The recharge bonus in Decimation is very nice, I like it a lot on fire blasters. My fire/fire is very close to perma-hasten, and will definitely get to perma-hasted in issue 19. Spamming fireballs and breath of fire while under constant cover of rain of fire is nice. One thing to keep in mind though is the recharge bonus from Decimation is the same bonus that Positron's Blast gives, which means you can only get the bonus five times total between the two. For example, two sets of Decimations and three sets of Positron's Blast, if you add one more set of either the recharge bonus already has five of the same value and the next one won't count.
The build up proc is decent in a fast spamming power like flares, however it's not as cool as it sounds. The buildup from this proc only lasts 5 seconds or so. Still, you will notice the extra damage when it randomly kicks in. It is unique, so you can only slot it once.
Slotting Devastation for the global damage bonus is also not as cool as it sounds. I took this route on an elec/elec blaster, plus other misc damage buffs, and got the total bonus damage to ~25%. However once I factored in that my attacks were already slotted for +90% damage, the total extra damage is not as extreme. There were only a couple enemy types I was able to drop in one less attack, so the net result was only a moderate improvement.
Now, slotting up a bunch of Devastation procs is humorous. It is not unique. The hold proc uses tesla cage, so you'll definitely see it when it kicks in. Getting mezzed, then randomly mezzing the enemy that mezzed me is sweet revenge, but it doesn't happen all that often. I think this is more interesting when you already have a lot of other holds to mix in (since I did this on an elec/elec, this isn't a problem for me).
For fire/fire, I would definitely go Thunderstrike or Decimation over Devastation, in whatever mix you are comfortable with on defense. If you slot Positron's Blast in Fireball, Breath of Fire, and Rain of Fire, you'll only need two sets of Devastation to cap yourself on 6.25% recharge bonuses. If you want to try out the Devastation proc, you can 5-slot Decimation and put that proc in the 6th slot just to see if you like it.
I only have 15% ranged defense on my fire/fire, and with regular inspiration use that's all I really need. Stuff dies so fast that I can just pop an aid self between each fight to top-off health again. Especially in Cimerora, those guys are a joke if you can keep yourself out of melee (try the wall lined with soldiers, it's fairly easy on a 50 blaster). But if you find that more defense works better for your play style go for it.
The Bacon Compels You.
Personally, I would say just slot powers that don't have sets that offer +Ranged defense with IO's that give +Recharge.
So slotting Fireball, RoF and Firebreath with Posi's for instance. Inferno with Oblits. Any defense power with LoTG+Recharge.
As long as you have a decent amount of +recharge from other powers(40-50 is a good amount), don't sacrifice your ranged defense.
::edit:: And I don't feel the damage bonus from Devastations to be worth it at all.
Ok currently on the build I am using the most (I did dual spec) I dont have RoF or Fire Breath (It is on my other spec) and my secondary is Energy of which I have BS, Buildup, TF and Boost Range. So currently I am running with 16.5% recharge and an 8.5% damage buff. If I swap swap my sniper attack IOs (SotM for EC), I will go up to 23.75% recharge and 11.5% damage buff for a ranged def loss of 2.19%.
The build I most enjoy playing is based more around killing bosses and elites vs mass killing minions, which is why I have Blazing Bolt instead of Fire Breath (for pulls and one shotting the tag along minion that most bosses seem to have). My build with Fire Breath is a mix of HOs and SOs atm.
Also concerning the hold proc on Decimation, does anyone know what mag it is? As I am figuring the only that will live long enough to see it proc would be a boss, so I am wondering if its a high enough mag to hold a boss in one shot
Dragonhawk (lvl 50 fire/energy blaster)
Flamefrost (lvl 50 fire/ice blaster)
'Snowflake (lvl 50 ice/dev blaster)
Dragons' Flame (lvl 50 fire/fire tank)
Psyshock (lvl 30 Rad/Psi defender)
I'm pretty sure it is Mag 3. I have it in the first two powers on one of my AR blasters and I have never had it Hold a Boss in one shot. The effect is the same as Tesla Cage, that lightning ball hold look.
Ideally, the tank will die precisely as everyone else starts fighting, allowing aggro to be spread evenly among the blaster. -seebs, "How to Suck at CoH/CoV" Guide
Currently my fire/energy blaster has Thunderstrike slotted up in all my single target ranged attacks (flares, fire blast, & blaze) for the ranged def (currently at 30% with hover running). I was wondering though if it would be worth giving up some of the ranged def to slot one of the abilities with the Devastation set (prob on Blaze) and the Decimation set (prob on Fire Blast). It would drop my ranged def to 20% but give me a 3% damage buff, a 6.25% recharge buff and a random chance at both Hold and Buildup.
I was also debating a similiar swap with my Blazing Bolt I currently have Executioners Contract for the 3.13% ranged def and was thinking of going to Sting of the Manticore for the 3% damage boost & 7.5% recharge timer. I would loose 2.19% ranged def there. Any thoughts on if either of these IO swaps are worth it?
Dragonhawk (lvl 50 fire/energy blaster)
Flamefrost (lvl 50 fire/ice blaster)
'Snowflake (lvl 50 ice/dev blaster)
Dragons' Flame (lvl 50 fire/fire tank)
Psyshock (lvl 30 Rad/Psi defender)