I did this on my Fire/EM Blaster once the Alpha slot came out. Having that extra reach from the Cardiac boost to stack with Boost Range and a bit of range slotting in some key powers makes a big difference. Fire Breath became totally insane - it's easy to fit an entire spawn into the cone width, now. I also find it's quite effective on the new Incarnate Trials - +3 IDF can rip me apart in no time at all, and being able to throw Fire Blast, Flares, and Blaze from far away means I can take out Containment Pods/Weapons Crates with relative speed and from a position of relative safety while a melee type keeps the small spawn busy. When we move on, I can drop aggro very quickly.
I quite enjoy it, to the point where I don't know if I could really get into a Blaster that didn't have access to Boost Range. I feel like EM has spoiled me.
Enjoy, OP!
The Ballad of Iron Percy
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You heard it here first folks. Angry Badger Arrow in CoX 2!!!!!
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Originally Posted by Jadriam
...what with a bomb or glue or angry badger or whatnot stuck on it.
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Le Blanc 50 Dark/Dark Scrap
High Huntress 50 Archery/NRG Blast
And a goatload of others. On a goatload of servers.
Official Rickroller of Hero Con 1
Long term and Incarnates question.
I decided instead of starting something new, I would jump back into my Nrg/Nrg blaster and try and breath some new life into him. So I respecced him for range, very similar to OP, lots of utility powers, Medicine pool, Hover, Stealth, Teleport.
I love the range, but have given up alot of global acc, recharge and all the regen he was built for when the sets first came out. I kinda miss some of those perks, but I have to admit the range is really fun. Do any of you long rangers spend alot of time on these toons, or is it more a novelty and then play something more mainstream? My other option was going ranged defense, which I had a build for. Easier to gain some other bonuses going that way.
What incarnates work best with ranged builds? I was trying to figure out what I could skimp on, and make up for in the alpha slot. With damage being taken care of with the dam/range Ho, its harder to mix and match end red, acc, and recharge.
Im also just back, so aside from the basic alpha stuff, I have no idea what the other slots will help me do with this type of build.
Any insight?
Please don't try to bring the real world into the game. Otherwise my AR Blaster will cry when he shoots targets closer than 600 yds...
"Comics, you're not a Mastermind...you're an Overlord!"
Hmmm, looking at the alpha sets, maybe I should go ranged defense, and use the alpha to boost the range along with offsetting the extra toggle costs. Along with boost range, it will be 60% increase in range.
So I can have about double range, and nothing else really, or Close to soft capped range defense, better accuracy and some other bonuses and about 60% range increase.
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AR/EM, Psi/EM, and DP/EM -- they all do pretty much exactly that at the pavilion. Particularly with the Psi/EM and laughing when the Minotaurs and Cyclopes kick off Unstoppable, and my damage stays in three digits while everyone else's tanks, pumping Psychic Tornado the width of the pavilion.
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Originally Posted by Katten
Ha, yea my archer and AR are both range boosted, I've found one of the most satisfying things to do is, on the ITF in the first mission, stand on top of the ring at the end of the mis. From there it's just twang,twang,twang cycle through all your attacks while cycling targets. You can hit anyone in the entire ring from above, while your team fights below feels very old school archer.
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"But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses."
-- Bruce Leverett, Register Allocation in Optimizing Compilers
Hehe. just wanted to drop the original build in, so I don't re-check it with any regularity. Or at all, pretty much. 
That said...
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I can't help on everything here, but as far as incarnate stuff goes, I'm again just going for range, with the idea that the character is a high-tech archer. The best judgement at this point is ionic, because it could be construed as a gadgety tech blast, but I'm none too excited about it. Very few options for a natural archer. I know anything could be construed as created by a gadget, but..eh, I'll cope. Interface is more promising, but I did go boring. reactive, DoT. I can lower the lethal resistance, and add fire where there was only lethal. Plus, shooting fire arrows is not weird, actually. Lore? Robots, as she does use gadgets. Destiny? Ooohh, yes. Clarion gives +range. Yes, I'm a sucker for it, but hey, why not. The radial tier 4 is +10% range at all times, peaking at a whopping +80% range. That's right kids, ~133% range pops up to ~213.% Haven't got to tier 4 yet, but it is tantalizing to think of. Besides this, it gives me mez protection. I get my cake, and devour it with satisfaction.|
Originally Posted by TrainRobber
Long term and Incarnates question.
I decided instead of starting something new, I would jump back into my Nrg/Nrg blaster and try and breath some new life into him. So I respecced him for range, very similar to OP, lots of utility powers, Medicine pool, Hover, Stealth, Teleport. I love the range, but have given up alot of global acc, recharge and all the regen he was built for when the sets first came out. I kinda miss some of those perks, but I have to admit the range is really fun. Do any of you long rangers spend alot of time on these toons, or is it more a novelty and then play something more mainstream? My other option was going ranged defense, which I had a build for. Easier to gain some other bonuses going that way. What incarnates work best with ranged builds? I was trying to figure out what I could skimp on, and make up for in the alpha slot. With damage being taken care of with the dam/range Ho, its harder to mix and match end red, acc, and recharge. Im also just back, so aside from the basic alpha stuff, I have no idea what the other slots will help me do with this type of build. Any insight? |
With spare stuff, I might go with gravitic for the interface. Maximum range with -speed means I have more time to pepper them with pointy things.
As per the accuracy/recharge? my build has a decent amount franken-slotted, but part of that is archery's accuracy bonus speaking, I'm sure. Of course, I also run with groups with tactics and plenty of buffs running, so my build gets a lot of help in areas a soloist won't. If you can work in tactics and a few more spots for a luck of the gambler +recharge, that might help. For the end/acc/recharge, look to secondary effect sets. As energy, there might be some KB sets you could use. That or the javelin PvP sets that I used, but buyer be careful there. ($$$+patience needed)
The plus with the range is the trials end in open air, so with hover defense becomes almost pointless. You can target non-flying foes and pepper them from on high without much return fire. (Since they have trouble reaching) Just be careful where you use cones, those can become aggro magnets with range. I'm not a huge expert on this, and this is just one of my many incarnates that's been worked on amidst a busy life, so take that for what it's worth.
Delightful idea, making a blaster who can shoot from maximum rage.
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Also, the reduced range on some arrows could possibly be handwaved as the arrow having a different balance, what with a bomb or glue or angry badger or whatnot stuck on it. It's an excuse, I know, but there's gotta be some technobabble to patch glaring plotholes. It;s almost mandatory in super-fiction.
More on point, max or near-max range is delicious and I had to stop because it made all my other blasts feel like they were practically melee range.