Whatever I am playing. 
Fire/ice will be widely recommended.
What are you playing?
I don't know about "best" but I've always been fond of my Fire/Energy Manipulation (EM) blaster. Boost Range is awesome for Blaze and Fire Breath. Drop a stealth IO into Super Speed, then walk up to a mezzing enemy like a Rikti Mesmerist... Aim+buildup+Total Focus. Threat gone.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
I am an Ice/Ice/Ice blaster that leans more to the blastroller side. I have many freezes and slows. Plus, the 3 main blasts with Hasten, Build-up, and Aim (properly slotted) tear up baddies.
I also have a Fire/Mental blaster: Pyropsych. I haven't IO'd him out yet because he just hit 50, but that is an awesome combo of powersets and fun to play. Lots of AoE and DoT.
SN0WJ0B: 50 ice/ice Blaster, InvulnerBull: 50 inv/ss Tanker, Death.Venom: 50 nec/poison MM
Check out my slideshow
I have to Agree with Sardan. Although my Fire/Em blaster is pretty epic and can kill almost anything before it gets close enought to hit him (courtesy of boost range) I'd say my Ice/Elec blaster solos better b/c of the slows and the 3 holds I have: freezing blast, shocking grasp (a melee move), and shocking bolt (from the elec mastery pool). I could have 4 if I picked up bitter freeze ray. Long story short, nothing is better than being able to have 3 baddies held and dead before they can hurt you, or to be able to hold a boss for an entire fight. Also I have some very nice melee moves on my ice/elec, havok punch, thunderstrike, and shocking glass and am never at a loss for endurance with power sink. I also really enjoy my AR/psy for solo play. Althought he can have some difficulty with baddies that heavily resist smash/lethal dmg, I enjoy playing him and he has a stun move (beanbag) and a fear move (Scare)
If you like fighting only a few enemies at a time then ice blast.
If you like fighting lots of enemies at a time then fire blast or archery.
For secondaries there is /em because boost range is really that good.
/ice because shiver is also amazing
/psi because DP and PSW are great
I like my fire/psi and my arch/em. Both do a great job of taking out huge amounts of enemies. The arch does it with snipe range rain of arrows and the fire/psi does it with in their face fireball+psw w/ DP keeping me going.
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To be honest, anything with Ice or Sonic as a primary is a good start.|
Originally Posted by Dz131
I know nothing about blasters except they shoot people
so someone plz get me a good combo to get started |
Personally, I like Ice/EM and Sonic/EM, because both offer amazing forms of control as well as damage. Paired with EM's Boost range and Power Boost, and they are little mini-dominators lol.
Ice
For speed and solid single target holds, Ice/EM takes the crown. Ice/EM can hold a boss long before it has a chance to fire off even one single shot. This means that you can take him out with impunity and there's nothing he can do about it. You'll have him dead long before he ever has a chance to escape your hold. However, Ice is not entirely suited for "large mob spawns" containing a large mix of minions and Lt's. On a typical spawn though, you can easily PowerBoost+BFR an LT then FR the next largest threat or LT, you can then proceed to bash minions heads in with ease and deal with the LT's alone. Ice Storm, and especially Blizzard, can help to take care of that problem to a degree as well. The stacking -slows from Ice provide some decent damage mitigation too through -rech/-spd, and can help you to maneuver around your enemy much more easily. Combine with Ice's fast activation times, they're a solid pairing. Bitter Ice Blast also has alot greater range than most tier3 Blasts, but still packs a major punch. This means that with Boost Range, BiB has the SAME range as your regular attacks! This helps keep you at a good distance from your target, which generally means less damage taken by you. Good stuff.
Sonic
For increasing damage through stacking -res, and solid "crowd control", as well as two forms of mez's from just the primary, then I definitely tip my hat to Sonic/EM. The more you attack, the more damage you deal, sounds like a perfect mate to our inherent, Defiance. Also, a Power Boosted Siren's Song on an entire mob spawn means that you will pretty much have no attackers as you pick-off your foes one-by-one without fear of death. Pesky LT got missed by Sirens Song? No problem, just pop him with Screech, and now he's one "dizzy" Lt ripe for defeat. Got a minor boss problem? Power Boosted Total Focus plus a quick follow up Screech(or stun) means that your boss problem has just turned itself into free xp for the taking. You'll have the boss dead long before he ever breaks that stun. Sonic does feel a bit slower than Ice, but makes up for it with awesome control and deadly damage through -res.
Anyways, those are the two that get my vote. Devices is also a very good "soloers" secondary, and it too works very well when paired with either Ice or Sonic, but also does amazingly well with Fire if you feel like you wanna "trow fire" and solo awesomely.
Fire/Ment can solo GMs
I have not read this whole thread, but i must mention my level 50 archery/energy blaster can throw a nuke every 22seconds. (without hasten) I can solo quite easily, after nuking your mob you only have to clean up after your mess. (kill lieutenants and bosses)
to start you begin with your [Power Boost], then you activate [Build Up], then you pop your [Aim].
I f you enhance it right you can tear up any mission.
@Default Name
Earth Mace - Willpower/Stone Tank - 50 ~ STAR CAULDRON - Fire/Kinetics Controller - 50 ~ Digital Thug Leader - Thugs/Poison Mastermind - 50 ~ Do-Rag - Sonic/Energy Blaster - 50 ~ Mystery Juice - Archery/Energy - 50 ~ Human Crab - Arachnos Soldier - 50 ~ Apollo's Messenger - Fire/Fire Blaster - 50 ~ iBarrage - Energy/Energy Brute - 50
Quote:
This is true. However, if you are using the controls that make things safe you may as well just play a dominator and have more control and depending on the combo - more damage.
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Originally Posted by DarkMaster
Personally, I like Ice/EM and Sonic/EM, because both offer amazing forms of control as well as damage. Paired with EM's Boost range and Power Boost, and they are little mini-dominators lol.
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Quote:
Well just checked out your thread today, and was quite impressed, I've totally forgot about soloing AVs and GMs alike. I even took it on myself to try and decrypt your build so I could have an idea of what it would be like to IO it out, and to be honest if inf was no problem, it would be easy, but you have got to have more than 1 bill in that toon. And in the end I was unable to match your regen and health. Only got Health by temp health power from the safeguard mishes and what not. And regen is no where near your regen, so anyway that is what I came up with....|
Originally Posted by Silverado
Fire/Ment can solo GMs
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To Op,
To be honest I think you have said it already, MELT FACES. Their is only two things that really MELT anything in real life. That being Heat, so things like fire or lightning, and of course friction, but that maybe the samething, just achieved different ways... Anyhow my vote goes to fire/fire... that is the only combo I think that sccares me enough to not try.... The carnage man! The carnage!
Quote:
I haven't started a new blaster in forever, but your description makes me want to! |
Originally Posted by _Dreamkeeper_
I'd say my Ice/Elec blaster solos better b/c of the slows and the 3 holds I have: freezing blast, shocking grasp (a melee move), and shocking bolt (from the elec mastery pool). I could have 4 if I picked up bitter freeze ray. Long story short, nothing is better than being able to have 3 baddies held and dead before they can hurt you, or to be able to hold a boss for an entire fight. Also I have some very nice melee moves on my ice/elec, havok punch, thunderstrike, and shocking glass and am never at a loss for endurance with power sink.
|
Quote:
| I also really enjoy my AR/psy for solo play. |
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
Quote:
And with the combos I suggested, you don't lose out on damage at all, while still gaining massive amounts of control which equal a massive boost to your overall survivability. Not everything in this game is "truely" killed in 3 hits. Remember that. Blasters were given mild controls for a reason, and not because "you should just go roll a dominator". The combos I've suggested simply have slightly more than just "mild" controls, and still maintain a massive edge in damage.|
Originally Posted by kamikrazy
This is true. However, if you are using the controls that make things safe you may as well just play a dominator and have more control and depending on the combo - more damage.
|
To add to my list, I would like to suggest Arch/Eng as well as the */Psi secondary. Arch/Eng, for the obvious reason, RoA will be up pretty much every spawn, and definitely up for any spawn you might find somewhat troublesome. This alone is a huge bonus for a Blaster, in that you can actually lay down most spawns, even large ones, in true "blaster fasion" by killing them before they have a chance to kill you. And this can all be done in safety. Furthermore, Arch has some devastatingly effective ranged damage thanks to the pairing of BlazingArrow+RangedShot, which means you can pick off the most toublesome mobs long before you ever have to actually engage a group. Also, if things do get out of hand, Arch has a VERY handy stun.
As for */Psi, it has some very neat tricks as well. With a proper build and enough IO's, you can do some amazing things with this secondary. Drain Psyche is what pulls most of it together for you.
My top 2 choices for soloing would be:
Fire/Ice - This combo has the best of both worlds. Amazing AOE potential right out the gate and the mitigation from Ice to not faceplant as much.
Ice Patch and Shiver are what make this set shine, once you get Shiver you can melt entire groups of guys with BU+Aim Fireball+ Firebreath(Which as of next issue no longer has to be a 'Breath'!)
OR
Energy/Energy - More single target focsed, learning how to leverage knockback can be huge to your survival. Nothing beats being able to wave your hand at a guy punching you and have him go soaring across the room, smack against the wall and collapse in a tangled mess on a couch.
The ragdoll physics make KB all the more useful for mitigation.
Not to mention you get Build Up at level 4!
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
Quote:
Ice/Nrg and Sonic/Nrg do not have an edge over dominators in damage. Just off the cuff, I would guess the majority of dominator combinations could out-damage both of those blaster combinations.
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Originally Posted by DarkMaster
And with the combos I suggested, you don't lose out on damage at all, while still gaining massive amounts of control which equal a massive boost to your overall survivability. Not everything in this game is "truely" killed in 3 hits. Remember that. Blasters were given mild controls for a reason, and not because "you should just go roll a dominator". The combos I've suggested simply have slightly more than just "mild" controls, and still maintain a massive edge in damage.
|
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
Quote:
I have to admit I have always loved my 50 Nrg/Nrg Blaster.|
Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
My top 2 choices for soloing would be:
Fire/Ice - This combo has the best of both worlds. Amazing AOE potential right out the gate and the mitigation from Ice to not faceplant as much. Ice Patch and Shiver are what make this set shine, once you get Shiver you can melt entire groups of guys with BU+Aim Fireball+ Firebreath(Which as of next issue no longer has to be a 'Breath'!) OR Energy/Energy - More single target focsed, learning how to leverage knockback can be huge to your survival. Nothing beats being able to wave your hand at a guy punching you and have him go soaring across the room, smack against the wall and collapse in a tangled mess on a couch. The ragdoll physics make KB all the more useful for mitigation. Not to mention you get Build Up at level 4! |
It was my very first toon almost 4 years ago and after more than a few respecs, changing Epic choices and such I still love it.
Right now it has the Pyre Mastery with it and I have kinda turned it into a Blapper and it is more fun than ever
@Patrick Magellen
Infinity & Freedom Servers!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Ice/Nrg and Sonic/Nrg do not have an edge over dominators in damage. Just off the cuff, I would guess the majority of dominator combinations could out-damage both of those blaster combinations.
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I never said they had the edge over Dominators in damage. Especially Dominators with Pets.
Quote:
Yes you did.
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Originally Posted by DarkMaster
I never said they had the edge over Dominators in damage. Especially Dominators with Pets.
|
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
If you're feeling adventurous go fire/fire. One way or another you solo very quickly. For endgame nothing beats out Fire/Fire. Why? Because you can't swing a cat without hitting a Fire/Kin controller. Just follow even a decent one around and the damage they do is amazing but the damage you do with minimally slotted Blazing Aura and Hot Feet is GODLIKE.
Quote:
No, I did not.|
Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Yes you did.
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Reading Comprehension please.
And if it was that unclear to you, then jumping to your own conclusions and guessing at what I was trying to point out was not the answer; and it certainly did not require a post of ignorance on your part.
Quote:
Quoting this to show where the confusion came into play (bolding is me). You responded with this when kamikrazy said that they should just roll a dominator (the actual quote is "This is true. However, if you are using the controls that make things safe you may as well just play a dominator and have more control and depending on the combo - more damage.")|
Originally Posted by DarkMaster
And with the combos I suggested, you don't lose out on damage at all, while still gaining massive amounts of control which equal a massive boost to your overall survivability. Not everything in this game is "truely" killed in 3 hits. Remember that. Blasters were given mild controls for a reason, and not because "you should just go roll a dominator". The combos I've suggested simply have slightly more than just "mild" controls, and still maintain a massive edge in damage.
|
So the reading from StratoNexus out of line, or a lack of reading comprehension. If you didn't mean that, you can clarify for sure. But saying there was a lack of reading comprehension is disengenuous.
For me, I would have responded to that comment with a "roll a Dom if you like that playstyle. If not, and Blasters are more to your liking, roll a Blaster." The two ATs do play differently, so people should go with what they like.
My recommendation is for En/En. Lot's of KB keeps you safe, but also has a good combo of ST and AOE damage. I've found it a blast to say (pun partially intended, but it really is fun!
)
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
Quote:
I realize that the intent of the paragraph may have been confusing and I would have been more than happy to explain it and clear up the confusion. However, the problem was the arrogant and jerkish way that the poster came off on me about it. To get technical, I never said, directly, anywhere in my previous threads that Blasters did more damage than Dominators. No where previously can one quote a line where I said "Blasters deal more damage than Dominators". One can only "assume" that's what I meant, which it was not.|
Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim
Quoting this to show where the confusion came into play (bolding is me). You responded with this when kamikrazy said that they should just roll a dominator (the actual quote is "This is true. However, if you are using the controls that make things safe you may as well just play a dominator and have more control and depending on the combo - more damage.")
So the reading from StratoNexus out of line, or a lack of reading comprehension. If you didn't mean that, you can clarify for sure. But saying there was a lack of reading comprehension is disengenuous. For me, I would have responded to that comment with a "roll a Dom if you like that playstyle. If not, and Blasters are more to your liking, roll a Blaster." The two ATs do play differently, so people should go with what they like. My recommendation is for En/En. Lot's of KB keeps you safe, but also has a good combo of ST and AOE damage. I've found it a blast to say (pun partially intended, but it really is fun! ) |
In my context, I was explaining that a Blaster can indeed have a very solid level of control, while still being able to dish out very respectible damage. Blasters do indeed have a "damage edge" over many AT's and builds out there. I was just pointing out that they can have that damage edge and still put out some solid control. In direct response to the poster I had quoted about "then just roll a dominator" I was basically saying that you didn't have to[roll a dominator], because if you want a Blaster, you can get a respectible amount of control and still maintain a solid amount of damage dealing with one, all while being able to play the AT that you actually want to play[which may be a Blaster].
I have no problem explaining what I meant, certain people simply need to come off more civil is the situation here. Anyways, there's no more need to continue to derail this thread about this. This should be considered squashed.
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Then you should have clarified rather than simply saying you never said something that you quite clearly did say. You think my post was arrogant? |
Originally Posted by DarkMaster
I realize that the intent of the paragraph may have been confusing and I would have been more than happy to explain it and clear up the confusion. However, the problem was the arrogant and jerkish way that the poster came off on me about it. To get technical, I never said, directly, anywhere in my previous threads that Blasters did more damage than Dominators. No where previously can one quote a line where I said "Blasters deal more damage than Dominators". One can only "assume" that's what I meant, which it was not.
|
The following seems far more arrogant and dismissive, from my PoV.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by DarkMaster
I never said they had the edge over Dominators in damage. Especially Dominators with Pets.
|
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
Quote:
How did my response seem arrogant and dismissive? Heck, if you open your eyes and read I even agreed that Dominators with pets will outdamage a Blaster. Maybe you should check your own responses sometime for "arrogant" and purely "dismissive." Your first two responses are saturated with them.|
Then you should have clarified rather than simply saying you never said something that you quite clearly did say. You think my post was arrogant? The following seems far more arrogant and dismissive, from my PoV. |
The context was not Dominator compared to a Blaster, btw, it was simply pointing out that the Blasters I suggested have access to great controls while STILL having solid damage. Not sure why you can't grasp that. So please quote where I said "dominator vs. blaster" or "dominator compared to a blaster". Please. Go. Quote it. You can't, because it's not there. You drew a conclusion on my statement, and your conclusion was actually incorrect on my meaning.
Furthermore, I already admitted that it may have been a failure of communication, and that this foolish ranting is nothing more than a complete derail of this thread. So maybe you should take my advice and leave it as squashed bub.
I know nothing about blasters except they shoot people
so someone plz get me a good combo to get started