If you want an AoE blaster I would pick something other than Sonic. I'll also be honest, I didn't read most of that. I skimmed and will give you general advice. You do not need Air Superiority on a blaster. Looking at your primary choices, you could probably drop Screech for something better like Hasten. I skipped Howl because I hate being rooted for the animation. Shockwave......is an awful power. Concealment is nice, but with Superspeed and a +Stealth enhancement you could save yourself a pool. I like to take Bone Smasher just because it's great damage for a fairly quick animation.
There are much better Epic pools than Fire Mastery. Bonfire, like Shockwave, is counterproductive and the damage it does is laughable. While some would say blasters are more inclined towards deaths, that does not mean that a rez is required. You will soon learn when you start playing this game that it isn't a very hard one. I would recommend Cold, Electric or Force Mastery. Maybe even Mu.
Jericho,
I would recommend downloading Mids. It has helped me put together some great builds. As for looking at other builds, I know the Cohplanner has some builds you can look at (I think it's still a few issues behind). You can find on cohtitan.com.
While I don't have any personal experience with these sets (just starting to like blasters recently), a friend of mine has made one and he loves it! Hell, I love teaming with him because he kills things so quickly. He uses both ranged and melee powers. I'm not sure what Epic pool he took or if he's switched to a Patron pool. As for power selection, that's all up to you. I say look at guides/builds and let it give you ideas. As long as you're having fun with it, it doesn't matter what the rest of us think. Try some stuff out and have fun. Welcome to City of Heroes/Villains! 
Build what is fun to play I say and Fire mastery is great on my fire blaster how I play her.
I would say to skip shockwave and get build up at that level instead. Shockwave does low damage and is one of the only powers in the set that does not have a -resistance debuff added to it. Howl is all you need. Power boost is optional on this one IMO. It will help sirens song sleep them longer, but that's about it, especially since you aren't taking your melee powers that stun enemies.
I suggest taking at least one melee power, probably total focus. It hits like a train. If you are blasting at something, and it manages to get into close range, I would rather use total focus to kill it than use your power thrust to knock him back and kill him with a few weaker ranged attacks (not to say ranged is weaker than melee, it is just a REALLY strong melee attack).
Other than that, it looks like you have the hang of things, and siren's song will help a lot if you are soloing. Just sleep the group and start to pick them off one by one without worrying about their allies attacking you.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Jericho
I studied the boards and MIDS first a bit to see what kind of ATs I might like
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Poisonfist1
I would recommend downloading Mids.
|
That would look like this:
Code:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 48 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Shriek -- Empty(A) Level 1: Power Thrust -- Empty(A) Level 2: Scream -- Empty(A) Level 4: Howl -- Empty(A) Level 6: Hover -- Empty(A) Level 8: Shockwave -- Empty(A) Level 10: Shout -- Empty(A) Level 12: Hasten -- Empty(A) Level 14: Fly -- Empty(A) Level 16: Build Up -- Empty(A) Level 18: Sirens Song -- Empty(A) Level 20: Amplify -- Empty(A) Level 22: [Empty] Level 24: [Empty] Level 26: [Empty] Level 28: Power Boost -- Empty(A) Level 30: [Empty] Level 32: Dreadful Wail -- Empty(A) Level 35: Boost Range -- Empty(A) Level 38: [Empty] Level 41: Char -- Empty(A) Level 44: Bonfire -- Empty(A) Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- Empty(A) Level 49: Fire Shield -- Empty(A) ------------ Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance Level 4: Ninja Run Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 1: Health -- Empty(A) Level 1: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Sirens Song isn't really a key power, but with Power Boost you will spend entire missions without getting hit. Sleep them with Sirens, then Screech to disorient one of them. The key is the -res secondary effect. Your attacks will make any teammate's attacks do more damage.
If you are going to take Air Superiority, do it early. The consistent knock up on it, a decent attack, will offer good mitigation when soloing bosses and the like. Later on, you'll have an impressive enough set of ranged powers that you probably won't want to get that close anyway. I could see you respecing out of it.
I usually put Hasten, Build Up, and Aim (Amplify) off a little bit. The recharge on them is atrocious until you get a second or third slot in them and SOs (at level 22).
For your last 4 powers, you might consider taking Boxing, Tough, and Weave (Fighting) and Combat Jumping (Leaping). That would get you on your way with defense. You can put a Steadfast Protection IO in Tough for another +3% defense, putting you at about 13-14%.
I would recommend you go for ranged defense. Thunderstrike in your single target attacks would be nice. All of this will come up once you start making influence, of course. If you played the market in WoW, those tricks will probably work here to help you get going.
Hopefully that helps. Welcome to the game! If you have any questions while playing you can try shooting me a tell. /t @Gilia1,
Good luck!
@Gilia1
I play heroes on Champion.
I play villains on Virtue.
Though I -really-really-really! disagree with not taking the melee hits in energy I can respect the choice. But don't be fooled into thinking range = defense. It's anything but when you're dealing with mobs like trolls or warwolves. Hurl bolder hits like a train from a long ways off. That and some of the late game groups like nemesis are virtually all ranged attack. Circle of thorns in general will still pose an issue too, the ghosts most of all. Freakshow stunners, all of Malta. Tsoo ancestor spirits will still fly right up to smack you while the ink men below mez away, and the rikti...well they just suck pure and simple =p
Short version, hover is not a free pass to blast with impunity, treat it as such in the wrong instances and it's a recipe for a hospital visit. Works great in the hollows, not as well in the late game. But then again my blaster play style involves targeting a boss, and firing off as many attacks as possible including melee at point blank range, so your mileage and play style may vary.
That said if i was gonna build a flying sonic energy here's a quick throw together. The reason behind cold is for the extra aoe sleep to stack on bosses along with a backup plan too. That and extra HP from hoarfrost, and a second self heal with hibernate never hurts. Also power boost will juke up the heals and also buff frozen armors defense bonus for a few good seconds of extra def. The extra sleep and stun duration at that point is icing on the cake. The slotting is just generic IO's obtained at 25 and on up, sets are a whole nother can of worms.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shriek -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(5), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Scream -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(7), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(11), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 4: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 6: Hover -- Flight-I(A)
Level 8: Howl -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(15), Dmg-I(15), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 10: Shockwave -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 12: Shout -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(23), Dmg-I(23), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(25), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Amplify -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 18: Sirens Song -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(29), Sleep-I(31), Sleep-I(31), Sleep-I(31)
Level 20: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 22: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(33), Heal-I(33)
Level 24: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(34)
Level 26: Screech -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(34), Dsrnt-I(34), Dsrnt-I(36), Dsrnt-I(36)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 32: Dreadful Wail -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 38: Total Focus -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(42), Dmg-I(42), Dmg-I(43), Dmg-I(43), Dsrnt-I(43)
Level 41: Flash Freeze -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(45), Sleep-I(45), Sleep-I(45), Sleep-I(46)
Level 44: Frozen Armor -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(46), DefBuff-I(46), DefBuff-I(48)
Level 47: Hoarfrost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Hibernate -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(50), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Also ignore any negative remarks about knockback in general and shockwave in particular. KB whiners are for those who don't realize walls exist, worry about their precious tank herd getting disrupted, or don't realize that while the entire group is now sitting on it's butt (and not shooting back) you've got free reign to pump the rest of your attack chain into them while they're getting up. Two fun tips most don't ever realize either.
#1 If you are hovering directly above you'll pretty much knock mobs straight into the ground, which mitigates the "evil" knockback anyway.
#2 If you queue up a cone like howl (I.E. have it readied as shockwave's animation goes off) The game engine still treats all those mobs now flying back as if they're still in the range of the second cone, and you'll peg them before they even can think of getting back up. You can see the exact same mechanic in action if you whack something with power thrust and have a melee attack lined up after. Be quick enough on the draw and something like energy punch still connects.
Main reason I'd really say put the blaster on the ground though and take leaping pool (for combat jump and acrobatics status resists) is so you can put energy melee hits to good use with sonic's -res debuffs on top of blaster defiance bonuses. That (Don't know if you read or saw it) being the fact every attack a blaster pulls adding to his damage for a short time. Makes sonic that much more lethal in a way.
Either way don't worry too much over power picks and perfection for a first time blaster, just have fun with it, enjoy the numbers and the boom, and good choice in picking the best class to learn coh with in my heavily biased opinion. Hehe if you can play a "Debt magnet" right, you're ready for anything.
Welcome to the game too, hope you love it.
Quote:
1) Both flash freeze and Sirens song deal damage so you cannot stack Sleep with them.|
Originally Posted by Dragonkat
That said if i was gonna build a flying sonic energy here's a quick throw together. The reason behind cold is for the extra aoe sleep to stack on bosses along with a backup plan too. That and extra HP from hoarfrost, and a second self heal with hibernate never hurts. Also power boost will juke up the heals and also buff frozen armors defense bonus for a few good seconds of extra def. The extra sleep and stun duration at that point is icing on the cake. The slotting is just generic IO's obtained at 25 and on up, sets are a whole nother can of worms.
|
2)Power boost does not affect Hoarfrost as Hoarfrost has a damage resist component.
3) Frozen Armor has a damage resist component, therefore PB doesnt affect it.
Quote:
| #2 If you queue up a cone like howl (I.E. have it readied as shockwave's animation goes off) The game engine still treats all those mobs now flying back as if they're still in the range of the second cone, and you'll peg them before they even can think of getting back up. You can see the exact same mechanic in action if you whack something with power thrust and have a melee attack lined up after. Be quick enough on the draw and something like energy punch still connects. |
You might want to take a look at some of the guides that are located on the blaster boards. Although some may be a tad out of date most are very well written and thought out and may give you a little more insight to our beloved "glass canon" AT.
Welcome to COX...
Dragon-King First level 50 -- Fire/Nrg Blaster
(and to many alts to mention)
Protector
Quote:
| Originally by Arcanaville: Everything in Praetoria was designed during a drinking binge in which the devs temporarily forgot the rules. |
Sonic/Energy blaster!?! omg !!! one of those things beat me like a circus monkey in pvp !!! i dont know which one I hate more sonic or psy .
I have never seen one in action in pve , but in pvp zone I want to cry .
Quote:
My mistake on the sleeps so thanks for the correction on that one, did forget the damage factor, but still having an extra sleep wouldn't hurt even if the recharge is up there. |
Originally Posted by DreadShinobi
1) Both flash freeze and Sirens song deal damage so you cannot stack Sleep with them.
2)Power boost does not affect Hoarfrost as Hoarfrost has a damage resist component. 3) Frozen Armor has a damage resist component, therefore PB doesnt affect it. You should be using Howl before Shockwave for the -resist. Shockwave doesnt have -resist. Although I wouldn't really reccomend using Shockwave in the first place. Yes, you can make shockwave's KB negligible, however that can be situational and/or takes too long to set up. Shockwave also doesn't provide -resist as said before, youre better just going with Howl and calling it a day. Especially for a newer player, I wouldn't reccomend having to juggle knockback effectiveness techniques while still learning how to play the game itself. |
as for #2 and #3 I have an old blaster with force mastery, and I can tell you there's just from general observation a HUGE difference between Personal force field with and without power boost defense wise, and as that's a power with a damage resist too I'm going to call jury still out on those last points Unless i see a specific dev or player testing post on it.
As for the opinion on shockwave, couldn't disagree more. It still packs defiance bonus on par with howl. So if you fired howl first then shockwave, you're actually getting less damage out of the deal -res or no. And as I said above you can game the coh engine and how it treats targets with the simple press of two keys one after the other, it aint rocket science.
As for situational and long set up (Two of my least favorite excuses)
Solo: Hit shockwave, insta mitigation, no tank to complain, blaster goes to town. And ut's the only mitigation a sonic/em is gong to have till 10 levels later at siren's song, and 10 more for screech. Now if he wanted the energy melee blaps I might agree more with the opinion. But if you're going pure ranged why wouldn't you want one of the very few aoe knockbacks blasters get? And a knockback that's actually easy to control the direction of, unlike the scatter and more random chance for it to actually happen on a power like M30 grenade.
Team: If you want to talk situational powers shockwave is a whole heck of a lot more useful in a team then an aoe sleep would be. Then you've got the fact any troller with a root nullifies the knockback anyway, a point against shockwave I'll admit given the low damage, but still worth it for the defiance boost. And given a panic situation great for knocking mobs off other squishies. Or keeping ones the troller missed out of the game that much longer, or on the other side of caltrops/tar patch/any rain power. Not to mention the Mag is high enough to knock down bosses as a troller can double stack holds. Course if you're on a hold heavy team also a moot point, but just saying. As for AoE debuffs like darkest night or rad powers, it's a simple request to ask a player to watch the knockbacks in those instances, again not rocket science.
And be honest, how long does it really take to point yourself at a wall before you hit a KB power? All of two seconds when it might actually matter or there's not a wall right there anyway? That and why not learn at the start rather then later? After all not like waiting is going to change the opinion of people who have an irrational and if you ask me stupid hate of all things knockback. Jumping in the deep end and learning by doing I say, it's the only way to blast.
Quote:
My problem isn't with knockback, my problem is with players who have the "You have to adjust your playstyle to match mine, but I refuse to extend the same courtesy" attitude about it. |
Originally Posted by Dragonkat
And be honest, how long does it really take to point yourself at a wall before you hit a KB power? All of two seconds when it might actually matter or there's not a wall right there anyway? That and why not learn at the start rather then later? After all not like waiting is going to change the opinion of people who have an irrational and if you ask me stupid hate of all things knockback. Jumping in the deep end and learning by doing I say, it's the only way to blast. |
If someone is continually knocking things away from a tank, scrapper, or brute who depends on an aura power for a large part of their survivability, while refusing to adjust their playstyle, I'd say that melee player has a right to be annoyed.
For the record, I love Sonic, but I despise Shockwave. It really doesn't take that long to get to level 18, and I'd rather take a power that deals damage at level 8 instead of a knockback that will just piss off a lot of things at once while not doing much to them.
With Siren's Song, you can sleep a whole spawn, and kill them one by one. I would actually recommend taking Bonesmasher to help with single target damage. It hits like a truck, and activates fairly quickly.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Quote:
As claws said Sirens Song is a much better (sleep lasts longer than KB), non-disruptive form of mitigation.|
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
My problem isn't with knockback, my problem is with players who have the "You have to adjust your playstyle to match mine, but I refuse to extend the same courtesy" attitude about it.
If someone is continually knocking things away from a tank, scrapper, or brute who depends on an aura power for a large part of their survivability, while refusing to adjust their playstyle, I'd say that melee player has a right to be annoyed. For the record, I love Sonic, but I despise Shockwave. It really doesn't take that long to get to level 18, and I'd rather take a power that deals damage at level 8 instead of a knockback that will just piss off a lot of things at once while not doing much to them. With Siren's Song, you can sleep a whole spawn, and kill them one by one. I would actually recommend taking Bonesmasher to help with single target damage. It hits like a truck, and activates fairly quickly. |
For bosses (that Sirens song doesnt affect) you have Power thrust. Which is a significantly better knockback compared to Shockwave being a single target power which can effectively remove a dangerous target from the fight while not disrupting the rest of the spawn.
I also couldnt agree more with the sentiment about people unwilling to adjust their playstyles. If you think a team would require Shockwave to stay alive then I would say that there is a much bigger underlying problem with the team itself.
Quote:
And where did I ever say I was that? If someone tells me to lay off the knockback I'll lay off the knockback, or control it. But you can turn that around and say the same of players who throw a hissyfit at the slightest bit of knockback on their team without auras and such being used? Boo fricking hoo to them. Also I have yet to meet a team that wouldn't mind a little more damage mitigation, have you?|
Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
My problem isn't with knockback, my problem is with players who have the "You have to adjust your playstyle to match mine, but I refuse to extend the same courtesy" attitude about it.
If someone is continually knocking things away from a tank, scrapper, or brute who depends on an aura power for a large part of their survivability, while refusing to adjust their playstyle, I'd say that melee player has a right to be annoyed. |
Also read the part where i said "Panic" situation, when things are going south. Nowhere did I say a team needs shockwave to stay alive, but if my choices are it or sirens, i'll take shockwave any day of the week.
And Siren's limits you to a pure single target build which I'll admit works great with energy melee blaps, but makes howl useless too. And since OP wasn't interested in melee, gave him a build to work with that style. Not to mention as I said, aoe sleeps in a team situation are a wasted power. Knockback will at least be doing something that could be useful. Then again i could be biased going sonic/mental/elec in the future. I've got too many possible cones to waste my time trying to keep mobs asleep.
As for shockwave "not doing anything but pissing mobs off." I'm sorry but that's just flat out wrong. Sure Siren may keep a spawn locked down with sleep, and for crazy long amounts of time with power boost. I'm not gonna argue that point, it's quite true. But shockwave (or to be fair power thrust) gives you enough time to pump shriek, scream, and just about shout into a mob before it's getting up. Something siren's can't pull off. And power thrust only deals with one mob, shockwave's keeping a whole spawn on it's behind.
Also If you just woke up that prae clockwork builder or gardvord after a siren's attack, which would you rather have, a way to keep him from tearing you apart with the attacks they pack, or just hope you can outdamage him first if screech happens to miss, or play at melee range with power thrust? And do you really really wanna solo your whole way through 50 levels by just going siren mob, screech or power thrust big target, repeat nonstop? Borrrrring.
Quote:
No need to get so defensive. Did I say anywhere in my post that you were one of those people? I don't believe I did. |
Originally Posted by Dragonkat
And where did I ever say I was that? If someone tells me to lay off the knockback I'll lay off the knockback, or control it. But you can turn that around and say the same of players who throw a hissyfit at the slightest bit of knockback on their team without auras and such being used? Boo fricking hoo to them. Also I have yet to meet a team that wouldn't mind a little more damage mitigation, have you?
Also read the part where i said "Panic" situation, when things are going south. Nowhere did I say a team needs shockwave to stay alive, but if my choices are it or sirens, i'll take shockwave any day of the week. And Siren's limits you to a pure single target build which I'll admit works great with energy melee blaps, but makes howl useless too. And since OP wasn't interested in melee, gave him a build to work with that style. Not to mention as I said, aoe sleeps in a team situation are a wasted power. Knockback will at least be doing something that could be useful. Then again i could be biased going sonic/mental/elec in the future. I've got too many possible cones to waste my time trying to keep mobs asleep. As for shockwave "not doing anything but pissing mobs off." I'm sorry but that's just flat out wrong. Sure Siren may keep a spawn locked down with sleep, and for crazy long amounts of time with power boost. I'm not gonna argue that point, it's quite true. But shockwave (or to be fair power thrust) gives you enough time to pump shriek, scream, and just about shout into a mob before it's getting up. Something siren's can't pull off. And power thrust only deals with one mob, shockwave's keeping a whole spawn on it's behind. Also If you just woke up that prae clockwork builder or gardvord after a siren's attack, which would you rather have, a way to keep him from tearing you apart with the attacks they pack, or just hope you can outdamage him first if screech happens to miss, or play at melee range with power thrust? And do you really really wanna solo your whole way through 50 levels by just going siren mob, screech or power thrust big target, repeat nonstop? Borrrrring. |
I can tolerate Energy Torrent, because it at least does some damage in the process.
And I also have Howl on my build, and I'm working on going villain so I can pick up NightFall and Soul Tentacles.
When you're soloing, Siren's Song is better than Shockwave by a wide margin. Siren's gives you ~45 seconds of safety, Shockwave gives you maybe 5 seconds.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Apologies claws, I'm still a bit snippy over that idiotic why a blaster thread. It's got my blaster pride in overdrive when it comes to what the AT can do.
Quote:
That thread was enough to get any Blaster fan on edge. There's 500 posts, the majority of which just make one particular troll look like a fool... who keeps arguing. Not against the points made against him, just babbling on randomly.|
Originally Posted by Dragonkat
Apologies claws, I'm still a bit snippy over that idiotic why a blaster thread. It's got my blaster pride in overdrive when it comes to what the AT can do.
|
The age old KB debate doesn't just belong to Blasters eitehr
.
@Gilia1
I play heroes on Champion.
I play villains on Virtue.
Jericho -- First, welcome to the Game and the Forums.
Next: while there is a bit of bickering that goes on from time to time, the community in CoH is very friendly and helpful.
Third: When starting out, you should try out anything that looks like fun. You can always respec (short for Respecification) out later. You can earn Respecs at levels 24, 34 and 44, and Respecs are almost always given out free with new issues. Plus, since you can make a second build, you can save that second build until you know what you like and don't like.
Certain powers and builds are hotly debated, and opinions vary depending on each person's playstyle and preferences. Personally, I like knockback. I think it is fun to knock a bad guy into next week. Yes, it is frustrating to melee players, so learn when to use it and how to use it to your advantage -- that's a fun challenge. You can hover overhead to turn knockback into knockdown, or use walls or whatever. Like you, I prefer to play my Blasters from range, even the ones with the Energy secondary. My Archery/EM has only Total Focus out of the melee attacks, but uses Stun to stack with Stun Arrow and Power Thrust as a "Get Out Of My Face" power. If I want to play melee, I'll play a scrapper or a tank or a brute.
Just have fun.
And Fourth: I saw that you mentioned that you made an Illusion/Radiation controller. Good choice! Take a look at my Ill/Rad guide -- the link is in my signature.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
(Quick reply to the OP, ignoring the drama later in the post 
)
A few basic tips for a new Blaster:
1) Powers like Aim (or Amplify, in Sonic's case) and Build Up are nice, but the first priority is to get a decent attack chain. You'll want Shriek, Screak, Howl and Shout as soon as possible and you'll probably want Bone Smasher. You may not want to be in melee, but you still will be from time to time and having a nice hard hitting punch that has a good chance to stun is useful. My personal choice would be to take Shriek and Power Thrust at 1, Scream at 2, Howl at 4, Build Up at 6 (because you can't get Shout yet and I don't care too much for Shockwave), Shout at 8, and Bone Smasher at 10. That gives you a decent attack chain and Build Up for quickly eliminating bosses.
2) Always take your first two primary powers (Shriek and Scream in your case). You can use them while mezzed, which is vital to staying alive since Blasters spend a lot of time mezzed.
3) One of the best tactics for Sonic / Energy is to use Sirens Song to put an entire spawn to sleep, then stun one enemy with Screech or your Energy melee attacks and beat it down. Sirens Song lasts long enough to turn most spawns into a series of one on one fights which you will easily win. Add in Power Boost and Boost Range when you get it and you can sleep a fairly large spawn and beat them down one by one without anything ever getting to attack you (except the occasional target Sirens misses).
4) Your chance to hit an even con enemy starts at 90% and drops off to 75% as you level up to 20. That means you really don't have to worry about accuracy starting out, but once you get to level 12 and can slot dual origin enhancements it's worth tossing one accuracy into each attack, and possibly a second accuracy at 17 when you buy new DOs. And speaking of DOs, be sure to sell all your salvage on the market (unless you plan to use some for something)... you should have plenty of influence saved up by 12 to buy DOs. Once you have enough accuracy to hit reliably, focus on damage. Blasters survive best by making the enemy go away, so hitting hard is important. You may want to toss one recharge in things like Bone Smasher or Shout too, but be sure to toss in a couple of damage first.
And most importantly, make several characters and see what you like. Sonic / Energy is a fairly safe but relatively slow Blaster combo (especially if played from range)... you may prefer something with more AoE power like Fire / Mental, or possibly a weapon set like Archery (my personal favorite). Or you may want something a little tougher than a Blaster that can still do good damage at range, like a Rad/Sonic Defender or a Fire/Dark Corruptor. Or for that matter, you might like Scrappers or Brutes. They may be melee, but they're a lot different than WoW melee classes.
Though if you really want a truly original class, try a Mastermind. They're like nothing I've ever played in any other MMO (they make Hunter pets look like bad jokes in comparison). MMs and Blasters are my two favorite classes... I'd suggest trying at least one of each. One great thing about this game is that there's no endless raid gear treadmill like WoW, so it's easy to make lots of alts and get them decently equipped. The top end stuff is expensive, but you don't actually need it to be good.
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:
|
Originally Posted by Dragonkat
Apologies claws, I'm still a bit snippy over that idiotic why a blaster thread. It's got my blaster pride in overdrive when it comes to what the AT can do.
|
No worries. If you recall, I was one of the people sticking up for blasters in that thread.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
I just wanted to thank everybody for contributing to the post. I am trying different toons and having a lot of fun. I am on Victory server and Jericho Kane is my sonic/energy blaster, Harrowthorn is my thorns/WP and Madam Cho is my katana/WP. I will be trying my illusions/rad controller Gideon Blade next.
I wonder why you would pick Energy if you are not going to use the melee attacks. The buffs are nice, of course, and there is Boost Range for keeping foes even further away from you, but you are still underutilizing the set.
Then again, it's a bit too late to change, or I would have recommended Devices or even Ice, as mentioned previously. You might decide to pick up Total Focus just to have a big "power attack" if something gets in melee. Yes, you have Hover, but there are always caves with low ceilings, foes with -Fly, or just the times when you turn a corner and blunder into a spawn.
The other good point about melee is that after using Siren's Song or Screech (or even better, both) that's a good point to dart in for a quick melee attack on the disoriented foe. You can then get out of range before he can recover. This is the strategy I use with my Blaster all the time, she has only the one main melee attack, but I use the Tesla Cage/Fire Sword combination with her all the time. Sure, a hold is better than a disorient, but the strategy should work just as well.
The good news is, in the lower levels ranged builds work just fine. It's not until the higher levels where you start to get foes that are tough enough to force their way into melee despite your best efforts. The Stun/Melee combo then becomes just a way to shorten the fight. (And sniper attacks can be pretty handy in that regard, too)
There are several ways to play a Sonic/EM.
You can solo in total safety with the following tactic: run with the No Bosses difficulty setting. Hit the group with Siren's Song. Then hit mobs with Screech and take them out one by one. I'd recommend taking Bone Smasher and Total Focus because they hit very hard and can stun mobs, removing the need to hit them with Screech first.
You can also spam Shockwave, Howl and Siren's Song to keep groups at bay. It's a little riskier than taking them out one by one, but if you're quick on hitting Power Thrust or Bone Smasher when they get close to you there's little danger unless you're drastically outnumbered.
If you want to run solo against bosses hit the group with Shockwave, which will knock nearly all bosses back. Then hit the boss with Screech and Stun, or screech and Total Focus when you get that, which will stun nearly all bosses in PvE. Then jump back and hit the group with Siren's Song. This works best when you can knock the group back into the end of a corridor or against a wall. Just keep hitting the boss with Stun, Screech, Shout, Bone Smasher and Total Focus, and resleep the LTs and minions as needed.
Many players don't take Screech or Stun, but if you want to take down bosses safely you need to have at least two stuns to stack against them. Screech and Stun activate quickly and will render a boss harmless quickly. Total Focus does a ton of damage and does a stun, but it's got a long animation.
Stacking mezzes is the key to controlling bosses, so I always get at least one if not two mez attacks. Look up the mechanics for how mezzes stack on Paragonwiki so you get an idea how that works, then you'll have a better understanding how you can use that to keep your blaster from face-planting.
It also helps to know how other characters' powers work so you can combine your mezzes with theirs. For example, when you team with a scrapper that has Oppressive Gloom, you can stun bosses in one shot when the scrapper's next to the boss. This is because your stun and the scrapper's stun aura stack and exceed the boss's stun protection.
Two points:
1. I recommend getting Build Up ahead of Hasten, and Concentration the second it becomes available. Details in my Blaster mini-guide [see sig] but the basic idea is that Blasters need to do their damage IMMEDIATELY. They're the only glass character in the game, so they need all the cannon. Because if they live long enough to shoot back, that's a problem.
2. You've explained your no-melee reasoning. I respectfully suggest trying at least one melee attack. Some people WILL get in your face and an extremely fast-activating extremely hard-hitting attack, or better yet two, will discourage them with a quickness. [Bonesmasher and Energy Punch, first and second, are my recommendations.] Now, disclaimer time, I love the 1-2 combo of those two and I use it VERY frequently. [Or the Electric secondary powers which have different names, different FX, and almost exactly the same stats. Note that Tanks and Brutes have powers with the SAME name but DIFFERENT stats. There's a lot of nonintuitive stuff when you look under the hood in this game. ]
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Just a thought, the damage per activation time will tell you how much damage a power will do for the time it takes,
For Sonic, the DPAs are
Shriek 44.2
Scream 44.65
Howl 20.20
Shockwave 16.81
Shout 45.72
Siren's Song 13.97
Screech 7.27
Dreadful Wail 144.55
For Energy Manipulation
Power Thrust 37.39
Energy Punch 102.83
Bone Smasher 84.07
Stun 7.02
Total Focus 57.73
Now, having said that, using Sonic will increase your damage by decreasing the amount of damage the opponent can resist before taking damage. Taking stun and screech allows you to stun a boss level mob in two hits (about 3.5s) and a stunned opponent does not hit back. Sleep is great for the enemies you aren't working on, but is not going to be that good for a one on one matchup. Dreadful Wail is great, but is likely to get you killed if it doesn't finish everyone off.
And remember, Power Boost will aid on defensive powers as well, so if you take a more defensive route Power Boost will help a great deal, and that is beyond the aid it offers to your controls...
I'm a totally new player to COH, but I've burned out on WoW after playing it for years and leading a guild for most of that time, and I always wanted to try this game, so here I am! I don't have the Going Rogue yet. I bought Architech as it was cheap to see if I liked the game. I do!
I studied the boards and MIDS first a bit to see what kind of ATs I might like, and since I wanted to stay far away from melee this time (Warrior in WoW), I decided to try a Sonic/Energy blaster and an Illusion/Radiation controller. I've started Jericho Kane the blaster first, and would appreciate any feedback on this potential spec., with which I want to mostly solo but be viable for teaming as well.
Level One: Shreik, Power Thrust
A no brainer to take Shreik from Sonic and Power Thrust from Energy. When I was first looking at Secondary power sets, I liked the Immobilize that Ice got more than Power Thrust from Energy, but in actual play, the Knockback from Power Thrust has been helpful to get melee off me. The last thing I want to be is a blapper.
Level Two: Scream
Again, a bread and butter power for sonic.
Level Three: I was going to start slotting accuracies in the above ranged powers but the melee person I was playing with recommended slotting three damage first on damage powers and that seems to be working ok for now.
Level Four: Build-Up vs. Howl = Howl
I had originally planned to tank Build Up for more dps, but the person I was teaming with recommended Howl, and in practice, it's actually worked out quite well. I had originally planned to take it around ten (more on that theorey in a moment) but with his melee getting agro on a whole group, my howl then weakens them all to take more damage from him.
Level Six: Hover
I hit level six last night and grabbed Hover right away, and am very happy I did. It's nice to be airbourne. Plus I've read its crucial for ranged blasters to stay out of melee.
Level Eight: Shockwave
My theorey for Shockwave and Howl is to go airbourne over a group with Hover, Shockwave them using it for Knockdown from above rather than knockback, then Howl them all. Though I've seen some lists that recommend avoiding both, this should work I would think.
Level Ten: Shout
My third single target blast, very powerful, a must have.
Level Twelve: Build-Up vs. Hasten = Hasten
Hasten seems a very important ability to have slotted with three recharge, better to take it here or wait til 16 and take Build-Up here.
Level Fourteen: Flight
Is Hover good enough to wait on Flight for a few more levels so I can get Build-Up and Aim/Amplify sooner, or do I want Flight the second I can get it?
Level Sixteen: Build-Up
Long delayed but I really am not sure I can give up any of the earlier ones to get it sooner. If you think so give me specifics please.
Level Eighteen: Siren's Song
Probably the key power of the sonic set, can't wait for it.
Level Twenty: Aim/Amplify vs. Stealth vs. Air Superiority = Amplify
At what levels do you start finding flying enemies? Seems Air Superiority would be crucial at that point for a guy who wants to HoverBlast his enemies? Would Stealth ever be useful on this AT, I think I read something about "glowies" missions? Not sure what that is.
You'll notice no Stamina/Fitness by 20, as I created this spec thinking I19 was already in the game, which it sadly isn't yet. Hopefully it will be by the time I level that far on both toons.
You may also notice by now that I am avoiding every melee talent in the /Energy tree, even the final one, Total Focus. Though if someone can answer one question, in some guides I see it listed as Mag 4, while Mid has it as Mag 3, did it used to be higher and then got lowered?
I take Screens, Power Boost, Dreadful Wail and Boost Range as soon as they become available.
That leaves four slots and five possible powers before the Ancillary Pool. Air Superiority, Stealth, Conserve Power and Assault and Tactics from the Leadership Pool. Which of those four seem best for a ranged, hovering blaster. Can you rank them as most useful to least useful in case I do decide to take Total Focus or even Bone Crusher?
For the Ancillary Pool, I like Fire. It gives me a third type of damage besides energy/smashing.
41) Char - gives me a true Hold in addition to Sleep and Disorient
44) Bonfire - My hope is that if I cast this down onto a group (while hovering) after Shockwave/Howl, they will take massive damage as the knockback becomes knockdown and they are trapped in the damage. Does that sound plausible? A third AOE usable like that would be great.
47) Rise of the Phoenix - A self rez every three minutes that does tremendous damage and stuns foes, in WoW this would be beyond solid gold, sign me up!
49) Fire Shield - Got this after Rise of the Phoenix as this seems to need less slots (3) compared to Phoenix (5).
I also wanted to ask, does COH have an online place like WoW's Armory, where friends can see the heroes I've designed? It seems crazy for a game not to have something like that but I've not been able to find it for COH.
Thanks for your help guys, take care,
Rich