i'd probably go ice/energy... ice deals great damage & has a few controls (freeze ray, bitter freeze ray), and energy... well, energy is energy. great melee & some stuns.
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
Ice/energy is great. My friend plays one and we've teamed a lot. Nice powerful combo. I have an elec/elec, and I think ice/elec would play well too. You miss out on TF, but you get another hold that stacks better with ice/ instead of disorients.
Ice/ice is always a great solo set. I'm also having a blast with my rng/rng. He's much better soloer than my elec/elec. Rather than fear the knockback you can use it really well when solo.
Ice/Energy sounds like a great combination. Hell, play what you want. I would say the only powersets that might give you trouble while soloing in Praetoria are Archery, Assault Rifle, and Dual Pistols. I found they did not perform as well against the Clockwork that are present in so many missions over there. And if you don't have your heart set on /Energy, you may want to consider a secondary with a ST immob. as the tier 1 power. It keeps Ghouls out of melee range, which changes them from hard-hitting beasts to weak rock-throwing enemies that you can defeat with ease.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
Quote:
AR is problematic due to its mostly S/L damage, but one of the most enjoyable blasters I played was AR / Ice. Ice Patch + Ignite is great. But it's also unfortunately not much help in Praetoria.... hopefully you'd be playing this blaster past lvl 20?
|
Originally Posted by Winterminal
Ice/Energy sounds like a great combination. Hell, play what you want. I would say the only powersets that might give you trouble while soloing in Praetoria are Archery, Assault Rifle, and Dual Pistols. I found they did not perform as well against the Clockwork that are present in so many missions over there. And if you don't have your heart set on /Energy, you may want to consider a secondary with a ST immob. as the tier 1 power. It keeps Ghouls out of melee range, which changes them from hard-hitting beasts to weak rock-throwing enemies that you can defeat with ease.
|
Fire/energy
You get build up at level 4, have a solid amount of aoe available and very good single target. Its also very end friendly before you have stamina.
I would suggest Rad/Energy. Missing gold side sucks and hurts and I find beginner's luck doesn't help all that much when dealing with the +1 mobs that inundate most missions. Rad has a fair mix of AoEs, -def, and a few mitigation tools available. I think it'd make the ride a little less frustrating.
Or sonic/energy, but after siren's song, prior I still think rad/energy would be a easier ride.
Praetorian Clockwork actually don't have resists, they just heal faster than normal (according to Paragonwiki). Resistance and PPD do have decent S/L resists though, which makes Archery and AR a bit tougher (DP is always a bit tougher 
). Heavy AoE is also less useful solo, since you can't adjust the difficulty settings in Praetoria. My suggestions would be:
Ice/Energy - good single target damage, good control, very early Build Up
Ice/Mental - add some AoE and utility to Ice Blast's solid ST damage and control
Rad/Energy - you won't miss much, and you still get stuns and fast Build Up
Fire/Energy - dead mobs can't hurt you. This combo makes mobs dead very quickly. 
Energy/Energy - good single target damage, moderate AoE damage, and a surprising amount of mitigation. Plus it's a fun combo as long as you don't team and start tossing AoE knockback wildly.
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
well, I decided to make an energy/energy blaster. I'm level 6 and despite the slow leveling speed I'm having fun so far. The knockback is providing plenty of mitigation and I can kill things quite quickly. I'm not sure I'd want to play energy blast on a team, but solo it's really nice.
I've played many blasters extensively. My best soloer at the early levels would definitely be the Ice/Energy. With mobs that generally consist of only three enemies, you hold one, Build up and take up the other two with a combination of Bonesmasher, Ice Bolt, Ice Blast and Energy Punch, hold the original one again while your powers recharge, then kill 'em at your leisure. It's a hard-hitting safe set.
I love 'em all though. I put a Rad/Energy through Praetoria, who is level 22 now, but I mostly duo'd with him. I wouldn't say he was particularly effective at soloing though. Irradiate is a very early power and isn't the most wise endurance-usage at level 4 when you get it against the mostly three-enemy-sized mobs you'd be fighting.
Thanks for eight fun years, Paragon.
I have to say that I have soloed two blasters through Praetoria. One was a Fire/Energy and the second an Arch/Energy. Both played through quite well and had little trouble with survivability, but the archery toon actually fared better. Although I will say it was my third attempt at and archery blaster and I had learned quite a bit about how to play one.
I do say that the most important thing is to have fun though, so roll what you think is fun. As always YMV.
Recently I ran my elec/elec through Praetoria and it was awesome and a cakewalk. Clockwork weak vs short circuit so those missions which I usually find hard were super easy. Also set plays in a really fun way
Quote:
Energy can work ok on teams - if you go the hover / blaster route then your knockback turns into knockdown and ends up being good mitigate that doesn't make the tank angry. If you don't hover you can always be careful with your positioning and knockbackback into walls or obstacles... but hover makes it a lot easier for Energy when/if you team.
|
Originally Posted by firespray
well, I decided to make an energy/energy blaster. I'm level 6 and despite the slow leveling speed I'm having fun so far. The knockback is providing plenty of mitigation and I can kill things quite quickly. I'm not sure I'd want to play energy blast on a team, but solo it's really nice.
|
Quote:
Fire/Ice + Hover
|
Originally Posted by firespray
I'm wanting to create a new blaster who can easily solo his way through praetoria. I'm looking for suggestions on the easiest sets to do this with. I'm thinking some combination of ice and energy would probably be good, but I'm open to suggestions.
|
Quote:
Honestly, I still have to say, I think Ice/Energy is one of the best Blasters for soloing and even teaming, for at least what you're looking for.|
Originally Posted by firespray
well, I decided to make an energy/energy blaster. I'm level 6 and despite the slow leveling speed I'm having fun so far. The knockback is providing plenty of mitigation and I can kill things quite quickly. I'm not sure I'd want to play energy blast on a team, but solo it's really nice.
|
Pro's of Ice/Energy:
Fast Activating attacks: energy, while fun with KB, can honestly feel a bit slower than Ice, even though act times are supposedly the same. Ice always feels fast and agile. Pick up CJ+Hurdle or even Swift+Hover to assist you with keeping fast and on the move.
Slows and -rech: sure, you don't have a ton of slowing capability early on (Power Boost defintely helps later), but the slows and -rech do indeed make a difference in how much a foe attacks you and follows you. All the minor slowing does add up, and even preventing "one" attack from recharging before you kill a mob, can be worth it's weight in gold.
Freeze Ray: This thing is amazing, especially for the solo Blaster, in that you can quickly hold a pesky LT or random mob that may be giving you trouble. Even on teams, I find it very helpful when a Tank or Brute loses aggro from one or two mobs. It's very fast activating as well. Later, you can get Power Boost from Energy to prolong its duration, and/or grab Bitter Freeze Ray to two shot hold bosses before they even have a chance to fight back. MAJOR damage mitigation there.
Bitter Ice Blast: BiB is quite the amazing attack, even though you don't get it until lvl 18, it's worth it. It has a 50 ft. range vs. PowerBurst's 40 ft, and although that doesn't sound like much of a difference, it REALLY makes a significant difference in-game. Furthermore, it activates in 1.07 seconds! PowerBurst is not only shorter range, but takes 2 seconds to activate. Sure, it does some KB, but it's honestly not garaunteed, and you can't afford that chance sometimes. However, BiB's -rech/slow/and -tohit component work 100% of the time. Furthermore, when you combine BiB with Boost Range from */Energy, it now becomes a regular 80 ft range attack....just like all of your other attacks
I'll take my chances with BiB.Early Build Up: Thanks to */Energy, you get Build Up by lvl 4, which means you can start laying the smack down to bosses very early on.
Team Friendly: yup, unlike Energy/*, Ice doesn't have to worry for a second about KB. So there's no wasting time lining yourself up to prevent it when teaming. Nope. Just "pew pew" that damage away, with no worries. In fact, your -rech/-speed will help out the entire team in general, without pissing anyone off
Solid Melee Attack: Another early, and very solid attack, you recieve at lvl 10, and that's Bonesmasher. Not only is it a solid attack, but it's packs a pretty reliable and powerful disorient.
Conserve Power: If you need it, you can get it by lvl 16. Blasters can definitely chew through endurance fast, especially during a tough boss fight. If you find this happening to you in the early levels, CP can help. Pop it before a boss fight or just before a large room of spawns and it can help you continue pumping out damage without winding out like half the other Blasters on your team will be doing.
Anywho....those are just some of the reasons as to why I think Ice/Energy is most likely one of the most solo friendly Blasters around, especially for the levels you're looking to make "easier" on yourself.
Quote:
I know, I just don't like to put that much effort into my blasters. I like to be able to fire things off with impunity, without having to worry about whether or not I'm lined up right to keep from pissing people off.
|
Originally Posted by LightSide
Energy can work ok on teams - if you go the hover / blaster route then your knockback turns into knockdown and ends up being good mitigate that doesn't make the tank angry. If you don't hover you can always be careful with your positioning and knockbackback into walls or obstacles... but hover makes it a lot easier for Energy when/if you team.
|
I have started a Sonic/Eng and with the Aoe Sleep and the mutiple stun's it is a very Solo friendly set
I'm using DP/elec right now. I made it this way for theme reasons, but the combo of holds, DMg, and AOE's is pretty good. I'm not having any troubles with it at level 10, but it's still got a ways to go. I have to say it's been downright easy playing this build. My favorite build is Fire/Eng, but so far this DP/elec is really doing a better job cruising through solo mishes.
I'm wanting to create a new blaster who can easily solo his way through praetoria. I'm looking for suggestions on the easiest sets to do this with. I'm thinking some combination of ice and energy would probably be good, but I'm open to suggestions.