Blasters are indeed amazing, and Archery has a special place in the hearts of many a ranged damage dealer due to Rain of Arrows. Pro tip: Snag Boost Range and hit enemies from so far back that they won't be able to retaliate with their own ranged attacks!
Personally, I enjoyed playing my Sonic/MM/Elec, Fire/MM/Mace , and Dark/Dark/Elec (only lv 37) blasters immensely. I've also recently started up a Beam/Energy Blaster who, at level 17, is already a whole lot fun when it comes to wreaking havoc on enemy HP.
My Sonic/MM/Elec blaster mostly used Siren's Song and ST blasts to cruise or stealth through missions, and chained Psychic Scream, Static Discharge, and Howl into an AoE cone COMBO that would be paused at any minute for a refill on Drain Psyche by MORE application of Siren's Song. It's a solo player's dream blaster.
Fire/MM/Mace would throw Spiderlings into a large group to get their attention, and then use Aim and Concentration before hammering the group with Fire and Psychic Damage. This build works best in or near melee to take advantage of Psychic Shockwave and other powers.
Dark/Dark Blasters are PUNCHY! I find myself constantly blowing enemies into walls with Umbral Torrent, locking them in place with Tenebrous Tendrils, popping off Soul Drain as they begin to STAND, and then eliminate them with powers like Shadow Maul, Smite, and your ranged hits. I find it in melee a good part of the time and finally grabbed the elec APP while leveling simply for the access to another Hold.
Beam/Energy is an extremely simple blaster to play. Disintegration is what makes it worth PLAYING, however. Keeping this toon at max range and laying down a hammer of pain is easy, and Power Thrust keeps single enemies from getting too close. I use hover for mine to keep him above or away from melee. After getting Boost Range, though, I plan on him being a full-on human mobile artillery unit. Hover, boom, hover, boom, and then retire.
Too many alts to list.
I kind of ruined myself for the other AT's by starting out with Blasters...
Nothing else compares to the rush of living on the edge. So much power at your command, yet if used without caution, you'll be paste. I like the active playstyle of Blasters, using tactics, utilizing LoS, soloing Blasters takes strategy.
Much more rewarding than turning on your toggles and mindlessly clicking attacks, to me at least.
I went with Arch/Mental for that extra bit of AoE goodness! 
Though, my favorite Blaster for dealing out massive carnage would be
Fire/Ice - You get the wonderful AoE's of Fire with the added mitigation from Ice Patch and Shiver. Properly slotted shiver will keep Bosses from moving faster than a snail, easy pickings!
Maestro Mavius - Infinity
Capt. Biohazrd - PCSAR
Talsor Tech - Talsorian Guard
Keep Calm & Chive On!
The thing that I really like about Archery is that the set feels so crisp.
The animations are clean and quick. They aren't flashy, but it isn't a huge deal.
Now my next problem is to figure out how I want to build him come 50...
Do I go the soft capped ranged defense route?
Do I go full on damage?
One thing is certain, I'm definitely taking Assault, Tactics, and Maneuvers. Even though the Blaster numbers are a bit anemic, providing 10.5% Damage, 3ish% Defense, and 8-10% To Hit across 8 people is an enormous amount of survivability and damage.
As a tangent to that, I actually had a pair of friends start some characters with me a few years back. The only rule we had was that all of us take all leadership powers as soon as we could. Even though we were somewhat weak on our own, together we were monsters!
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Some people are ranged defense zealots, others, like me, are recharge and RotP zealots. To die is a nuke, why have defenses? And by full on damage, you should always get your damage into the 90s, and rech at least into the 60s. You'll have to take some concealment to get all 5 LotG 7.5%s, take the epic hold as a mule for four Basiliks, slot posi and decimation, etc. Though if you're only playing end game content, make sure you don't get a massive overlap if/when you get your Spiritual Alpha on.|
Originally Posted by JLane
Do I go the soft capped ranged defense route?
Do I go full on damage? |
Re: How to play at 50
By that point, you'll know how.
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I couldn't have put it better myself |
Originally Posted by JLane
With my blaster, I felt like I was a chainsaw, wielded by a bear, riding a shark...the mayhem was so intoxicating!
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A mixture of both tends to be better than only one or the other. Try to get ~32.5 ranged def and permahasten (range softcapped and permahasten would be best, but I find it tough to build for).
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Originally Posted by JLane
Do I go the soft capped ranged defense route?
Do I go full on damage? |
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Ditto. Making a Blaster as my first toon was the best/worst decision ever. Everything else either feels too weak or too easy.|
Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
I kind of ruined myself for the other AT's by starting out with Blasters...
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I completely agree with you, JLane. Firing off Rain of Arrows every 30 seconds, and cleaning up any stragglers with Fistful of Arrows and Explosive Arrow is nothing short of awesome. Fair warning though, your teammates might get a little indignant once they realize that they are just along for the ride
Archery is one of those sets that sounds simple and possibly somewhat boring on the outside, but in reality is awesome. You get 3 fantastic AoE attacks, 3 ST attacks, a snipe, Aim, and strong mitigation tool in Stunning Shot. All of that comes with fast, simple animations, and better-than-average accuracy on every attack. Now, if we can just get them to release a quiver as a back option...
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
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I would probably pay $20 if they released a cool selection of different quivers...|
Originally Posted by Winterminal
Ditto. Making a Blaster as my first toon was the best/worst decision ever. Everything else either feels too weak or too easy.
I completely agree with you, JLane. Firing off Rain of Arrows every 30 seconds, and cleaning up any stragglers with Fistful of Arrows and Explosive Arrow is nothing short of awesome. Fair warning though, your teammates might get a little indignant once they realize that they are just along for the ride Archery is one of those sets that sounds simple and possibly somewhat boring on the outside, but in reality is awesome. You get 3 fantastic AoE attacks, 3 ST attacks, a snipe, Aim, and strong mitigation tool in Stunning Shot. All of that comes with fast, simple animations, and better-than-average accuracy on every attack. Now, if we can just get them to release a quiver as a back option... |
Also, the accuracy bonus is a huge draw for me. I hate missing attacks, and being able to consistently hit +6s while teaming is great.
Let me begin by saying that I recently resubscribed for Freedom.
I had been going back and forth...trying to decide what to play. I alternated between a few scrappers, my kheldian, and my blaster. I just couldn't decide...
Tonight, I decided to try my hand at my newly dinged 32 Archery / Energy Blaster by joining an 8 man mission team...and...wow!
Build up > Aim > RoA > Fistful of Arrows > Exploding Arrow is insane! That has to be the most carnage I have every created in the entire time I have played! Normally, I play Scrappers, and I always felt like a scalpel...surgically removing enormous threats quickly and neatly. With my blaster, I felt like I was a chainsaw, wielded by a bear, riding a shark...the mayhem was so intoxicating!
Anyway, that long post was basically saying, "Why didn't you jerks tell me about bladders earlier!?". Seriously, that was a blast! (Yeah, I went there)