Your best bet would Fire/Energy or Fire/MM or Archery/Energy or Archery/MM with capped ranged defense. You'll be able to reach your defense cap depending on the ios you get around level 35ish.
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
I've been discussing this on other threads and seriously - if you're going to solo, especially big groups, Its Sonic/Eng all the way.
Very early on all you need are your three single-target blaster powers and judicious use of Hover, then once you hit SO's or so (thats when I start using generic IO's, around level 22), the sky is the limit. Immediate bad-assery.
Siren's Song to sleep the group, then either Stun or Screech to pick out who gets to die first, lather-rinse-repeat. Energy does wonders to boost Sonic's effectiveness, whether its range-boosted power-boosted Sirens or all of those stuns stacking as you cycle through your melee attacks. I've never played a more effective solo character of any archetype and she cuts through those bad guys FAST. Occaisionally I'll go through entire missions without even being hit - and that's BEFORE IO sets start coming.
Almost every IO in the build below is in place to increase typed defense, taking advantage of the excellent Scorpion shield now available to Blasters. Ultimately its not too tough to soft cap smashing/lethal defense or near enough, though I almost never need it. Except where otherwise mentioned, assume all IO's are generic level 25's, upgraded to generic level 40's when the time comes. This particular build offers about 42% defense vs. Smashing/Lethal, about 35% defense vs. Energy, about 25% defense against Neg and about 10% against everything else. But as I said - I almost never need it. This build can legitimately be done with generic IO's and be wickedly potent.
Drop me a line if you have any questions.
Short Form:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shriek -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 2: Scream -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 4: Build Up -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Hover -- EndRdx(A)
Level 8: Shout -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 10: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 12: Amplify -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(13)
Level 14: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 16: Conserve Power -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(40)
Level 18: Sirens Song -- Acc(A), LgcRps-Acc/Rchg(19), LgcRps-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(19), LgcRps-Acc/Sleep(37), LgcRps-Sleep/Rng(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-End%(40)
Level 22: Stun -- Acc(A), Acc(23), RechRdx(23), Dsrnt(34), Dsrnt(36)
Level 24: Bone Smasher -- Acc(A), Dmg(25), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(25), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(33), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 26: Screech -- Acc(A), Acc(27), RechRdx(27), Dsrnt(33), Dsrnt(36)
Level 28: Energy Punch -- Acc(A), Dmg(29), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(29), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(33), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 30: Power Boost -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(31)
Level 32: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(36)
Level 38: Dreadful Wail -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Dmg(39), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(39), Dmg(39), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(42), LkGmblr-Def(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42)
Level 44: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(45), Aegis-Psi/Status(45), ImpSkn-Status(45)
Level 47: Weave -- EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 49: Total Focus -- Acc(A), Dmg(50), Dmg(50), Dmg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 6: Ninja Run
Long Form:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shriek
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (7) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (15) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (37) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (43) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (43) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (7) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (15) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge
- (13) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (A) Endurance Reduction
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (9) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (9) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (17) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Run Speed
- (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge
- (13) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (A) Jumping
- (A) Recharge Reduction
- (40) Recharge Reduction
- (A) Accuracy
- (19) Lethargic Repose - Accuracy/Recharge
- (19) Lethargic Repose - Accuracy/Sleep/Recharge
- (37) Lethargic Repose - Accuracy/Sleep
- (37) Lethargic Repose - Sleep/Range
- (A) Endurance Modification
- (21) Endurance Modification
- (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (40) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (A) Accuracy
- (23) Accuracy
- (23) Recharge Reduction
- (34) Disorient Duration
- (36) Disorient Duration
- (A) Accuracy
- (25) Damage Increase
- (25) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (31) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (33) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (34) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Accuracy
- (27) Accuracy
- (27) Recharge Reduction
- (33) Disorient Duration
- (36) Disorient Duration
- (A) Accuracy
- (29) Damage Increase
- (29) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (31) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (33) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (34) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Recharge Reduction
- (31) Recharge Reduction
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Recharge Reduction
- (36) Recharge Reduction
- (A) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (39) Eradication - Damage
- (39) Eradication - Damage/Recharge
- (39) Damage Increase
- (40) Recharge Reduction
- (A) Endurance Reduction
- (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (42) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (45) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
- (45) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance
- (45) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance
- (A) Endurance Reduction
- (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (48) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Accuracy
- (50) Damage Increase
- (50) Damage Increase
- (50) Damage Increase
Level 1: Brawl
- (A) Empty
- (A) Celerity - +Stealth
- (A) Recharge Reduction
Level 6: Ninja Run
Edit: Editted to reflect more exotic build options.
There are a few ways to go on this. If you want to go the all ranged option, you could try Archery/Energy and build for maximum recharge. You'll be somewhat average until around level 33, but from 34-50 you'll mow down massive numbers of +1 and +2 mobs easily. The key is perma-Boost Range and max recharge on Aim, Build Up, and Rain of Arrows... get Aim or BU + RoA up every spawn and you'll usually wipe out all the minions and end up fighting half-dead Lts that can be quickly downed from the air at range and you'll have a stun for pesky mezzers. The downside is that you won't be able to handle bosses that well since you rely on killing 90% of the spawn before it can attack for your survival.
Another, more expensive, option is to take Fire/Electric/Ice or Fire/Electric/Scorpion and softcap your smashing/lethal defense. You'll probably be able to handle +2/x8 or even +3/x8 that way, but only in the 40s. Fair warning... if you go this route you may very well change that "retire at 50" policy because by adding some purples you'll be able to solo +3/x8 or even +4/x8 spawns (with bosses) insanely fast. The only thing that mows things down faster is Fire/Fire and Fire/Electric handles bosses better. Fire/Mental is also great... almost as fast and more survivable, but with less boss killing power.
A slower but very safe route is to go Sonic/Energy and just nail everything with your huge cone sleep, then pummel them down one at a time with stunning melee attacks. That setup will allow you to take on +2s or +3s in large groups so long as there are no bosses. Maybe even +4s as long as you have lots of accuracy and slot Siren's Song well for sleep.
Honestly though, most Blasters that can solo large groups really fast only do so late game. A softcapped Spines/Fire Scrapper or a Spines/WP will probably kill a lot bigger spawns a lot sooner (I'm not sure how early you can softcap a Spines/Fire to S/L damage).
Oh, one really insane but potentially fun option is to go with a Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster and build for max recharge, and rely on inspirations a lot. You'll kill stuff incredibly fast so you'll get more insps quickly... and once you can take Rise of the Phoenix do so and fully slot it for damage and recharge. You'll probably faceplant a lot, but you'll kill so fast you'll erase the debt in no time and with RotP you'll actually kill stuff by reviving. 
(Hmmm... I may have just found my next Blaster...)
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
Assault Rifle/Energy
Archery/Energy
Sonic/Energy
You really don't even have to worry about IO set slotting. With Rifle and Bow and boost range you will be able to destroy x4 spawns beyond their range to hit you. Sonic/Energy is probably the safest solo blaster combo, and once again doesn't really need sets to get that way. Just use power boosted sleeps to lock down the spawns and then wake them up one at a time by bopping them on the head.
Sleeping them and then killing the baddies one at a time seems (and please tell me if this isn't so) a very safe but much slower approach. It seems like the XP/min on that would be less impressive than an option that include AoE strategies.
However, I had an Archer once before and very much liked his RoA - loving the lack of crash. So an Archer/NRG IOed for softcapped defense and max recharge could work.
Question: If I have softcapped Defense, how often will a +1 hit (say, a boss) hit me compared to a +2, a +3, and a +4? Just curious if going after higher baddies makes me a lot more squishy, or just a little.
Will a Fire/Fire/Fire faceplant *that* much if he has softcapped Def? If I do a little, its not the end of the world - and Rise of the Phoenix doesn't help much coming so late in that build.
I wonder if its possible to get Softcapped Def *and* softcapped S/L Resists on Fire/Fire/Fire. That could mean that little hits me, and what does isn't likely to do much damage.
Course Archery/Fire might also be the best of both worlds with RoA being up so much.
Also, the idea of combining Archery and NRG and using Boost Range to ain down death from afar is interesting.
But /Mental also has its perks - too many choices. How do I narrow them down?
Looking at Fire/ and Archery/ with /Fire, /Mental, and /NRG. What the best combo of those options that gives me softcapped Def, possibly softcapped S/L, and a crap ton of dps, not just at 50, but al throughout the journey?
Drilling down deeper, Fire/Fire is an option, as is Fire/Mental. Both of those probably outperform Fire/NRG for the goal we are talking about here.
Archery/Fire, Archery/Mental, and Archery/NRG seem toall work, albeit differently.
So with Fire/Fire, you have a lot of offense, with plenty of AoE, and the newly improved Burn. Your survivability would come almost entirely from softcapping Def and S/L Resists, but that may be enough.
Fire/Mental gives you Drain Psyche to bost both Recovery and Regen, which helps not only with End but Healing and survivability. Shockwave is a good late game AoE, Scream a decent Cone. Perhaps even World of Confusion can mitigate incoming damage.
Archery/Fire losing the extra secondary amage Fire/Fire would have, but replaces it with nuke that is ar more useful (I would skip Inferno on Fire/Fire.) Not sure which outperforms the other, but possibly Fistful of Arrows, Explosive Arrow, + Rain of Arrows does more damage than Fire Breath + Fire Ball. Or maybe its close. If all the Fire/ attacks without the skippable Inferno performed about the ame as all the Archery/ attacks with RoA, given both being equal I would probably go with Fire/ as I love the look and sound of using he power set. However, if the Archery/ set significantly outperforms Fire/ due to RoA, I would go with Archery/
Archery/Mental would I think trade off a lot of the /Fire extra damage for mroe survivability in the form of DrainPsyche and World of Confusion. Still, the Aoe damage in /Mental is no slouch, but am I correst in thinking that /Fire beats it in terms of dps? Between Blazing Aura, the fixed Burn, Hot Feet, FSC, etc?
Finally Archery/NRG would I think use a very different strategy of using Boost Range with RoA, Explosive Arrows, and Fistfull to deplete the baddie group right off, and then jumping the in the middle of the group to finish the higher baddies off with some of the /NRG heavy hitters. Still, /NRG is a pretty loose build, with lots of skippable stuff in /NRG. Plus you get the survivability bonus of depleting most of the spawn at crazy range.
We have five contenders now it seems: Fire/Fire, Fire/Mental, Archery/Fire, Archery/Mental, and Archery/NRG.
Can we eliminate any? Are there any glaring flaws in any of the above 5 combos? Or does one of them make another pointless - for example, can we rule out Archery/Fire because Fire/Fire does the same job only better? (Or the other way around?)
Thanks.
For Great Justice!
When people say 'softcapping S/L' they mean smashing/lethal defense (as opposed to something like ranged defense). S/L is often more effective because most attacks in the game are at least part smashing or lethal, so that defense applies. Capped resists won't happen even on most tanks.
It would be cool to softcap ranged/melee/AoE Defense along with softcapping S/L Resistance.
For Great Justice!
I vote Fire/MM. You could try to perma Drain Psyche along with capping ranged Def. That would give you major end recovery/regen along with a sick AoE chain and a capped positional def. Activate Fire Breath or Psi Scream out of range then Super Speed in to the middle of them. The power activates at max range hitting all the mobs and in turn making them activate ranged attacks. Drain Psyche/Fireball/PSW. I think running a blaster at the speed your thinking of is gonna take major endurance and DP is the solution. Oh yeah, and eat plenty of candy. It drops so much at x8 you can argue you dont need any enhancments at all LOL hmmmm.
I crashed a cadillac through the gates of hell and returned with a fistfull of dollars.
Quote:
nerf Invuln/Shield blasters!!
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Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
It would be cool to softcap ranged/melee/AoE Defense along with softcapping S/L Resistance.
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I seen this on another thread and it looks like this might work with a Fire/MM or Fire/Elec...
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Aumakua
I was thinking of these changes to the PPP for blasters and I was thinking if a Blaster can farm better now. If you think about a squishy farmer some think if a fire control controller or a fire control dom. What do they have that makes them a good farmer? Immob, Stun, AoE Damage. I was thinking a fire/elec/Soul mastery blaster might be able to farm. I know it might not be the best, but it might work.
1. Buff Up: Build Up + Aim 2. Immob: Tenebrous Tentacles 3. Stun Chain: Oppressive Gloom (Mag 2)+ Lightning Clap (Mag 2) + Thunder Strike (Mag 2)= Mag 6 stun 4. Attack Chain: Fire Ball + Fire Breath + RoF + Night Fall 5. Repeat if needed. |
Proton Sentry Peacebringer:lvl 50+++ - Human Build / Triform Build
Quasar Sentry Warshade:lvl 50+- Human Build / Triform Build
Red Katipo Arachnos Soldier:lvl 50+++ - Crab Build / Bane Build
Black Katipo Arachnos Widowlvl 50+++ - Fortunata Build / Night Widow Build
OK, been comparing Fire/ to Archery/. What I wanted to find out was that Fire, with it's DOT secondary effect did more damage. What I think I found out instead is that Archery actually outperforms Fire.
Let me qualify the above. Because I hate end crashed, I always skip Inferno. Rain of Fire I think makes Foes scatter, which I don't want. The Snipe I may take, but don't of course factor them into damage consdieration. Likewise, on the Archery side of things, for the purpose of damage I factor out Stunning Shot, and the Snipe.
On Fire/, this leaves me with 5 attacks: Flares, Fire Blast, Fire Ball, Fire Breath, and Blaze. 3 ST, 1 AoE, 1 Cone. On Archery/, we have Snap Shot, Aimed Shot, Fistfull of Arrows, Blazing Arrow, Explosive Arrow, and Rain of Arrows. 3 ST, 1 Cone, TWO AoEs.
Basically, ith Archery/, I can Aim+BU, RoA, ExploArrow, Fistfull. Than ST whatever is left. With Fire/ I got Aim+BU then Fire Breath, Fire Ball.
The DPA of Fire is a little higher. Blaze leads the pack there, with a DPA of 188.9 where Archery highest DPA is 86.01 with Blazing Arrow. Both Fire and Archery's cones have crappy DPA, but Fire's is better. However the other DPA are much closer - for example, Snap Shot's 52.6 versus Flares with 63.2.
Th recharges are pretty close too, except for Fire Blast's recharge is 4 seconds instead of Aimed Shot's 6.
So, which is more effective, Fire/ or Archery/? Do I chose Archery because of the Fast recharging Nuke, which also gives me one more AoE in my alpha, or is aomewhat higher DPA of Fire/ the key factor?
If I had to guess, I would say that being able to Alpha with 2 AoEs and a Cone each spawn is probably more effective than the added DPA of Fire/ - does this sound accurate?
Also, with the added +Accuracy of Archery (86% versus 75%) that means I will miss somewhat less often, especially at higher levels (+3 and +4). Doesn't this also help offset the DPA difference?
Once I make this choice of Fire/ or Archery/ Primary, I can think about whether /Fire or /Mental is better for my purposes.
So, Fire/ or Archery/? (I almost want to find a way to justify taking Fire/, because it looks so much cooler than Archery/. But maybe that's impossible.)
For Great Justice!
Quote:
All mobs have a base of 50% chance to hit. They receive multiplier bonuses (or penalties) based on the level difference, same as they do based on rank. However, the multiplier bonuses for rank and level are applied AFTER any adjustments for defense and debuffs. For example, if a +2 mob has a 20% bonus (can't remember the actual bonuses, they're probably in a wiki somewhere) and you have zero defense, the mob has a 50% * 1.2 = 60% chance to hit you. If you have 45% defense, then the mob has a (50% - 45%) * 1.2 = 6% chance to hit you.|
Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
Question: If I have softcapped Defense, how often will a +1 hit (say, a boss) hit me compared to a +2, a +3, and a +4? Just curious if going after higher baddies makes me a lot more squishy, or just a little
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So to answer your question: higher-level mobs don't have much more of a chance to hit a character with capped defense. Although, if a +3 mob does manage to hit your blaster, you'll feel it.
Good to know about Def not breaking much with higher level baddies.
By the way, here are my numbers from my Fire and Archery comparisons:
| damage | rec | cast | dpa | ||||
| Snap Shot | 52.6 | S | 2 | 1 | 52.60 | S | |
| Aimed Shot | 82.6 | S | 6 | 1.66 | 49.76 | S | |
| Blazing Arrow | 161.7 | S | 10 | 1.88 | 86.01 | S | |
| Fistful of Arrows | 56.9 | Cone | 8 | 1.66 | 34.28 | C | |
| Explosive Arrow | 56.3 | AoE | 16 | 1 | 56.30 | A | |
| Rain of Arrows | 225.2 | AoE | 60 | 4 | 56.30 | A | |
| damage | rec | cast | dpa | ||||
| Flares | 63.2 | S | 2.18 | 1 | 63.20 | S | |
| Fire Blast | 92.6 | S | 4 | 1.66 | 55.78 | S | |
| Blaze | 188.9 | S | 10 | 1 | 188.90 | S | |
| Fire Breath | 109.8 | Cone | 16 | 2.66 | 41.28 | C | |
| Fire Ball | 78.8 | AoE | 16 | 1 | 78.80 | A |
For Great Justice!
OK, the more I think about it, the more I think that Fire/Fire has the possibility to (IMO) *look really cool*.
Is there *any* possibility that FIre/Fire could be made into a rageariffic Blaster build capable of running missions solo, paded to +2/x4 or higher?
I am hoping that with capped defenses (which I hope to maybe cap by 25-35?) I can rock this character?
If I did go Fire/Fire, I would probbbaly want Flares + Fire Blast (for Defiance), Fire Ball, Fire Breath, Aim and Blaze. Maybe get Blazing Bolt, maybe not. Def skip Inferno(End Crash) and Rain of Fire(since it makes foes run away).
In he Secondary, I would be thinking of taking Ring (of course), Combustion, FSC, BuildUp, Blazing Aura, and Burn. I may skip Consume (I will have pently of End with Stam, +PerfShift, +Numina, +Miracle.) Not sure about Hot Feet, as it makes Foes run, albeit slowly.
On top of that, I ould like to get Stamina and Hasten, and probably need to factor in Weave and Tough to pursue the capped Def (and some Resists)
Prolly slot in a KB IO and a +per IO.
Unless I take Leadership - maybe Maneuvers could be worth it to help get to the cap, and possibly Assault and/or Tactics?
As far as the Epic or Ancillary, I have no idea - however, some add even more Def and Resistance, so that ould be good. Mace Mastery would give me decent S/L Defense plus an AoE Immob. However, S/L Resists might be more desirable, if I can cap my Ranged and Melee Def.
Before I go that far, what do you guys think? Is choosing Fire/Fire a bad idea? Is it as I fear a distant second to options like Fire/Mental, Arch/Mental, or Arch/Fire?
Or can the AoE goodness and high DPA of Fire Breath/Fire Ball/Consume/FSC/Burn/Blazing Aura kick some tail? (Not to mention nice ST damage from Blaze/Fire Sword/Blast/Flares?
Thoughts?
For Great Justice!
Quote:
A lot depends on what direction you go in your build. At moderate recharge levels both Fire and Archery are very good, though Fire hits a tad harder and is less resisted. However, at extreme levels of +recharge Fire is hands down the most damaging set in the game. Once you can use a single target attack chain of Blaze -> Fire Blast -> Flares you will be dishing out far more DPS than any archer, and you'll be able to throw Fire Balls so frequently that you'll melt minions with just those and the occasional Fire Breath. However, doing so requires massive recharge... roughly 230% in Blaze, which means around 140-150% global recharge or 70-80% plus Hasten. At those recharge levels, with ED capped slotting, a bit of +damage, Defiance and a proc or two factored in you are pushing 250 DPS sustained, while an archer is only hitting 175 DPS or so and is using a far more resisted damage type. On the other hand, the archer is doing it from twice the range since Blazing Arrow has a full 80 foot range. And of course getting that sort of recharge without purples leaves little room for +Defense. Of course for the ultimate in DPS, a Fire/Electric Blapper using Blaze -> Charged Brawl -> (alternate Havoc Punch and Shocking Grasp) can dish out a bit over 300 DPS counting Lightning Field. Doing so for more than a few seconds without getting pounded flat is another matter though...|
Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
So, Fire/ or Archery/? (I almost want to find a way to justify taking Fire/, because it looks so much cooler than Archery/. But maybe that's impossible.)
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As far as your secondary goes, with Archery I highly recommend Energy. Archery's main advantage is range, so Boost Range enhances that and you don't have to worry about redraw much. Mental can also work well and gives you more AoEs, but Rain of Arrows + Explosive Arrow should kill all or most of the minions (and they both basically hit at the same time from 100 feet away with Boost Range) so I'd rather stay at a distance than try to close to Psychic Shockwave / Drain Psyche distance.
Fire, on the other hand, goes great with Mental. You have to get closer to use Blaze and Fire Breath anyway so why not maximize your AoE punch? The drawback is that things will run up and smack you a lot more (that can be minimized by hovering 20 feet over the spawn) and short ranged attacks like shotguns and cones will nail you. Still, two cones and a targeted AoE by level 10 make for pretty much the most powerful early game AoE Blaster. Archery will be easier once you get RoA slotted, but Fire can mow down the minions almost as fast and can deal with bosses quicker... just not as safely.
As for Fire/Fire, you can clear a spawn of minions with Fire Breath -> Fire Ball-> Fire Sword Circle (or just Aim / BU -> Fire Ball -> FSC if they aren't too high level) and then quickly clear what's left, but you'll take a lot of return fire in the process so unless you have high defense expect to faceplant more often than most Blasters.
And speaking of defense, one key fact to remember: Blasters can not softcap positional defense without gimping themselves. You can get decent Ranged plus some AoE, but to actually softcap Ranged you have to give up a lot of damage. You can softcap Smashing / Lethal (if you can afford it) without giving up much damage, so as long as you don't mind avoiding foes with lots of exotic damage types and mez you can go with S/L defense and still get some recharge and such. However, you can't do so until the 40s since you need an epic / patron defense power... so for a toon that will retire at 50 I'd suggest just going for moderate ranged defense and lots of recharge and using the "kill it before it kills you" strategy. +Recharge can be a Blaster's best defensive bonus, because dead mobs do no damage.
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
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So you know If you have Ranged/ Melee/AOE capped then you don't need Smash and lethal capped.. It's either one or the other.. Typed or Positional. The reason Depending on what your doing with the build Many try for Smash and Lethal and try to get Ranged capped or if your a Ranged attacker then your looking to get Ranged since your not looking to get into Melee range. The system will take which ever defense is greater to help you
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Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
It would be cool to softcap ranged/melee/AoE Defense along with softcapping S/L Resistance.
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1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
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Quick reply - was hoping to softcap Rnaged & Melee DEFENSE, and THEN stack on as much S/L RESISTANCE as possible - that'll work in theory, right? That way any S/L Damage that gets through the defense gets diminished.
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Originally Posted by plainguy
So you know If you have Ranged/ Melee/AOE capped then you don't need Smash and lethal capped.. It's either one or the other.. Typed or Positional. The reason Depending on what your doing with the build Many try for Smash and Lethal and try to get Ranged capped or if your a Ranged attacker then your looking to get Ranged since your not looking to get into Melee range. The system will take which ever defense is greater to help you
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For Great Justice!
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Not worth the effort to raise S/L resists if you have defense at or near the cap, since you'll rarely get hit in the first place. Defense alone is enough. You're not tanking anyway; mainly, you want enough defense to survive the alpha strike. If you go with archery, you probably wouldn't even have to worry about that too much since it's possible to front-load so much AoE damage.
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Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
Quick reply - was hoping to softcap Rnaged & Melee DEFENSE, and THEN stack on as much S/L RESISTANCE as possible - that'll work in theory, right? That way any S/L Damage that gets through the defense gets diminished.
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Quote:
Then you'll need to be a Scrapper. Blasters can barely softcap Ranged defense by itself, at the expense of devoting nearly the entire build solely to that purpose. They might be able to softcap both Ranged and AoE since many sets offer both, but Ranged and Melee both? No way, at least not without selecting and slotting every single power solely to boost defense and ending up with the damage output of a solo Earth/Empathy Controller.|
Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
Quick reply - was hoping to softcap Rnaged & Melee DEFENSE, and THEN stack on as much S/L RESISTANCE as possible - that'll work in theory, right? That way any S/L Damage that gets through the defense gets diminished.
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Blasters can get 30-35% Ranged defense or so and still have excellent damage output. That's around one small Luck away from softcapped so you can carry a few and pop one before a hard fight (or two if the enemy has defense debuffs). They can also choose to softcap S/L defense instead without losing too much performance, but not until the mid 40s. You can get Hover, 33% or so Ranged defense (plus 20-something AoE), and 40-50% recharge far earlier than that, which is enough for a good attack chain and you're one purple pill away from softcapping when you need it.
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
Quote:
Wow, I hadn't considered that. In my naivete about these things (never tried to IO for Def or Res before, only Recharge), I sort of assumed that usch as build was *possible* (without severely handicapping one's powers and effectiveness.)|
Originally Posted by StrykerX
Then you'll need to be a Scrapper. Blasters can barely softcap Ranged defense by itself, at the expense of devoting nearly the entire build solely to that purpose. They might be able to softcap both Ranged and AoE since many sets offer both, but Ranged and Melee both? No way, at least not without selecting and slotting every single power solely to boost defense and ending up with the damage output of a solo Earth/Empathy Controller.
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This dds a whole new wrinkle. I suppose I have two options:
1) Forget about using Blasters as a candidate for KickAss padded mission solo-er.
2) Assume that if I kill fast enough I will always have a small purple or better running. Even so I will have to hit 33% to be capped with the purple.
Foes will always be using Ranged on me, they may also be using Melee on me, especially if I get in there with my secondary - which regardless of /Mental or /Fire requires me to get close for Burn, FSC, Cremate, Drain Psyche, Psychic Shockwave.
The truth is, no matter what I figure I will be up close and personal with many baddies, so being in melee range is I think unavoidable, unless I simply don't want to take some useful powers, or I want to be constantly zipping in and out.
Hmmm. Well, I am a shot hop from considering option #1, but lets pause and consider. If instead I cap (or close to cap) S/L instead of positional (since I can't do both Melee and Ranged), any attack that has *any* S/L damage as part of it will use it. However, I should probably plan to unfortunately get hit more foten than my original plan. Therefor I should choose /Mental, which gives me Drain Psyche @ 20 which can help my Regen to recover from the few hits I may take.
So now we are talking about a Fire/Mental (or maybe Archery/Mental), specced for S/L softcapped Defense, with an emphasis on recharge as well.
Is such a Fire/Mental doable? And am I giving up on Fire/Fire too easily - can the odd green Inspiration stand in for having Drain Psyche, and anyways, does /Fire do so much more damage than /Mental that it has effective damage mitigation by simply killing things quicker?
As ar as comparing /Fire to /Mental, we would be comparing using Psychic Scream and Psychic Shockwave to using FSC, Combustion, Burn, and Blazing Aura.
I dunno - the more I think about it, the more I imagine that with the rate of killing my Fire/Fire might do, the more greens (and purples) he will have to pop.
Can S/L Defense be close to softcapped while haste is pursued as well on a Fire/Fire?
Another tidbit on information - I tend to level when solo through radio/newspaper missions, and now that I can abandon as many missions as I want, I usually recycle through the choices until I get offered a Council mission.
They're usually S/L damage, right?
PS. I will probably want to take Hasten, therefor I will probably want SuperSpeed as my travel power. It is my favorite because not only is it fast, I can drop a stelth IO in it and have functional full invis when it stacks with SS's own stealth.
For Great Justice!
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With the ability to get PPP with Going Rogue you will now be able to get an immob power that prevents the mob from scattering.|
Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
Let me qualify the above. Because I hate end crashed, I always skip Inferno. Rain of Fire I think makes Foes scatter, which I don't want.
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| Basically, ith Archery/, I can Aim+BU, RoA, ExploArrow, Fistfull. Than ST whatever is left. With Fire/ I got Aim+BU then Fire Breath, Fire Ball. |
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| So, which is more effective, Fire/ or Archery/? Do I chose Archery because of the Fast recharging Nuke, which also gives me one more AoE in my alpha, or is somewhat higher DPA of Fire/ the key factor? |
Proton Sentry Peacebringer:lvl 50+++ - Human Build / Triform Build
Quasar Sentry Warshade:lvl 50+- Human Build / Triform Build
Red Katipo Arachnos Soldier:lvl 50+++ - Crab Build / Bane Build
Black Katipo Arachnos Widowlvl 50+++ - Fortunata Build / Night Widow Build
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It's possible but very difficult to softcap one single positional defense on a character with no defense in their primary or secondary, provided you build toward that. Set IOs alone won't do it, you'll need to take Weave, possibly both Hover and Combat Jumping (both fully slotted), and a 2+ billion inf PvP 3% defense IO really helps but isn't 100% required. It's far easier to softcap S/L defense since you can get a patron / epic shield that gives a fair chunk of that, but not until high levels. As for resistance, the rule is simple: IOs can't provide enough of that to anyone to notice. |
Originally Posted by Metatron_NA
Wow, I hadn't considered that. In my naivete about these things (never tried to IO for Def or Res before, only Recharge), I sort of assumed that usch as build was *possible* (without severely handicapping one's powers and effectiveness.)
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Quote:
| 1) Forget about using Blasters as a candidate for KickAss padded mission solo-er. |
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| Foes will always be using Ranged on me, they may also be using Melee on me, especially if I get in there with my secondary - which regardless of /Mental or /Fire requires me to get close for Burn, FSC, Cremate, Drain Psyche, Psychic Shockwave. |
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| So now we are talking about a Fire/Mental (or maybe Archery/Mental), specced for S/L softcapped Defense, with an emphasis on recharge as well. |
Scrappers can solo larger mobs earlier on with less effort. Blasters can (eventually) solo them faster and with more sense of accomplishment, but can almost never match the upper limits of what a Scrapper can do. Doing so takes a phenomenally expensive, fully purpled out level 50 build and an extremely skilled player, but it's quite a sight to see if you meet someone who can pull it off. (For instance, at least one Blaster has soloed the ITF, but it was one of the best Blaster players around using pretty much the ultimate endgame build.)
Though if you really want to take on hordes and don't mind waiting to level 33 to really take off, I would like to point out that Bots/Traps Masterminds have soloed Giant Monsters without any IOs at all... and with a decent IO build you'll probably be able to solo anything short of the Lady Gray Task Force, StF, LRSF, and Hamidon. If you have GR you can take said MM blueside, and if he starts in Praetoria he never even has to be a villain if that matters to you. Just something to consider...
Cascade, level 50 Blaster (NRG/NRG since before it was cool)
Mechmeister, level 50 Bots / Traps MM
FAR too many non-50 alts to name
[u]Arcs[u]
The Scavenger Hunt: 187076
The Instant Lair Delivery Service: 206636
More and more it is sounding like whlie I can make a beastly blaster for team play, making a beast for solo play midlevel for padded missions isn't really doable.
I guess I am going to poke at what sets can yield Ranged Def, and if it doesn't synergize well enough to get to 45% Def by 40 (including Weave, Maneuvers, etc) then we will ditch blasters as a viable option for this Project.
For Great Justice!
Waitasec! I just realized that if I go back to my always have a small purple running (pop one every 60 sec) then I actually need only 32.5 global S/L Def. With Weave and Maneuvers that gets me 9.2 percent there, meaning I only need 23.3% Global S/L Def.
That seems a lot more doable.
Of course I plpan on getting Scorpion Shield at 41, which will add 16% S/L - at that point I can either stop popping purples, or I can respec out of some of the IO sets.
Will think about this some more.
For Great Justice!
While I was leveling up my last (and 18th) level 50, I discovered something – something that doubtlessly many of you have been aware of for some time, but was new information to me. Using this character (an Illusion/Kin Controller) I was actually able to solo +2/x4 missions – albeit slowly. (By the way, I probably spent around 2 billion inf on that Controller all told)
So I started thinking. I had heard that it was possible to softcap Defense or Resistance or both on many different Archetypes, so it occurred to me that it might be possible to create a character that could solo +2/x8 – or maybe higher. After poking around on some of the forums around here, that was confirmed.
So while I will be using my next new character to explore Going Rogue, and probably start in Praetoria, I also want to explore the idea of creating a character that is so highly effective. I am calling this attempt The Paragon Project.
However, I have very specific design goals and play limitations. Here are the ones I can think of, more may be added as they are discovered.
First, it is my policy to play each character from 1 to 50, and then upon hitting 50, retire them, permanently. So the idea would be not to build towards achieving this effectiveness late in the game, but to frontload this effectiveness at earlier, as possible. For example, a build candidate that hits its stride at 32 would be preferred over one that hits its stride at 42 – with the former, I get to enjoy it for 18 levels, with the latter I only get 8. Ideally, the character starts really being able to solo and gain quick massive XP in the 20-30 region.
Also, ‘effectiveness’ boils down two metrics really: The speed at which XP can be generated solo, and the risk of death (which obviously cuts into XP in several ways.) Ideally, I would prefer to make death be a rare occurrence, even if that moderately reduces XP – faceplants enrage me. However, within that safety zone, I would like to focus on characters that are able to achieve max XP/minute rates – whether that means running at +0/x4, or +3/x8, or anywhere in between. Again, not locked into any particular mission setup, simply looking for the build that with the right mission level and padding choices results in superior xp/min solo.
Now, because this project (and character) get shelved at 50, that makes buying purples, which can only be slotted at 50, pointless. Therefore, no suggested build should use them.
However, have been playing this game since pre-launch, and across more than two dozen characters (18 of which are 50s) I have countless billions of influence/infamy. So please, in any build you suggest, feel free to load up on the most expensive IOs that make the build work – from LotG’s to Numina to Hamis to *anything*.
I also have several Vet awards, which may or may not affect suggested builds. I have the ability to select my travel power right at level 6, I have the ability to pick up Sand of Mu, Nemesis Staff, and the Blackwand all at the start, I also start every character with 4 or 5 built-in respecs, not counting the alt build faux-respec. Point is, I can (and frequently do) build a character one way until a point, and then another way after. Case in point, on my last character, I built one way pre 20, NOT taking the Fitness pool, respecced at 20 INTO the Fitness Pool and Stamina, then at 36 respecced back out of Stamina when I got Transference.
Other factors to know are that I do not PvP, do not like the form switching that Khelds do, and do not care for characters which take the baddies out by indirect methods – Masterminds and Traps, I’m looking at you! No, *I* want to be the one kicking the baddies butts, not my pets or summoned devices.
By the way, I am not saying that I will *never* team up with folks in playing this character, but that’s not the point of the Project. The point of the Project is to see how fast a build can solo from 1 to 50 by kicking butt in missions even if no teams or friends can be found.
Also, I don’t care ultimately if this is more of a ST or AoE build – whichever gets he better xp/min + safety metrics – which I am guessing may be AoE more than ST, but whatever.
Now, if I am going to be running a character that does good XP/min, it will obviously have to have excellent damage capability, with I would imagine some AoE. Given that and all of the above, I am considering the followings AT have potential strengths and weaknesses:
• Brutes. I have 2 @ 50 – a Fire/Fire that used to be a farmer from CoV’s release, and a SS/Inv from around the same time. Brutes can take a pounding, but unlike Tanks, they can dish out a fair amount of damage as I recall. And if I am soloing, all the attacks are pointed at me – which builds Fury faster, I imagine – plus the faster I rip through the mish, the more my Fury stays high. Maybe Fire/Fire with Softcapped Defense and lots of hasten?
• Corruptors. Not only damage, but a synergistic secondary. Maybe Fire/Fire with the new buffs to /Fire would be the key, or maybe Fire/Kin with the ability to Fulcrum Shift myself would rock. Downside is, unlike Blasters, there’s no BuildUp.
• Blasters. Upside: BuildUp. Downside: It’s a single trick pony of damage. However, maybe a Fire/NRG, for example, with softcapped defenses/resists, could hit high XP/min solo. Maybe.
• Scrappers. Both /SR and /Shield look promising, and their crits seem like a good trick when soloing large groups. Or maybe /Fire with Burn and Fiery Embrace changes?
• VEATS – Soldiers of Arachnos. Haven’t tried one of these yet, but I hear good things that suggest that these are the jack of all trades. But are they also the master of none?
My next character is likely going to be one of the above 5 ATs. And so I am posting this request in each of the 5 AT subforums, to ask the experts in each AT what specific builds you would suggest.
Again, the design criteria are:
• Designed to be effective as early as possible, knowing that this character will be shelved @ 50
• Therefore, no purples
• However, as far as IOs, the sky’s the limit, price is no object. Usually I slot for sets as soon as I can, say around 22 or 28.
• No PvP use
• Goal: most xp/min in a solo padded mission of +A/xB where A and B can be any numbers that work
• Little or no dying, possible ways to ditch and restart without dying or riding the death line too closely
• Probably taking advantage of softcapped Defense and/or Resistance
• Not a pet or device character, but a kicking-a$$ character.
So, what do you guys in the Blasters Forum think the best answer to this puzzle is using a Blaster?
PS. Whatever AT and build I wind up going with, I am almost certainly going to be doing so in Paragon City, *not* the Rogue Isles. After Praetoria, that is.
For Great Justice!