A lot of it depends on your playstyle and whether you intend on using IO sets or SOs etc.
Are you broke? Going for SOs only? Do you prefer to stay at range? Do you prefer to be at melee range and use your ranged attacks at point blank? A mixture of the 2?
Do you want to build for defense? If so what kind? Smashing/Lethal? Ranged?
Maximum recharge? Maximum damage? A lot depends on your play preferences.
-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
Think I'll poke my head in here. I was just fixing to ask the same question. I'm a 7 year vet that has only played melee toons. Like, the whole 7 years. So I was gonna ask for guidance on what I thought would be a good combo on a blaster that lives in melee. Maybe it will help spurn the OP in with some info. As for myself:
I have about 150-200mil in inf that I'm ready and willing to drop into this toon.
As far as play style, well, 7 years of melee, so I'll wind up blapping mostly by habit of being in melee.
Not intending to threadjack, just trying to help OP and get some of my own questions answered.
Willpower has more passive regen than Regen does. Who thought that was a good idea?
Can we get a fix for Energy Melee instead of more new sets?
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This is true, but as someone who has played all basic ATs and most blasters, each blaster primary/second combination has a different flavor. I adopt different playstyles based on the specific character.|
Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
A lot of it depends on your playstyle and whether you intend on using IO sets or SOs etc.
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With Fire/Energy I adopt the "attack incessantly with AoEs, Rain of Fire and Fire Breath, but knock back anything in melee range with Power Thrust or clobber it with a melee attack, killing everything as fast as possible" style. I normally stand on the ground, though I hover as necessary. I have considered increasing S/L defense, but with high recharge it simply doesn't seem necessary, especially on teams. I do have Force of Nature for when it gets really hairy, and Aid Self which helps speed up combats. This kind of a build is relatively cheap to make because it doesn't require expensive S/L defense sets. Decimation, Crushing Impact and Positron's Blast are the most exotic things I use in the build.
With Ice/Ice I use a hover-ranged style, using lots of holds and single-target attacks, plus Flash Freeze, Snow Storm, Shiver, Frost Breath and Ice Storm. It has just mediocre ranged defense. I tried a second build with a totally different style: soft-capped S/L defense, fighting in melee and using Ice Patch and Chilling Embrace. I just didn't like it, and it didn't seem any more robust.
With Psy/MM I went with a soft-capped S/L defense and Stealth, getting into melee range a lot in order to use Mind Probe, Drain Psyche and Psychic Shockwave.
If you don't have any experience playing blasters, I would suggest that you not make any expensive decisions now. Assume that you'll be respeccing the character after you figure out what you like. Slot with SOs or IOs, using a leveling build that sounds interesting to you.
Really, only you can tell what you like and what works for you. But you will first need to get some experience with blasters to make those decisions.
There are two main build types that work well with Fire/Energy:
1) Ranged hover Blaster - Use Boost Range plus Fire's very high damage to wipe out everything before it reaches you (or swat it away with Power Thrust). Focus on ranged defense and recharge, and maybe take Bone Smasher or Total Focus to smack down single targets that fly after you.
2) All out damage machine - Open up with an AoE barrage, then use Blaze and your high damage melee attacks to stun and then wipe out the survivors. Get plenty of recharge and either high ranged defense or high S/L defense plus moderate ranged (depending on what epic pool you want to use). You'll probably want Total Focus and bone Smasher, and maybe Stun too (to quickly stack stuns on a boss) and maybe even Energy Punch if you go the full Blapper route. Combat Jumping is handy since it gives you maneuverability plus immobilize protection (helps avoid getting stuck in place and swarmed). Acrobatics is also decent for the hold protection... it only blocks one hold but you'd be surprised how often that matters since many spawns only have one mob that uses holds.
Even if you go the ranged route it's not a bad idea to pick up Bone Smasher though, since it is a very nice attack and you don't really need a melee focused build to handle melee with one target. Just don't stand (or hover) still long enough for several enemies to get in on you.
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
Just a quick note on a single power: I consider Boost Range mandatory on a Fire/EM blaster. It can easily be made perma. The primary benefit is for two powers. First, Fire Breath. The longer that cone is, the wider the base is. So Boost Range really opens it up and makes it easier to hit an entire spawn. Second is Blaze. That attack hits like a truck but has quite short range. Boost Range gives it more tactical flexibility.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
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I would agree in most cases. If you soft cap S/L defense and play in close range it's not as important though.
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Originally Posted by Sardan
Just a quick note on a single power: I consider Boost Range mandatory on a Fire/EM blaster. It can easily be made perma. The primary benefit is for two powers. First, Fire Breath. The longer that cone is, the wider the base is. So Boost Range really opens it up and makes it easier to hit an entire spawn. Second is Blaze. That attack hits like a truck but has quite short range. Boost Range gives it more tactical flexibility.
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-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
Can anyone help me with a build for a fire/energy blaster.I have no clue what they should have or use,please help!!