How are the 'pure' blasters (X/X//X)?

In a new bout of alt-itis, I'm considering trying one or more (or all) of the Blasters with matched primary/secondary/epic (and heck, why not a matching Judgement too, eventually).

Those would be Fire/Fire//Fire, Ice/Ice//Cold, Elec/Elec//Elec, Energy/Energy//Force, Dark/Dark//Soul, and I guess Assault Rifle/Devices//Munitions scrapes in.

So which of these are deities of damage, and which are dukes of debt? Are any of them noticeably more effective or fun than the others? I'm quite used to faceplanting on the Blasters I do have, so I'm keenly aware of the glass component in 'glass cannon'! I'm just interested to hear opinions on the combinations.

I'm not a fan of /dark or electric in general, and I think AR begs for build up because of the timing and execution of full auto which /devices does not have. /cold's armor power uses the ice armor graphic which I hate. Energy/Energy/Force doesn't really look matched at all.

My vote would be for fire/fire/fire. Not that it's the best blaster ever, but it has merits, can't go wrong with picking fire for damage, and your other options aren't so hot.

I'd probably recommend triple-Ice. It's extremely survivable, by Blaster standards.

... I'm seeing a lack of consensus here.

I'd imagine that a lack of consensus will be the result!

I can't sing enough about how much I love Elec/Elec/Elec!!
The Blaptroller!
You can blap, you can sap, you can blast and you can hold!
3 Holds, easily allow you to lock down bosses (fire your two ranged holds and if one of them fails, hit him with a third)... Or just race in and sap all their endurance without holding them... Lock down anyone that you missed... lightning field, voltaic sentinel actually makes up quite a bit for the general lower damage of Electric Blast (but then again, it's not really that bad and it is Energy damage and has some good AoE).
Depending on my mood, I'm a hover Blaster, a full-on Blapper, a mix of ranged and melee, a sapper or a holder... and each and every one of them in-between.

Anyway... I'm not saying it is the greatest... But, I tend to think of it as having the best symmetry of all the themed sets.

I've heard similar things about Ice/Ice... But, let's face it... While ice may be colder... Electricity is cooler!

Fire/Fire/Fire as far as damage goes. Elec/Elec/Elec for variety and Ice/Ice/Ice for survivability.

Thanks everyone, for the variety of opinions - not that I wasn't thinking of trying them all anyway!

I have to ask, though - no love for AR/Dev/Mun and Dark/Dark/Soul?

I'll admit my forays into /Devices haven't been all that thrilling; I blame Time Bomb. (Is Auto Turret good now? It's been a long time since I Deviced, and I think it's changed since then.)

I have done this all ready to a point (because I'm a blaster-holic), so allow me to give my reviews! (I'll try to keep them concise)

Ice/Ice/Cold - My first character ever, still my main. The 20s were a tough ride, but then again, I started him just before i10, so a lot of things have been improved since then. Use and abuse Chilblain and your Freeze Rays. The combo is a control machine, and only gets better as you progress. (With the right amount of recharge, you can hold EBs indefinitely by the upper levels, and Bosses are cake.) Your strength is ST damage. I STRONGLY suggest relying on your ranged attacks (as opposed to blapping). Besides, the -SPD that comes with all of your attacks combined with your control powers enables you to kill most of your enemies before they even get to melee range (again, this increases as you level). Cold Mastery is a great cherry on top giving you added defense and one of my favorite panic buttons in the game (Hibernate). Also, I found Flash Freeze to be a joy while solo (Sleep the whole mob, for over a minute when slotted, then freeze the one you want to kill. Rinse, repeat.)

Elec^3 - I went the blaster route on this because I dislike blapping, but this combo is great for close combat (Short Circuit is a great PBAoE, and the punches are quite potent). Successfully sapping enemies won't come until late game, when you've had a chance to slot things up, but it can be very fun once you do. You'll end up with three holds (two ranged, one melee) so your control options increase as you level up, which is nice. Voltaic Sentinel, despite its shortcomings, is still useful so you should keep it active. This was my second blaster to 50 and while it was fun (and is more so now) I found it a bit tougher than my ice/ice/cold mainly because of the lack of an effective secondary effect until late game. But again, I blasted almost exclusively, hopping in and out for Short Circuit, so if you blap you may find it a bit more enjoyable.

Energy/Energy/Force - People can decry knockback all they want, but this was a very survivable blaster post level 18. You get your ST attack chain by level 6, which puts you ahead of the game since most other blasters have to wait another 12 levels. Both your AoE attacks are very effective, both as openers and mid-combat. Power Push will be a life saver, as can be Power Thrust from your secondary. Again, I skipped most of the melee powers of /Energy because (a) I was knocking them out of melee distance frequently and (b) this guy was a hover-blaster, so they couldn't reach me most of the time anyway. With quick recharge times, fast animations, and beneficial click-powers from your secondary, this can be a very effective combo. Then you get a couple great resistance powers from Force Mastery (Temp Invulnerability and Force of Nature) not to mention Personal Force Field as a fantastic panic button.

-Archery/Devices/Munitions - I chose archery over AR, so my experience with my primary was probably different than an AR user's. Devices is the ultimate front-loading power set, and also allows for easy mission stealthing (Cloaking Device + a Smoke Grenade or two, and you have almost full invisibility). Caltrops and Trip Mine are very fun set-ups for before you initially attack a mob, and Targeting Drone's added accuracy is a boon to any blaster. However, I found Web Grenade and Time Bomb completely skippable, with Gun Drone being just nice for a damage boost against a particularly hard target/mob. Munitions brought some nice utility though. Body Armor, while not as potent as other armors, can still provide a little extra toughness. Surveillance is GREAT. And LRM Rocket is just pure fun. All in all, I had fun with this character as a ghost, skipping straight to mission objectives, front-loading that final mob, and wiping them out quick, but as a soloist, it will probably be slow-going for you.

Fire/Fire/Flame - Big. Orange. Numbers. And not much else. By the 30s, this guy was an AoE machine, and literally burned through enemies, which was good, because that's really all he could do. Because of the lack of control, I found blapping to be hazardous to this guy's health (which was fine because, as I said, I prefer ranged play). Not that the melee attacks were bad (in fact, they were quite good) but in melee distance I found myself dying slightly faster than my enemies. I recommend taking and slotting Consume. Since all you can do is attackattackattack, I burned through my blue bar faster than some of my other characters, so Consume really helped in longer battles. Flame really brings some welcome balance, giving you a hold, some much-needed RES, and one of the COOLEST self-rez powers in the game. Definitely had a lot of fun with this character, but it kept me on my toes.

Dark/Dark/Soul - A work in progress, and a tough one at that. You would think, what with them both being Dark, that there would be synergy between the two power sets. But no! Dark Blast's strength is keeping your enemies away (A huge-cone knockback power, a cone immobilization, and a ST hold), while Darkness Manipulation is nearly entirely based on close combat (7/9 powers, and Dark Pit, your ranged AoE stun, is crap and should be skipped). Frankly, if you want to run this combo, the primary alone makes it very survivable, adding a self-heal to the "get back and stay back" arsenal I already listed, not to mention the -ToHit your are hammering your enemies with. I recommend slotting up your primary powers early, and waiting to use your secondary powers until later, when you can lay down the hurt after pissing them off with Soul Drain and/or Dark Consumption. Then /Soul gives you yet more powers for killing your enemies at a distance. Basically, my strategy with this combo so far (upper 30s) has been to rely almost exclusively on my primary, and only use /Darkness while teamed, and I have found it to be very effective.

Nice write-up, Winterminal.

I, too, have an Archery/Devices and enjoy its unique style, but I wanted to comment on Web Grenade! It's not that I actually disagree with you or anything (although, some people do love Web Grenade for its -rech), I've found I rarely ever used Web Grenade in the course of play until I started trying to make myself include it now and then.
And I just wanted to share the best use of it...
Web Grenade a particularly annoying, final enemy... Make them convulse with a nice Tase... And lay a Bomb at their feet and walk away. Extra points for turning on walk and more if you have a cigar in your character's mouth.

Actually, I have found it useful to keep a stunned enemy stationary on a few occasions.

Thanks E-K. What you said is true, and my post expresses my opinion rather than fact (should of put that in there).

I tend to use those T1 immobilizations to stop approaching enemies. The problem I found with Web Grenade was that by the time it had finished animating, the enemy was in melee range, or darn close to it. Combine that with the redraw of the bow (which would be the same case with the Assault Rifle) and I was left wondering if I would not have been better off just continuing to shoot the enemy. After testing that theory, I found I was pretty much correct.

But hey, you are required to take it anyway. I strongly suggest seeing how it works for you, GrantAnderson.

I have a fire/fire/fire myself, and the damage is actually not as good as it looks on paper, due to the awkward mix of cone/PBAoE/damage aura.

But it is very good for training skills. Once you learn to speedrun ITF on a 0 defense fire/fire/fire you can play anything in the game.

I have to say that fire/NO COMMENT is still pretty damn good damage.

Fire/fire/fire is good. One of the few builds I would take spring attack on

I'll give some love to AR/DEV/Munitions!

My main is one and I've loved her for years. You have to be willing to *not* be a blapper, though, so if your playstyle includes playing up close and personal, it's not for you. AR/DEV works best from a distance, and even better if you add flight - you can get in some killer cones with relatively minimal knockback and good control. Add your gun drone (or two overlapping ones, if your recharge is fast enough) and you can lay some serious (and surgically precise) waste if you're slotted right. You do have to develop more of a 3D playstyle, but that's not a problem for me.

The cryo hold in Munitions is terrific. Combine the web grenade with your cryo hold in your cycle, and you do a pretty good job of slowing and/or holding the worst offenders. What I'm not using as much as I used to is the LRM. Body armor is definitely nice, too.

I'm still ticked about the messed up gun drone, but otherwise, the changes to it over the years have been awesome. Following drones that summon in air = made of win. And they take some aggro for you, too.

But understand, I am a cautious player, and I may also be one of the ONLY blasters in the game who did *not* get her top level debt badge before level 50. The farther-back style suits me because I can deal damage longer with less penalty. If I'm going to the hospital every 5 minutes because my powers draw in a lot of unwanted aggro and/or I have to blap, then even if my damage is *potentially* greater, I'm not taking advantage of it!

I'll also second ice/ice/cold -- I've not done nearly as much with mine as I would have liked to, but I've enjoyed her very much. Very blasterollery.

~Elizabeth

I have a triple Fire, a triple Ice, a triple Electric and a triple Energy. While I don't solo on Blasters as much as I used to I find them teamed to be WAY fun.

Triple Electric is fun. Almost a mini-Controller. Two ranged and one melee Hold, Sentinal to soak Alphas, Power Sink to power up after the nuke and Surge of Power looks wicked cool. Take the Devastation set on your first two Blasts and drop the procs into Elec Fence and the Holds. I find lots of my targets twitching...just waiting to get blasted.

My biggest complaint with my triple Ice is that Ice Patch's animation is so slow. Other than that he's a beast. Play is similar to the triple Electric above with several Holds to keep enemies at bay. Not as much melee (I don't take Frozen Fists...no room in the build) but the Slow effects are very helpful.

Triple Nrg is for people who like the fast-pace of combat and one of the two I don't mind wading right in with. Take Power Push and 4-slot it with Kinetic Crash for -KB for yourself. I do the same with Power Thrust and then grab the -KB proc from Steadfast. Nobody knocks my Nrg guy! Up close stack Stun with Total Focus followed by Energy Punch and Bone Smasher. Take Boost Range and have it running a lot for added fun of throwing 80' Power Bursts around.

My triple Fire is an ITF dream. At 50 his typical attack chain is Rain of Fire - Fireball - Combustion - Fire Sword Circle - Die - Rise of the Phoenix - Fireball, repeat as necessary. RotP make me feel immortal because I don't need my teammates to worry about me dying and falling behind. I'm like a fire grenade they throw in right after the melee-types rush the spawn.

I have to say that I haven't gotten any 'Natural' or Dark Blasters above the 20s yet and Time Bomb from Devices is horrid. Good luck though!