NRG/NRG/FF: Defense and KB protection.

Hello all.

I have a major addiction to scrappers but I'd like to get back into blasting for a bit. I need a melee break.

I've had an NRG blaster sitting at lvl 30 for almost a year now and I think it's time to dust him off and get him back into the game.

I really just want to focus on being a ranged beast that can drop enemies before they have a chance to get in melee range so I'm not concerned with blapping at all. My concern is what kind of defense to build for. I looked through various threads and the opinions seemed to favor building for ranged def (which makes sense to me) but some argue against it.

I'm also conerned with KB. Not sure it I should take acrobatics or if I should just take tough and slot it with a steadfast and kb protection...which would also give me a little end recov boost I think. Although, I'm wondering if I should even take tough and/or weave at all. I saw another thread about this but I didn't walk away with a solid answer.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!





Help!

Here's a quick build I threw together. How far off the mark am I?

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Quantum Being B: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Energy Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Power Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mako-Dam%(7)
Level 2: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 4: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(45), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(45), GSFC-Build%(46)
Level 6: Energy Punch -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(9), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Dam%(13)
Level 8: Energy Torrent -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(29), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Posi-Dam%(31), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 10: Power Burst -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(31), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 12: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Bone Smasher -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(17), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Mako-Dam%(21)
Level 18: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 22: Sniper Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Decim-Build%(50)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 26: Explosive Blast -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dam%(36), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(36)
Level 35: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(37), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(39), RedFtn-EndRdx(39)
Level 38: Stimulant -- IntRdx-I(A)
Level 41: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(43), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Dct'dW-Heal(43)
Level 44: Personal Force Field -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Nova -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(40), Mrcl-Heal(42), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(42), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(45)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(39), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40)

My main does more or less what you're looking for, I think, but with a different epic. Also no fighting pool. At 50, I've got a ranged defense of about 30, and I can solo comfortably at +2/x2 and don't have problems on TFs. In fact, I picked up Recall Friend and Resuscitate just because I usually seem to be alive when others aren't, when things go wrong. Concentrated aoe fire will bring her down, and flying melee bosses can be annoying, but overall she's fairly hard to kill for a blaster.

I don't have Mids, so I can't give you a build, but I can outline the important powers and the slottings. Some of these things work together to make it all work. It's pretty range-focused, as I took all nine of the primary and six-slotted everything but Aim, and took only Build Up, Power Boost and Boost Range from the secondary. Mostly I don't like using slots for set mules, though in this case both Health and Power Push have more slots than they'd otherwise get.

Single-target attacks: I took all five of these, six-slotted with Thunderstrike. Loads of ranged defense, acc, flight speed.

Energy Torrent, Explosive Blast: acc/2 rech/3 dam/range hamis. No set bonuses, but max range and damage, decent recharge. These keep the mobs at bay.
Boost Range: 3 recharge, perma, auto-fire. This is a core power.
Power Boost: 2 recharge, used before Aid Self.

Fitness: six Numina in Health for the ranged def and the bonus recovery. Four Perf Shifters in Stamina.

Travel: Some BotZ in Hover and TP (with all this range, it's good for really hauling it across IP, but otherwise I just use Fly) for more defense. Also a -kb in Fly. And a stealth in CJ.

Medicine: Aid Self gets two interrupts and four frankenslotted for max heal and recharge. All the kb gives me plenty of time for this to go off, and I get just over half my health back if I use Power Boost first. Move speed from Thunderstrike and pairs of Gaussian in Aim/Buildup means I can always duck around a corner, too.

Epic: I tried the force epic and dropped it for fire. I find PFF and Repulsion Field to be inferior for my purposes to Bonfire and Aid Self. If your concept demands force, that's different; otherwise I'd consider trying fire.
Fire Shield: Steadfast +def.
Bonfire: max recharge. I used Force Feedback for the move speed bonus. This power is a cornerstone of the build. I put Bonfire down between me and the mobs, then open with aim/buildup/snipe, then quickly follow with Explosive Blast and Energy Torrent. All the knockback works more or less together, not by stacking but by repeatedly shoving things mostly away from me. Also makes it harder for most mobs to chase me if I need to retreat.
Rise of the Phoenix: I five-slot this with her only purple set, the stun. Gives me plenty of time to heal up, maybe revive someone else, leave the area, etc. I particularly like that on top of being hard to kill, there are repercussions if they manage it. It could be argued that taking Fighting and using these slots in Tough and Weave instead would be preferable, but this way is more fun.

You could squeeze more ranged defense out of a force epic build if you slotted PFF with Red Fortune. Same with Weave. I thought about it, but in the end Bonfire and having a quick reliable self-heal that doesn't need insps was too much fun to give up.

My range soft-capped nrg/nrg just threw a Karma -KB in hover. Works well enough. If I were going into melee a lot for blapping I'd probably grab a second one.