Energy is always good. Boost Range + lots of cones should be a fun time. I have a 50 AR/Ice that I enjoy, it gives you many tools for safety and control, and build up, which Devices lacks.
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Villains
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Saer Maen
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I have a 50 AR/Dev and a 50 AR/EM. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.
I personally think the AR/Dev is more fun. The AR/EM is really just Boost Range + Build UP + AR Cones, collect farm goodies ad naseum. If he gets more than 3 foes punching him in the face he's in trouble. But he fit the bill for a farm toon when I was going for the WW Badges, so I followed thru with him all the way to the portable invention table. Now he just sits.
-Largo
Founder of A.G.O.N.Y. Supergroup on Victory
Member of Thought Sanctum VG on Victory
Member of St0rm Batallion SG on Guardian
/Devices is an odd duck, in that it has no Build Up; it has caltrops, mines, and loads of stealth options, which is cool, but is more oriented towards proper setup and decisively crushing the enemies you want to fight instead of just run-and-gun slaughterfests. It also offers a ST immobilize which, while not damaging, packs a strong -recharge debuff and makes Ignite into a beast.
/Ice offers Shiver, which is a stupidly large and potent AoE slowing power that does amazing things for both your survivability and keeping enemies clustered for optimum AoE punishment. Furthermore, it has Ice Patch, which synergizes perfectly with Ignite as long as you can get over the inherent silliness of burning to death on ice. Drop a Patch by a corner, drag baddies around it who will then do nothing save slip and fall while staying in your Ignite patches for their full duration, making it an INCREDIBLY powerful attack when you can use it reliably not only against a single immobilized target but as an AoE.
The main draw of /EM is Boost Range, which turns AR/ from a close-range cone specialist into a long-range cone nightmare; imagine Flamethrower with a 70+ foot radius. It also has energy/smashing melee attacks to provide alternative damage types against things that resist your typical blend, and a couple quick punches can dismantle robots that would laugh as you plink away at them with guns. It lacks an immobilize to synergize with Ignite though, so you'd need to rely on Burst, Slug, and your punches for ST damage unless you get an immobilize through a patron pool or something.
Ice and EM both will provide Build Up to ramp up your burst damage significantly, letting your initial volley of cones finish off most baddies instead of making them very angry and only mostly dead. Devices instead relies on mines for bursty damage (either planted as a minefield in front of enemies or toe-bombing thanks to your stealth capacities).
/Mental and /Fire can be options for adding EVEN MORE AOE to your repetoire, but AR blasters can usually squeeze out enough from their primary that it gets a little redundant after a while. If you want a completely seamless chain of non-stop AoE attacks without investing in any recharge bonuses though, they're there for you.
Rule number six of an empathy defender is NEVER underestimate a blaster's ability to die. I don't care if he has CM, Fort, both RAs, bubbles (both FF and Sonic), and is fighting next to a Storm defender with hurricane on. If there is a way to die in that situation, the blaster will find it.
Ok I have heard a lot of hate on AR recently. Especially when I try it with devices. Im kinda new with the combo since I don't do blue side much and I want to know what else goes well with AR if not devices.