Beam/Devices? or Beam/Energy? or Beam/???

When I blast I like to stay at range. Hoverblasting is an addiction. I also loathe the tier 9 crash, and I have problems running any powerset that has a tier 9 crash. (I make an exception for Invul armor, but still complain about it regularly, and don't take the power)

So, that leaves AR and Beam for crashless 9s. I have ran AR quite a bit before, and it's fun. Gotta say from what little I've done on Beam, it's funner! (The Overcharge really is crashless, right?)

I've done AR/Devices, and AR/Energy. In some ways energy seems more powerful, but I love a theme, and AR/Devices and Beam/Devices go well together in my mind. Is there any reason I should not go Beam/Devices, or is Energy's "Power Boost" god mode for Beam? or is there another secondary that just goes with it like bread and butter?

Well first, for crashless nukes, do not forget about Dual Pistols and Archery (Rain of Arrows is phenomenal). But that's off topic...

Devices has a few fantastic powers, but the rest are pretty meh. Caltrops, Smoke Grenade, Cloaking Device, and Targeting Drone are all great, and come early. Heck, Caltrops taken and slotted early + Targeting Drone will probably aid Disintegration nicely. But the rest of the power set is mostly not worth taking (Trip Mine is for some, not for others). Also, you miss out on Build Up. You can work around it, but that power is so joyous.

Energy is a great set because of all the clicks. And true enough, Boost Range makes Disintegrate + Penetrating Ray (100% chance for Disintegration Spread) a very deadly and effective combo. Plus "Energy" also works conceptually with the energy-based nature of Beam Rifle.

Most of the rest of the secondaries tend to be a bit heavy on the close-range powers, which you probably want to avoid (since you like playing range) but they will all have some good utility powers that will serve you, besides the ST immobilization and Build Up. However, I'd say either of your first two choices will be worthwhile.

I'm with winter on this.

I have an AR Device which is a great toon can solo many 4/8 missions and AE farms. Matter of fact just today I learned about slicing corners with Caltrops, which allows for less of an on rush of mobs.

But nonetheless I find no reason to pick up Device in today's game.

With Energy Manipulation you can have range cap, hover and Aid Self. Aid Self alone is extremely helpful.

I do have a issue with winters post though. I think he meant Power boost and not boost range on his spread disintegrate comment. Unless there is something I failed to understand about what boost range does, which is completely possible.

I have a Beam EM toon I am working on and I was just trying to go over the numbers again trying to tweak some stuff, but couldn't get anything else out of it, beyond putting purples in it.

There are just some sets that work well with some powers. Energy Manipulation is one of them. Traps is another. Similar to Traps allowing you to defense cap any toon that uses it. The same for an EM build. It allows range cap hover with aid self.

Your literally killing stuff before it can even get into range.

I wouldn't "Gimp" myself intentionally for the sake of having more of a challenge. As I mentioned, yes I can solo 4/8 with AR Device but I can do it much better, easier and faster with my Archery EM build.

Beam already has the issue of making sure you get Disintegrate going why would I want a secondary that is just as busy or busier.

I've been playing with both Beam/Dev and Beam/Energy in Mids. There is no doubt that boost range brings a lot to the table. I've got an AR/Energy that is amazing because of the synergy between Boost Range and the cone attacks. The Energy attacks on that build are key to bringing down heavy targets.

Beam doesn't need the melee attacks and doesn't have the breadth of cones. As mentioned Boost Range helps dramatically with Disintegrate.

Devices brings the ability to soft cap Smashing, Lethal, Energy, Negative and Ranged damage when used in conjunction with Smoke Grenade. Additionally you can get 5 useful defense powers for LoTG +recharge IOs. Note that Energy can get you to the softcap for 15 seconds with boost power so protects you from the alpha.

I'm a bit annoyed that I was short sighted on this one, especially when I have a level 28 beam EM I might have to delete and redo.

Another odd thing I sort of learned is slicing a corner with caltrops which cut down immensely on the aggro.

EDIT:

I misunderstood how Afterburner works. At first I thought it was a timed power then I seen it was a toggle. But once I read it more carefully ( GD I am screwing this stuff up ) I noticed its like PFF in the sense you can only use powers that effect yourself. So I guess you could attack and then activate it to get increased defenses for the pull. But that is silly. It doesn't matter that much but it does make some difference.

After readdressing all this I can say I can go either way. Both are not bad builds. the 273% regenerations really is nice on Device. I think the Device build might be 250 points shy of Blaster hit point cap. On my AR device I use ageless ( the heal and regen incarnate ) as a heal.

I would say once you get into incarnate level you could swap out the heals for some epic or ancillary power pool. Or add in the fly and afterburner idea. and pick up ageless as your heal.

Its a toss up to say the least, and yes I know I am very flip flop about this.