aim only give an extra 20 points of To-Hit Buff over my running Tactics. Since the benefits of Build Up and Aim are only available for 10 of every 30 seconds, I decided that the constant benefits from running Tactics and my choice of slotting was far more beneficial than the burst of buffage from Build Up and its brother.
Finally, the synergy of the Fire/Fire combo seems to rely heavily on my being in melee. The two PBAoEs, FSC, and FS can only be used effectively in melee. I bring this up in response to the assertion that I don't have much to do in melee that I cannot do at range. These four powers and Blaze appear to be the backbone of my damage output. Blaze is the only one that is useful at range; yet, it has only has half the range as Fire Blast!
I do not wish to appear ungrateful. I truly appreciate the time you two put into helping me, and I will consider your suggestions further. The above responses are merely my initial reactions. Perhaps further discussion and contemplation will cause me to reconsider.
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Blaster Forum!
Below is a modified build for my first character, my beloved Fire Blaster. He has been quite fun, but inadequate for my play style. I have adjusted his build to complement my scrapper-like tendencies, and I was wondering if you thought that this new build would be viable. The goal is to get as close as I can to the Melee softcap, acquire decent resistances to the most common damage types, while not sacrificing what the archetype does best. I think that I may very well have succeeded. What do you all think?
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
X32290: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Decim-Build%(45)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), T'Death-Dam%(7)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(19), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(23), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Ragnrk-Knock%(25)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng(11), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Posi-Dam%(13)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(13), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Oblit-%Dam(17)
Level 12: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 18: Blaze -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(25), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(27), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(27), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(31), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(31), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), TtmC'tng-ResDam(33), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(33)
Level 28: Consume -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), LkGmblr-Def(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+(40)
Level 32: Inferno -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(36)
Level 35: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), LkGmblr-Def(36), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(39), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(39), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(39), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Personal Force Field -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(45), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(46), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), TtmC'tng-ResDam(46), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(48)
Level 47: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Build%(50)
Level 49: Force of Nature -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run