Does ICE/NRG Still Rock?

Ice/Nrg blaster from WAY WAY back in the day (I even wrote a guide that's, apparently, still in existence). I was curious, in the years I've been away, is ICE/NRG still the bada**, single target damage powerset that it was back when I played?

And how does it do in PVP?

I'm curious because I'm considering re-created Black December (still the favorite of all the characters I created) and leveling him up all over from scratch.

Fire is stronger ST target and AOE. Ice is of course safer. I think the game has evolved into a much more AOE oriented style of play. Solo its a great set, teamed, you may at times feel like you are not contributing as much as others. Single target of course has its place, but less than before I feel. Its still a great set, but probably overshadowed by others, except for solo play on a low players setting, which it will still excel at.

PVP, shruggs, didnt know COX had PvP. smile.

If you aren't having fun at a computer game then you are doing it wrong. If you had enough fun with a build before and want to roll it again, knock yourself out. Personally speaking, I kind of like hitting Aim + BU and wrecking some boss's world.

I've got some good news and surprisingly, considering that it's a BLASTER powerset combo we're talking about, I've also got some bad news.

The good news is, that, if you're looking to make a single target ranged assassin, Ice/Energy is still among the best builds for it. Boost ranged and power boosted holds followed by Built up and Aimed blasts will still carve through enemy HP in style.

I don't remember the last time I saw you kicking around the forums, but I DO remember that it was your posting that sold me on the combo, and that was way back in the day, so, just to be safe, I'm going to go over everything that ever happened to the power combo, and you can hit me with a power boosted total focus for your trouble.

The bad news is, depending on when you quit the game, Ice might not be as zippy as you remember it being. Bitter Ice Blast and Ice Bolt remain as good as ever, with their short 1 second activation times. Ice Blast on the other hand, now takes 1.66 seconds to activate, making that power signifigantly more sluggish than it originally was. It was part of a universal "Normalizing" of Tier 1 and 2 attacks that came packaged with the final draft of our "defiance" inherent power, so Ice wasn't alone in suffering this blow, and for some sets, the change to 1 and 1.66 activations for the first 2 powers constituted a signifigant buff (Elec and Energy come to mind). This ended up being the price of being able to use these powers while mezzed, and getting a damage buff from every damaging attack we use, so it's hard to quantify how much of a "loss" it was.

Since this normalization specifically ignored Tier 3 attacks, Bitter Ice blast still gives Ice a particular kind of edge over other non-fire primaries, being not only one of the quickest animating tier-3s, but also second only to Fire in damage and having the best range and a nice package of defensive secondary effects rolled into it.

The other bad news is that Total Focus is no longer sufficient to stun a boss on it's own, it's stun magnitude was reduced to 3. The worthiness of this power is incredibly suspect for a blaster, because it still has it's overdramatic 3 second animation, making it a signifigant opportunity cost to use for signifigantly less benefit. Oh well, times change, powers change. At least it still hits like a truck?

Speaking of powers changing, it's not ALL bad news. Ice storm and Blizzard inherit buffs from the caster. Power Boost does just unholy things to the slows in both, and to the to-hit-debuffs in Blizzard. I suppose Build-up and Aim are kind of nice in them too, but, really, since they also inherit the remaining duration of the buff, you're not getting quite as much mileage out of the damage buffs as someone using a more traditional nuke, and you end up playing goofy timing games on how to order your power activations, since if you Power Boost, Build Up, Aim, Ice Storm, Blizzard, you're eating up damage buff duration with power activations. But if you lead with Power-Boost and Ice storm, the enemies are scattering more before your Blizzard drops. The tough decisions we face, can't we just kill em all and let god sort em out? Too much fiddling and finagling in the art of destruction.

Um, I can't really think of anything else. If you quit before invention origin enhancements existed, you'll be pleasantly surprised at what a recharge geared build will do for closing up the gaps in your attack chain, and considering that both powersets have quick animating hard-hitting attacks on long timers, there's a lot to be gained there.

All in all, I'd say that if you enjoyed the blaster in Issue 1, you'll enjoy it now. AOEing has always been "king", I wouldn't say it's more the case now than it's ever been. Ice/Energy's particular brand of holding what it aggroes and having the option to maintain a low aggro profile certainly makes it a self sufficient death dealer, just as it's always been. And for those situations that call for it, Frost Breath and Ice storm, especially backed by Power boost, are fairly competent AOE's.

Thanks for the great, detailed response Teeto!

AOE was king way back when I played, too, which is why I chose to zag while everyone else was zigging and create a very focused single target damage character. Blasting minions is great but you still gotta have someone on your team who can deliver the BIG HURT to the lieutenants and bosses.

It sounds like, from your post, that Blizzard is now worth taking for its improved slow effects? It was always a pretty useless power back when I played and I believe my (now outdated) guide advised against taking it.

What I'd LIKE to do is build a new ice/nrg blaster from the ground up, level him to 50 and then do an updated Issue 21 version of guide. That's the plan at any rate. But I have a LOT to learn first.

Some general comments:

- All Blaster 1/2 attacks were standardized at 1 / 1.67 second activation times. This did a number of Ice's single target damage vs. its original state.

- All 20' attacks (i.e., Blaze!) were increased in range to 40', which cut into Ice's advantage with Bitter Ice Blast at 50'.

- So ... while Ice was the king historically, maybe not as much today.

- Bonesmasher still rocks the house ... Total Focus now no longer does a boss level stun, so that was a hit, unfortunately (but I think your guide didn't recommend Total Focus anyway).

- Hovering (you used to recommend 6 slotting) took a hit with Enhancement Diversification, but is now a bit better thanks to swift impacting Hover now.

Hmmmm, those are the key things I think were pertinent to your guide, which was awesome at the time

My main two blasters are and Ice/ice and a Fire/ Nrg. Ice is still awesome especially if you intend to solo. On a team nothing can crank out raw damage like fire. Take rain of fire though becase the scatter can save you if you draw too much aggro.

I was supprised at your comments on blizzard. It is probably the best nuke in the game now. When it is up I consider it an auto win. Build up, ice storm, blizzard wipes out most rooms. stand where they can't see you to alpha strike. Hold and finish off anything that survives. you will need a blue or two against rtough opponents.

The old blastard philosophy still works well. Hit em hard with little chance to hit back. If it goes badly run away untill you can come back and do it again.

Ohh wone more thing you might not have heard. Blasters can use their tier 1&2 blasts and tier 1 secondary while mezzed now.

Mental manipulation is a new secondary that is worth taking a look at as well.

Completely unrelated to the thread, that's an awesom pic Oliin. Saved.