Dual Pistols--help me like them!

Like everyone else, I was excited for Dual Pistols was announced. Boy, have I lost enthusiasm. I had a DP corruptor that I deleted (and I NEVER delete toons) and I have a DP blaster that I pushed to get to 35, and he has sat ever since.

It's not that I think it is a terrible set, but I just wonder why I would play him. Animation is slow (flashy, but slow). I don't feel like I do all that damage (could just be me, I am not backing it up with numbers), but comparing my DP to so many other sets, it seems that I am underpowered.

So what are the reasons that you have enjoyed DP? Help me see the light!

I don't dig it either. I'm not of the Gungrave demographic and think it's just plain dorky and you have to keep to the fire ammo to help from being gimped.

Can't help you like them, as I feel you're on track.

Irish should show up to pontificate their virtues soon.

While super powers are great, there is a lot to be said for shooting bad guys (or good guys) in the face with a gun. I know DP is considered a weak set, but my all dual pistols super team would beg to differ. We have gone guns a-blazin' through all six Freedom Phalanx TFs, the ITF, and the new Admiral Sutter TF with very few problems.

I am not a numbers guy, so I can't convince you with math that dual pistols is a great set, but I can extend you an invitation to join us on dual pistols night and watch the chaos and the carnage unfold.

With any powerset that gives you the option, I will always recommend rolling a corruptor (see signature). My dualie is a DP/Kin blue side corruptor currently at level 41, and I can easily solo +2x4. Fulcrum shift+hail of bullets+scourge=crazy awesome.

If your dualie is on Freedom, please join us for this week's DP TF. Click the link in my sig for details.

I'm not implying that there is a DPS issue with DP, it's just that I think you get 20% more oomph by sticking to fire ammo with it's DOT.

Superteams totally rock. Though we ran into an oddity last week with a team of seven fire/rad controllers. Though we blaze through everything with 8x AM [on a full team] the end of Sutter just plain could not be done with the AT.

But I highly reccomend, if you like something, don't listen to what others say. I deeply regret deleting my claws/electric scrapper after the AT got bashed harshly in several threads. But, then again, I've had people tell me that not only that, but a MA/Inv is the wost scrapper.

Recently here, my AR/Dev got the following [paraphrased]: "There's no reason for anyone to have an AR/Dev they've taken to 50 unless they've had it from the beginning [of CoH] or has some sentimental attachment to it."

But, yeah, the only reason I don't do DP is the Gungraveness of it. I'd prefer a little more Secret Agent or Punisher style.

For myself, I like the effect of Empty Clips -> Bullet Rain -> Empty Clips with Fire Ammo on a large tightly packed mob, solo or otherwise. It's true I may not get to finish that chain if I'm playing with others, but I'm ok with that as I feel I've contributed to making it possible.

Are you using Fiery Ammo? Get that ASAP and it will make a world of difference for damage. I listened to someone that told me I could put it off, and immediately regretted it when I picked up Swap Ammo at 24... it would have made Praetoria far easier (not that it was hard... I just would have mowed through things a lot quicker).

Blasters want to drop stuff NOW, so anything that helps with that is a good idea. Fire Ammo + Build Up + HoB means all or nearly all even con minions or lieuts are dead, and the couple that get lucky are dropped by Bullet Rain. Fun stuff.

I'd post more, but I am out of time. It's a great set and lots of fun to watch, to my mind.

It's AMAZING for Corruptorrs and Defenders.

I agree with the fact that the animation is WAAAAY too slow. If you push to 50 however, a rare reactive makes your AoEs very powerful since they are all multiple tick powers.

My level 50 just hit level 53 last night. I am able to solo a full Lamba spawn without issue now, I was also able to solo (with insps) a lambda gun (at level 51), I can run like a brute during the crate smashing phase solo and take out crates (and most of the mob around them).

If you want the best damage single or AOE pick a fire/* blaster. Blaze and fireball are just that good. If you want something close but dont want to be a fire blaster, DP is an excellent alternative. The major bonus that DP gets over fire is the crashless nuke that with enough recharge is up every other mob (~35 sec).

Swap ammo is required. Once you get it click fire ammo and always make sure its on. Blasters are so much better at HP debuff that anything else just doesnt seem to work out for us.

For your secondary /MM is highly recomended. Its a newer set and therefore cleans up the junk blasters dont need, and includes things like Drain Psy, that blasters love. This allows you to go with the damage alpha or the recharge alpha instead of the endurance alpha.

Once you get T3 clarion, and reactive with 25% res, 50% DOT, you become a monster damage dealer single target or AOE.

My next step is to take my DP/MM to the ambush fire farm and see how he does. I expect mass death(hopefully not mine!) and alot of tickets.

So to sum up... DP has good single target and AOE damage with fire ammo, but it also has a fast recharge crashless nuke. With IOes, purples and incarnate powers you can become a machine of pure destruction.

DP is underpowered. But that shouldn't be a deal-breaker for you. City of Heroes is not the kind of game where you have to play the "best" class build and equipment setup to succeed.

1) Try updating your bio and costume

If you play City of Heroes, whether you admit it or not, deep down inside you want your character to look good. Sometimes all it takes is a quick makeover to reignite interest.

2) Don't use Swap Ammo as it was intended

Instead of Aim, the devs attempted to make a set of toggles that switched between equally good modes. They failed. Treat Swap Ammo as a "suck" / "don't suck" button, because that's what it functionally is. Fire ammo all the time.

3) Embrace your secondary

Taken together, blaster secondaries are some of the most redundant and useless sets in the game. But individually, certain secondary powers can be very useful, especially if you're playing a weak primary. Case in point: My level 2X psi/mm blaster has exactly two primary powers (one is Aim), and just about all his secondaries so far. Sometimes putting your build in a mirror and looking at your secondary as though it were your primary can open up a more interesting blaster playstyle.

Good things about Dual Pistols:

- Awesome animations (if you like over the top gun fu)

- Variable secondary effects can be nice on Defenders and Corruptors

- Really cool, hard hitting crashless nuke


Bad things about Dual Pistols:

- Horrible animations (if you hate over the top gun fu and want realistic shooting)

- long animations make it harder to hit and run

- a few percent below average in DPS (about 5% below Energy Blast, which is probably the most "average" set)

- Secondary effects are so weak on Blasters that only fire or standard ammo (for the knockdown) are really useful

- Crashless nuke is dangerous (long animating PBAoE) and recharges half as fast as other crashless nukes


Overall I consider the set about average for Defenders and Corruptors and somewhat below average for Blasters unless you have high recharge, in which case you can use Hail of Bullets often enough to turn it into a good AoE set (though even with perma-Hasten it's basically an every other spawn power unless you're taking 30+ seconds a spawn). That doesn't mean it's not worth playing if you like the animations, it just means you'll notice other Blasters outperforming you. But they won't look as cool doing it...

He's Dual Pistols.

She's Dual Pistols.

Wouldn't you like to be Dual Pistols too?

Switch from fire to toxic on AVs? Or is it ice?

You may try out DP/EM, one of the things I love about this combo is that I'm really just focused on DP/.

It's not top damage, but it's not the worst damage either. It's just a fun set This isn't to say don't try to eek out every last bit of damage though

Mephe is exactly right. Dual pistols is "the other aoe set," i.e. the one that isn't fire. Bullet rain and empty clips don't have the DPA of fireball and fire breath but fire doesn't get anything comparable to hail of bullets or piercing rounds either so it is mainly a stylistic choice. That said, what set says style like dual pistols? None of them. Unless you hate its style, in which case fire is clearly better for you.

I'm with BrandX on the secondary, though. MM is obviously great but I think EM is approximately as good for DP. Little redraw, early build up, and drain psyche is hard to top but conserve power gives you basically the same infinite font of endurance, just without the regen, the debuff, or having to snuggle up to some enemies to fire it off. Plus boost range is fun and unique. Those are all of the powers you need from the set, freeing up oodles of leeway for pools and such.

I have always wanted a high lvl Pistollero, but never stick with one. I have two in the works now, a Devices and now an ELM. I like caltrops, and am using Cloak and Smoke Grenade. The reason I started the Electric melee is that devices at this lvl, really seems to have no way to handle bosses well. Much like my Arch/Dev. Im thinking the holds may help, along with a hard hitting melee attack, since they usually get to me anyway. I dont want to hover blast with pistols, so my usual tactics of my NRG/NRG are out.

Fire looked tempting, but Electric fit my character better, and is a little more rare. I wish Lighting field was more like Hot Feet though.