Blasters are there to do damage. They should slot for damage. But saying that they should only slot for damage is like saying that a controller should only slot for holds, or a defender should only slot for heals.
Since blasters do so much damage, it's easy for them to steal aggro from the designated aggro magnet. Softcapping a blaster is more than necessary for survival, but my DP/Energy (also S/L softcapped) can solo many things at x8, and that's just FUN.
And when you're on a Master of STF run and Mako decides that you look tasty, it's far cooler to see "MISS!" than "CHALLENGE FAILED!"
@Roderick
Quote:
Are these people enjoying vengeance at your expense ? Anyway seeing as you are fire Fire/Nrg you might also want to look at capping or coming close to the cap for range. It's a little bit better for someone with the tools to stay at range.
| some people i have talked to say that "your just a blaster, slot of damage and recharge." |
Quote:
My friend was complaining that he couldn't do one of the Malta tip missions (Rescue Black Panther 951 or whatever) w/his Fire blaster, because he kept getting drained, mezzed, etc. I replied I never had a hint of problems w/my Fire blaster, or any of my 50s really. Then I tried it w/a 40, not quite IO'ed out Arch blaster and hit the same wall. The difference? My Fire blaster has capped ranged def, my Arch blaster has zero (so far). The both do comparable, pretty much maxed out damage, but guess who the sappers miss more?
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Originally Posted by SM123
the build i have is for a fire/energy blast, and it is softcapped to s/l defense. Does anyone believe this is necessary or even worth it? some people i have talked to say that "your just a blaster, slot of damage and recharge."
What are your opinions? |
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
S/L defense is handy if you use a lot of melee or PBAoE attacks and therefore spend a lot of time up close and personal with enemies. Ranged defense is better in most cases though simply because most of the annoying effects like holds, end drain, and such are ranged. If you mainly burn things from range and use the /Energy melee attacks to deal with the occasional target that gets to you then go Ranged defense, but if you jump in punching and just use Fire for the occasional Blaze or Fireball go with S/L.
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
Malta Gunslingers and their [Liquid Nitrogen Round] love S/L capped blasters.
2.0 acc mod with ranged/cold attack vectors.
i am not going to let one enemy type affect my choice of build, i barely ever fight malta anyway. i am not really talking about s/l vs ranged right now, my question is, should i bother making my blaster survivable? people i know in game keep telling me no, go for dmg rech.
the build i have for my blast is s/l softcapped with 140% rech, i think thats more than enough rech?
Quote:
That's plenty of recharge.|
Originally Posted by SM123
i am not going to let one enemy type affect my choice of build, i barely ever fight malta anyway. i am not really talking about s/l vs ranged right now, my question is, should i bother making my blaster survivable? people i know in game keep telling me no, go for dmg rech.
the build i have for my blast is s/l softcapped with 140% rech, i think thats more than enough rech? |
The Gunslinger is just an example of a mez that isn't attached to a S/L damage vector, in fact most of the non-melee mez in this game does not have an S/L component. S/L defense will protect you from more attacks in this game then going with range defense, but what's the point if every mez that comes your way limits you to only three powers? The less time you spend mezzed the more those global +rech and +dam bonuses are being used on your heavy hitters and not just on your tier 2 attack.
The Malta show up in the Tin Mage TF and I really enjoy the mission but all those +4 Gunslingers teleporting around can have a squishie burning through thier inspirations while they make breakfrees. Ranged defense can help lower the need to make breakfrees and allow you to make wakies for your teammates.
LGTFs and Mothership Raids are also examples of "level 50" content that is mez heavy. LGTFs get run at even con so the mezzes are almost bearable but when it's +4 Rikti that are mezzing you it seems like you're sleeping forever. Investing your resources into Ranged Defense can help protect you against this in ways S/L defense can't. The less time you spend mezzed the more those global +rech and +dam bonuses are being used on your heavy hitters and not just on your tier 2 attack.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SM123
the build i have is for a fire/energy blast, and it is softcapped to s/l defense Does anyone believe this is necessary or even worth it?
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Everyone is telling you go for more damage and more recharge becuase that is what they desire out of a blaster but you want more enjoyability out of your blaster by capping S/L defense. It's you're character and you do what makes you happy.
I would just like to say that if you're a player whose still at the Mids planning stage, and you're looking at a build that requires a couple sets of Kinetic Combats, Lotgs and a trip to the Rogue Isles to pick up Scorpion Shield, this is all going to take a lot of patience at the market and dedication to break away from Amerits long enough to go Vigilante then Villian then Rogue and along the way complete a hefty dose of Redside content.
IF you're gonna go after Scorpion Shield choose Black Scropion as you're patron its mostly Crey up to the point you unlock the Patron Pool, and get a free respec. You should try to get it done before level 44, Crey that spawn above level 45 can end up spawning nothing Crey wearing power armour that pack a lot more resistance then what the Creys wearing suit and ties have around level 42. There is a kill all in that arc that you should save a mission drop for.
Going for Range Defense on the other hand would be a bigger savings in both influence and time spent at the market. Going for Ranged defense is mostly Pools A recipies while S/L requires rares. If you've got money go for it. If you're gonna have to raise the funds to pay for a build in the first place, sell the expensive stuff and use the cheap stuff. Do that long enough and none of your character will ever worry about money again. Also it's really easy to 6 slot Obliteration and slot 4 Kinetic Combats in all your melee attacks in Mids, it's a lot harder in the game since demand for these recipes is so out wieghs the supply.
The A-merit system and a little patience will get you all the IOs you need. Going to the Isles and getting that shield also lets you grab Web Envelope. Building up your defense is a better plan then just chasing more more damage and recharge.
Quote:
You don't have to do Black Scorpion's arc to unlock his patron pool. It doesn't mater which patron's arc you do anymore, you get access to all 4 once you're done and respec.|
Originally Posted by warden_de_dios
IF you're gonna go after Scorpion Shield choose Black Scropion as you're patron its mostly Crey up to the point you unlock the Patron Pool, and get a free respec. You should try to get it done before level 44, Crey that spawn above level 45 can end up spawning nothing Crey wearing power armour that pack a lot more resistance then what the Creys wearing suit and ties have around level 42. There is a kill all in that arc that you should save a mission drop for.
|
I also had no difficulty doing BS's arc on my DP/NRG blaster, so I think that's a pretty good choice overall.
could anyone show me a fire/nrg or fire/mental build that caps to ranged?
and the main reason i was planning on s/l is because i planned to utilize the 3 melee attacks from nrg
Softcapping Ranged defense really isn't worth it on Blasters. You have to make huge compromises that lower your damage a lot. What is worth it is getting around 33% Ranged defense... it protects you quite well as is, and in tough situations one Luck softcaps you. And you can still have good damage and recharge at 33%.
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 SM123
could anyone show me a fire/nrg or fire/mental build that caps to ranged?
and the main reason i was planning on s/l is because i planned to utilize the 3 melee attacks from nrg |
You don't have to totally walk away from S/L defense, power boost gives you a chance to maximize either Scorpion Shield or Frozen Armour (cold mastery) with your blaps in ways other blaster can't. For 15 seconds Power Boost is going to increase the defense you get from powers by 75% (ish). So if you've got Frozen Armour 3 slotted for defense (FA will allow you to also slot the Res/Def unique) and you hit power boost you can hit 27% s/l defense. Add in manuveurs and CJ and you're hitting 30% S/L defense.
Power Boost works great when you have an armour that grants a large defense number. Getting 75% more defense out of CJ is kinda meh but 75% of those defense based blaster armours is around 8pts.
Put the rest of your IO efforts into ranged defense. Heres a partial build with a ton of leftover slots and powers left to be picked.
Here's the partial builds def numbers without Power Boost up
And with Power Boost up
I didn't take the time to slot any Posi Blasts in the AOEs so that recharge rate is going to go up. I left Aid Self in there, take a second to see how much you heal with PB up.
Code:
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here is my build
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Cold Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast
- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (11) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge
- (11) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance
- (13) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (13) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (17) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
- (17) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (19) Recharge Reduction IO
- (19) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (21) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (21) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (23) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (23) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (43) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
- (25) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
- (25) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
- (27) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (27) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (46) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Interrupt Reduction IO
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
- (31) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
- (31) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (31) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge
- (33) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
- (A) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Damage
- (33) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance
- (33) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Interrupt/Range
- (34) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Interrupt/Recharge
- (34) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (36) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (36) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (36) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
- (43) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (37) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (37) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (37) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (39) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
- (39) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Interrupt Reduction IO
- (39) Interrupt Reduction IO
- (40) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
- (40) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (48) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (40) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (42) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (42) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (42) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (43) Crushing Impact - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Empty
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Endurance Reduction IO
- (48) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (50) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 1: Brawl
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (46) Empty
- (50) Empty
- (50) Empty
the build i have is for a fire/energy blast, and it is softcapped to s/l defense. Does anyone believe this is necessary or even worth it? some people i have talked to say that "your just a blaster, slot of damage and recharge."
What are your opinions?