A Question for Other Level 50 Electric Blasters

Hi. I have a question for other level 50 elec x3 blasters out there. What is the max difficulty setting you feel comfortable running your character solo at? I'm just trying to gauge where I think HC (and me as a player) should be playing at.

I have great luck locking down a tight group of NPCs with SC and PS providing I don't get mezzed between powers. But if I do, the lack of complete end drain can put me in a heap of ticked-off villains.

I know this can vary from NPC group-type, but I'm just looking at a general consensus. Thanks for any input you might have.

This is a subjective question, since a number of other things come into play here (i.e. the presence of set bonuses, how you have slotted which powers, are you a blaster or a blapper, etc.).

Personally I hate the end drain as a secondary effect because, as you say, unless you get them down to nothing, they can still attack with anything due to the mechanical differences between NPC Endurance and player-based Endurance. With that in mind, I have built my character as more of a ranged blastroller.

• I took both ranged holds (Tesla Cage and Shocking Bolt).
• I abuse Electric Fence.
• I only have 2 of the punch attacks (which I only use if the enemies come to me, I never run in).
• Static Discharge and Ball Lightning are a big part of my attack chain.

Thanks for the reply, Winterminal. I will post a Mid's build dump later if it will be worthwhile to show my set bonuses. I do agree it's subjective to playstyle and that is part of what I'm trying to determine. HC is sort of a jack of all trades, master of none setup.

He has hold procs in both blasts and electric fence, plus tesla cage and shocking bolt so my mitigation through holds is pretty prevalent. I have a celerity in super speed so I can stealth or rush in and fire SC for the melee range end drain (but as discussed mezzes can counter the full drain required from PS). Of course I could always pop a BF proactively and not have to worry. I just like a build to be more self sufficient instead of counting on outside influence.

I also have fly with end cost reduction so I can "hover blast" and I have tested with a Cardio on the beta server and I have no problems end wise fighting while flying.

I've also tested on the beta server picking up the fighting pool and shows, subjectively for me, an overall feeling of less squishiness. I think my melee range apprehensions will wane once I19 hits.

Hi Deadboy. So +2 difficulty with Bosses, equivalent to 1 hero? That feels about right to me. And I agree with what you said about MI's.

I have found that I can effectively drain up to a +2 mob with Short Circuit and Power Sink.