Archer with Blaster or Corr?

I really want to try an Archer concept, but I'm not sure which archetype would be better for it. I'm not concerned with min/max building it yet...I just want to be able to solo, be helpful enough in groups and a build that will be fun to level.

I'm considering between a Blaster Arc/Eng OR Corr Arc/TA.

Can anyone with experience with one or the other give me their Good, Bad and Ugly of these powers sets?

I'm not big on redraw so I have usually avoided weapon sets, but I figure with Arc/TA there's less to none. I'm open to suggestions of any combinations or sets that have good symmetry with Archery.

Thanks,

Well....Does anyone know of a good guide or post already about this topic I can check out?

Silas has the most up-to-date TA guide I've seen (maybe I missed some): http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...50#post2354750 - it's quite informative and fun.

But you really should check out Luminara's guides to TA and Archery, even if they are somewhat outdated now:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=122243
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=122244
These should give good general ideas about the sets, even if details might have changed (there's been a slow but ongoing trickle of changes to TA for a while).

My qualitative impressions about Archery, from enjoying it in-game:

- Secondary effect: None. This is one of the bad things about TA, it does no extra damage/slows/-res/-def/-to-hit or what have you like many blast sets do. It trades them for having higher base accuracy (which, IMHO, is pretty much useless most of the time).

- Single-target damage: The bad part is it's almost entirely lethal. The good part is... Blazing Arrow! It's a hard-hitter with the same range your other ST attacks have (80) and it does almost as much damage as a snipe, animating MUCH faster (it still manages to feel slow sometimes, in fast paced teams, but it's worth it). And there's fire damage there. The tier 1 and 2 blasts on defenders and corruptors are very underwhelming, doing considerably less damage than their equivalents in other sets. Blasters don't have that problem, however, thanks to the tier 1 and 2 normalization after Defiance 2.0.

- AoE damage: Great. This is why most people play Archery. Fistful is an ok attack (but with short range), Explosive Arrow is good AoE if you know how to handle KB, but of course the gem is RoA, a mini-nuke for nearly every enemy group. And at level 32, the wait isn't as bad (defenders have it worse, at 38). It still makes Archery a late-blooming set, but not TOO late.

Out of your two options (Archery/Energy blaster or A/TA corr), I'd go blaster for a few reasons: good synergy with the stuns and extra range, the lack of secondary effect isn't as bad for blasters since their modifiers would be lower anyway, tier 1 and 2 blasts are much better.

The corruptor would be pretty good too: you'd add the amazing mitigation and damage of OSA to you AoE carnage (build for recharge!), plus a couple nice res debuffs that help you AND the whole team or league (that's where the corr is better than the blaster), plus nice control from EMP and a smattering of other debuffs spread around the arrows. Flash Arrow's -to-hit looks like a joke compared to other debuff sets, until you remember it's irresistible, so it will help you against an AV just as much as against a minion (fine, if you have no defense that help is hardly noticeable, but get your ranged defense to 20-30%, like everybody seems to try to do nowadays, and it really will make a difference).

TA is VERY late-blooming though. If you were spoiled by debuff sets like rad or dark that get great powers very early on, you might loose your patience with TA before you get to the good part. Especially in a pairing with archery, which is ALSO late blooming. A/TA can do some amazing stuff, but it requires patience to get there.

Redraw usually doesn't bother me much, but making an arch/* has never made it past level 4 for me.
Some combo of arch/arch is the way to go.

I loved my Arch/MM blaster. Still do actually.

Not to sound like a broken record (because I have said this in other threads) but TA/A def has very close damage to A/TA cor. This is because the strengths of the sets are AOE damage. Rain of arrows and oil slick have comparable numbers whether they are defender or corruptor. Yes, the more minor attacks will do better with the cor but that is not really all that important in the larger scheme of things. The def will have better debuffs and be better able to softcap its own defense because of def mods.

I personally would either go with the blaster or the defender and not play a corruptor for this combination.

Blaster definately. Archery is not the highest damage thing in the world, and it's one of the sets that relies on firing lots of fast shots continuously -- even its aoe uses the 'fire often for relatively low damage' method until 32. If you're taking time out to use your secondary a lot it's just painful, especially with redraw.

Maybe A/TA gets good eventually, but I never managed to stick with it. I did get an archery/devices blaster up to the high 30s and it was a lot of fun. Stunning shot + taser (short ranged, but lightning-fast activation) makes soloing a breeze. Caltrops helps a ton too.

/energy wouldn't be my first choice to go with archery but it does also have stuns at least?

Thanks guys.

The guides and your opinions are very helpful. I am used to Fire and Dark Blasters and Corrs, but I wanted to try something new I haven't used. Archery fit an idea so I'm rolling with it. I appreciate the thoughts! I've avoided weapon sets b/c I can't stand redraw. I'm hoping with Arc/? i can find a set that it doesnt bother me and if so, it sounds like a Def or Corr Ar/TA could be fun. I don't always team, so survivability and still being able to level are important.

See you out in the fields.

The arcanatime-adjusted dpa for each Blaster attack:
Snap Shot = 44.23
Aimed Shot = 46.31
Fistful of Arrows = 43.13
Blazing Arrow = 81.68
Explosive Arrow = 47.40
Ranged Shot (90% int. red) = 52.32
Rain of Arrows = 53.32

Snap Shot and Aimed Shot are horrible compared to the average Tier 1/2 Blaster attack. Blazing Arrow is middle-of-the-round for heavy single target Blaster attacks. This yields the rather non-intuitive result that the best single target rotation for a Blaster Archer includes neither Tier 1/2 attack. You wouldn't even take them if you weren't forced.

The AE damage is still acceptable, but having garbage Tier 1/2 attacks doesn't work all that well with Defiance. So it's hard to recommend Archery for a Blaster.

For Corruptors:
Snap Shot = 23.87
Aimed Shot = 35.11
Fistful of Arrows = 28.75
Blazing Arrow = 55.20
Explosive Arrow = 31.59
Ranged Shot (90% int. red) = 34.88
Rain of Arrows = 35.15

Snap Shot is awful, but Aimed Shot is actually worthwhile for Corruptors.

Note that in both cases, Rain of Arrows is rather uninspiring. It's only slightly more dpa than conventional AE attacks and roots you for 4 sec. Unless you're using it to alpha strike a group (a tactic that fades quickly once you start fighting things that will just turn around and kill you in response), it's not normally worth taking.

Trick Arrow isn't all that great of a buff/debuff set. Like all debuff sets, it runs into issues when you scale up the difficulty of the content. Unlike other debuff sets, it has nothing but debuffs. Essentially, by the time you get the kind of abilities that really make a difference they no longer make a difference.

A better choice would be a set like Cold that has minimal activity during combat itself, good slotting opportunities and operates entirely from range.

Arch/MM on a Blaster is pretty slick. That said, I burned out on Mental Marksman around level 30, the combo was decent enough, it was the lackluster animations that did in the toon for me. To be expected with Archery but, there ya go.