Hello Blaster Family

I just dinged my first 50 and found Mids to spec with. I have a Fire/Fire blaster and came up with the following that I think is sound based on my limited experience with the game. I have around 280 merits and 200Mil that I acquired while leveling to spend on gear there are so many different choices and I'm not really familiar with them enough to start slotting my powers. I don't want to waste it on this if it seems subpar. I was thinking of working towards a midrange cost build (now template) an Epic template then a PvP build. Any suggestions for enhancements or possible respecs would be helpful. Thanks!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Epicbard: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Fire Blast Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(3), Empty(11), Empty(27), Empty(33)
Level 1: Ring of Fire Empty(A)
Level 2: Fire Ball Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(9), Empty(13), Empty(27), Empty(34)
Level 4: Flares Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(11), Empty(17), Empty(31), Empty(33)
Level 6: Hover Empty(A), Empty(7), Empty(7)
Level 8: Rain of Fire Empty(A), Empty(9), Empty(15), Empty(25), Empty(31), Empty(36)
Level 10: Assault Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(42)
Level 12: Fire Breath Empty(A), Empty(13), Empty(15), Empty(17), Empty(33), Empty(34)
Level 14: Fly Empty(A)
Level 16: Swift Empty(A)
Level 18: Health Empty(A), Empty(19), Empty(19)
Level 20: Stamina Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(21)
Level 22: Blaze Empty(A), Empty(23), Empty(23), Empty(25), Empty(31), Empty(34)
Level 24: Tactics Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(43), Empty(43)
Level 26: Maneuvers Empty(A), Empty(36), Empty(36), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(48)
Level 28: Consume Empty(A), Empty(29), Empty(29), Empty(37), Empty(37), Empty(37)
Level 30: Vengeance Empty(A), Empty(50)
Level 32: Aid Other Empty(A), Empty(50), Empty(50)
Level 35: Build Up Empty(A), Empty(39), Empty(40)
Level 38: Aid Self Empty(A), Empty(48), Empty(48)
Level 41: Bonfire Empty(A), Empty(43), Empty(46)
Level 44: Melt Armor Empty(A), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(46), Empty(46)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix Empty(A)
Level 49: Resuscitate Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run

Ok need more info, solo or team play? do you want to exemp down and still be effective? Yno, stuff like that. Otherwise we can't really say yes or no or even suggest much. I'll try and pull up my Fire blaster's build later for you to have a look at to give you ideas.

Also have a look at this guide : http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=125895 Should answer a few questions too

*EDIT* My build, few expensive things in there but i was lucky with random merit rolls.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Tamie: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Entrpc-Acc/Dmg(A), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Entrpc-Dmg/Rchg(3), Entrpc-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Entrpc-Heal%(5)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(A)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(9), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Range-I(11)
Level 4: Fire Blast -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(13), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dev'n-Hold%(15)
Level 6: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(17), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(17), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 8: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 10: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(21), Posi-Dmg/Rng(21), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Frbd-Stlth(A)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(23), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(25), Numna-Heal(25), Dct'dW-Heal(27), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(27)
Level 18: Super Jump -- SprngFt-EndRdx(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(29), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(29), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(31), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(31)
Level 22: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 26: Blazing Bolt -- Mantic-Acc/Dmg(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(34), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(36), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 28: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(37), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(39)
Level 30: Blaze -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Fire Sword Circle -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(40), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(40), Sciroc-Dam%(42)
Level 35: Inferno -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(43)
Level 38: Burn -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(46), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(50), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 41: Bonfire -- Posi-Dam%(A)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(45), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam(46), Aegis-Psi/Status(46)
Level 47: Melt Armor -- LdyGrey-DefDeb(A), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(48), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(48), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(48), LdyGrey-DefDeb/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 0: Ninja Run

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Thanks I read through that as well as a couple of other guides posted here. My intention is to hopefully group, but while I wait for an invite I'll just be doing random missions I find. I'm not sure of what there is exactly to do here post 50, but I figure I'll find out eventually. I came from DAoC were I spent most of my time RvRing, but at the end of my time there I retired onto the PvE server Gaheris. I took a Spiritmaster to RR13 there got bored and took a break from gaming for a bit and now have decided to try out CoH.

Now that you know more about me then you really wanted to let me explain my thought process with the powers I choose.

Epicbard: Level 50 Magic Blaster (I like pure dmg classes)
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast (I took fire because it seemed as though it offered the most amount of aoe dmg spells when I was looking though the powers when I made the class)
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation (same, but when I started playing the spells didn't look as good as I thought originally.)
Power Pool: Flight (seemed the easiest to get around with)
Power Pool: Leadership (team support yay!)
Power Pool: Fitness (endo)
Power Pool: Medicine (more team support, but as a backup if needed)
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery (Took for the self rez mostly)

Right now I have these filled with crafted enhancements (the types you can memorize) the spells have a balance of acc/dmg then on some of the others I have recharge or shields or health or endo redu/mod depending on the power, basic stuff I figure.

The way I leveled is to pretty much release all my aoe spells, then use my single targets until the aoe's come back up again. My goal was/is to maximize my dps. Some of the other dmg spells seemed situational and by picking these powers it seemed to give me the most steady damage over time.

I have not experimented with any additional powers so I may be missing out on something that I didn't pick. Coming from the gear based background when templating out a toon has made the enhancement system that's in place here confusing for me. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but its hard for me to select the ones to buy, to get my character to be the best it can be. I may need to waste some of my influence to figure it out, but with how long this game has been around I figured I come here and ask you guys first.

Thanks for looking
EB

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Fire Blast Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(3), Empty(11), Empty(27), Empty(33)
Level 1: Ring of Fire Empty(A)
Level 2: Fire Ball Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(9), Empty(13), Empty(27), Empty(34)
Level 4: Flares Empty(A), Empty(5), Empty(11), Empty(17), Empty(31), Empty(33)
Level 6: Hover Empty(A), Empty(7), Empty(7)
Level 8: Rain of Fire Empty(A), Empty(9), Empty(15), Empty(25), Empty(31), Empty(36)
Level 10: Assault Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(42)
Level 12: Fire Breath Empty(A), Empty(13), Empty(15), Empty(17), Empty(33), Empty(34)
Level 14: Fly Empty(A)
Level 16: Swift Empty(A)
Level 18: Health Empty(A), Empty(19), Empty(19)
Level 20: Stamina Empty(A), Empty(21), Empty(21)
Level 22: Blaze Empty(A), Empty(23), Empty(23), Empty(25), Empty(31), Empty(34)
Level 24: Tactics Empty(A), Empty(40), Empty(42), Empty(42), Empty(43), Empty(43)
Level 26: Maneuvers Empty(A), Empty(36), Empty(36), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(48)
Level 28: Consume Empty(A), Empty(29), Empty(29), Empty(37), Empty(37), Empty(37)
Level 30: Vengeance Empty(A), Empty(50)
Level 32: Aid Other Empty(A), Empty(50), Empty(50)
Level 35: Build Up Empty(A), Empty(39), Empty(40)
Level 38: Aid Self Empty(A), Empty(48), Empty(48)
Level 41: Bonfire Empty(A), Empty(43), Empty(46)
Level 44: Melt Armor Empty(A), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(45), Empty(46), Empty(46) (This spell does not seem to do anything)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix Empty(A)
Level 49: Resuscitate Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run

IMHO, you are going overboard with all the pool powers. Full Leadership is entirely unnecessary. Even Aid Self is... Meh. I would prefer Tough/Weave.

You are missing alot of key powers, and some are pushed REALLY far back in the build. Aim and Build Up are core powers, and should be taken earlier.

You are neglecting alot of /Fire powers that are really good. Fire Sword Circle for instance, deals INCREDIBLE amounts of AoE damage.

On the 17th, Burn will be becoming a very, very good AoE as well when Going Rogue releases.

In fact, you could prob get away with dropping Firebreath entirely, and using Fireball, Fire Sword Circle, and Burn as your primary AoE powers, with Rain of Fire as your emergency AoE.

Also, no Inferno? It's one of the best nukes.

What powers in the Leadership pool do you find not worth taking? I figured any powers I could have that could help the group would be worth taking, but maybe their not as effective as I thought they'd be. I grabbed aid other/aid self so I could get the resuscitate power. I'm not super attached to the Medicine pool so I can drop it and get Fire Sword Circle and Burn. Does Tough/Weave work at the same time as Hover? I have that on during all of my fights atm for defense. I didn't get Inferno because I felt the recast timer was to slow to make it effective. I could try to work aim/build up into this sooner, but build up doesn't seem to work that great and doesn't last that long. Build up is the one power I have on auto click. Maybe I'm playing this thing wrong who knows. I have gotten some comments in groups about how fast the mobs have gone down, but maybe they are just noobs as well and don't realize that we could be killing them faster.

Another question is how do I figure out all the sets I should use and how many of each set should I put into a power? Right now with using the crafted training enhancements I know I'm missing out on some set bonuses, but have no idea of where to start putting them in.

Thanks again for looking and the help
EB

quick edit:
Whats the deal with melt armor? Is this a power people take or is better once its slotted up with better enchantments? I have 3 acc + 3 def debuff in it and it does not seem to do anything. Is it used more on higher level mobs? If you use it how does it work for you and what mobs do you use it on?

NEVER put Build Up on autofire. It doubles your damage, but only lasts for 10 seconds, so you should use it it when you want to REALLY hurt something(s).

I wouldn't take Melt Armor at all, to be honest. As a Fire/Fire the only debuff you should be concerned with is debuffing their health bar.

I'll post a build when I get home from work to give you a bit of an idea about slotting set IOs.

I've moved build up on my hotbar and taken it off autofire. It took me a bit to come up with these skills and I'm having a hard time deciding on a new build. I really like fly as my travel power, but obviously its not efficient for the powers I need. What travel power do most blasters take? Is there a cookie cutter build I can modify?

The powers that I figure I need
Fire:
Flares
Fire Blast
Fire Ball
Rain of Fire
Aim
Blaze
Inferno - is it really worth it with the long recharge and endo drain?

/Fire
Ring of Fire
Fire Sword Circle
Build Up
Consume
Burn

/Fitness
Swift
Health
Stamina

/Fighting
Boxing or Kick not sure which
Tough
Weave

/Epic Fire
Two other powers
Rise of the Phoenix

/Some Travel Power

Powers I would like after this in the order I would want them

/Flight
Hover - I can prob live without this one
Fly - Its fun!

/Medicine
Aid Other
Aid Self
Resuscitate

/Leadership
Assault
Tactics
Maneuvers
Vengeance



Obviously I will not be able to take all of the powers in my want list, but if you have any suggestions of what I would be better off with/without let me know.

Thanks again for all your help. Hopefully I can get this narrowed to to a final build I can live with.

EB.

Here is a build I put together. You can substitute any IO's in the build for SO's, but if you do decide to go for the IO's, this build will give you 24% Ranged defense, 21% Melee defense, and 45% Smashing/Lethal Resistances, as well as a bit of +Recharge, and it's a fairly *moderate* price as well.



Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dam%(9), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 4: Fire Sword -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mako-Dam%(40)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A), Krma-ResKB(19)
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: Fire Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(21), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), Posi-Dam%(23), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(45), RgnTis-Regen+(45)
Level 20: Blaze -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(27), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(29), EndMod-I(31)
Level 24: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 26: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dam%(33)
Level 28: Consume -- P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(43), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(43), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(45), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 30: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Inferno -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(34), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 35: Burn -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Tough -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFtn-Def(46), RedFtn-EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Bonfire -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), TtmC'tng-ResDam(48), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(48), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Heal-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 14% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 14% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 14% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 14% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 14% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 14% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 14% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 14% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 8.63% Defense(Smashing)
• 8.63% Defense(Lethal)
• 3% Defense(Fire)
• 3% Defense(Cold)
• 13.6% Defense(Energy)
• 13.6% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 14.3% Defense(Melee)
• 16.8% Defense(Ranged)
• 3% Defense(AoE)
• 59% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 38.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 13% FlySpeed
• 76.8 HP (6.37%) HitPoints
• 13% JumpHeight
• 13% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 3.3%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 5.5%
• MezResist(Sleep) 4.4%
• MezResist(Stun) 11%
• 14% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery
• 5.99% Resistance(Fire)
• 5.99% Resistance(Cold)
• 13% RunSpeed

It looks good - Would you be able to change Fire Sword to Fire Blast and keep the same stats?

Edit.
I see that its a Melee set so I guess that wouldn't work. Is it worth it to keep that power and set if I probably wont use Fire sword?

Sounds good. I thought about it and I think I'll try to play it as is and see how it goes. If it doesn't work out I'll respec and use the Thunderstrikes. I already starting buying a couple of the items in the build. Once its done and I start using it I'll update you with how it plays. Thanks for all your help!

EB.

Damn, sorry Epicbard, I completely spaced on posting that build for you.

Interestingly enough, Candlestick posted a build very close to what I probably would have done, so it's not a complete loss.

Hoverblasting is a very viable technique for staying out of danger. If you get your ranged defense high enough you can blast from relative safety because non-flying enemies will be forced to use their ranged attacks, which you have a high defense to.

Aim and Build Up together are probably the most defining reasons why Blasters are the damage kings of CoH. Your long-term DPS is solid, yes, but you have the power to start a fight with a 10 second window of outrageously high burst damage. Aim + BU + (insert AoE chain) can devastate a whole herd of enemies in almost no time at all, and you are doing yourself a disservice to put them on auto and not use them to their fullest tactical potential.

The rest is a rambling evaluation of power options: feel free to ignore it.

/Fire Manipulation is one of the most melee-centric secondaries around for a blaster. Of note, it offers Fire Sword Circle, Burn (which will be significantly buffed on Tuesday), and Fire Sword, which deal somewhat higher damage than their ranged counterparts because of the increased risk in using them. If you want to leverage its potent AoE powers, you will need to get in close to the baddies, which is harder to do when using a hover build. If you want to try a more melee-centric approach, swapping the flight pool out for Combat Jumping / Superjump would be your best option (imo). Combat Jumping stacked with Hurdle (which you'd want to grab on your way to Stamina) provides movement speeds on par with Flight, but which are unsuppressable even in combat; with a little practice, this will let you bounce in and out of melee range before they can respond, and 'joust' your attacks. Example: you can queue up Fire sword, jump just past a Freakshow boss (so you pass into melee range on your way by), and your melee attack will finish activating while you soar several feet past him. He still takes full damage, but you don't stay in melee long enough for him to be able to smack you across the room.

That being said, as a Fire/Fire blaster, you don't really need to rely on your secondary for damage since Fire Blast is already insanely powerful. As mentioned previously, BU + Aim + Fire Ball + Fire Breath is normally enough to wipe the floor with a horde of +2 minions on its own, and leave the rest of the LTs/Bosses in a world of hurt. As such, Hoverblasting lets you avoid hard-hitting melee attacks entirely, and a unique perspective on the battle. If you choose to splash in some ranged defense through IOs, it gets even better. Stick with the option you feel comfortable with - keeping at a safe distance definitely won't cripple your damage output or anything like that, especially since a dead blaster deals 0 damage (Rise of the Phoenix excluded).

On that topic, RotP is my favorite power from any blaster epic, since it lets you fight more aggressively than most blasters - since you know that if you DO bite off more than you can chew, you have a second lease on life, you can take a few more risks. You should still play sensibly and not go charging head-first into certain death, but death is no longer something to really worry about. To get there, I'd grab Bonfire and Fire Shield - Bonfire is a handy knockback patch to completely wall off a corner or hallway, pin baddies into a corner, or just provide some breathing room, and doesn't need any slotting at all. Fire Shield is a cheap resistance toggle that cuts down incoming damage by almost a third - there's very little reason not to take it. Char is one of the best single-target holds around, but it does require heavy slotting to make it useful, and you have no other hard-controls to stack it with - probably skippable.

As to your power pools, Leadership can indeed be a useful option on a team-oriented Blaster. The numbers on the powers are low individually; for example, Maneuvers offers a piddly 2.28% defense (unslotted) for a relatively high cost (.4 endurance per second, or eps). However, it offers that to the whole team, and stacks - if 5 people on the team slot it up and run it, that's now more like 20% defense, which is on par with a scrapper's main defensive toggles. Assault offers +10.5% damage, but if a couple people run it, that can be more like +50% or even +80% damage, for everyone on the team, all the time. I rarely manage to fit Vengeance in on a blaster, but when you get into a tight spot and teammates are starting to fall, Vengeance is pretty much the strongest party buff in the game. Slotted for +defense, it can stop a teamwipe in its tracks much more often than not - as long as you aren't the first person to go down. It's a power you hope not to need, much like Rise of the Phoenix, but when it's useful, darn is it ever useful. I wouldn't take all three of the Leadership toggles to get there, since the end drain is pretty steep for running the full set, but 2 of the 3 is a welcome addition.

I'd count leadership as much more useful than the Fighting pool for a blaster, since the Fighting toggles (Tough and Weave) provide .

Inferno does indeed have an oppressively long recharge time. However, that's because when you use it, everything in range will die except for maybe a lucky boss or two that will cling desperately to their last pixel of health. If a battle starts turning sour, or there are two groups of enemies that spawned too closely together to safely approach, or you just feel like showing off, popping Aim + BU + Inferno is basically your "I Win" button. It's nowhere near as important as your bread-and-butter attacks like Fireball; it's strictly your ace in the hole, for you to pull out at most every 3 minutes or so, but it's not as useless as you might think. Regarding the endurance crash, as a Fire/Fire, you have more use from your Nuke than most combos. After you pop Inferno, if there ARE still survivors, you can chew a small blue inspiration and then run in to use Consume. You still won't start regenerating endurance as normal for a while, but you should have enough instant endurance to finish off the survivors. If there weren't any survivors, then there's nothing to worry about anyway.