Blasters and mez - Are we going about it wrong?

I'm curious how much of this discussion compares teamed vs solo play. From my own extensive experience with Blasters, I rarely spend any time mezzed/dead when teamed, and my damage far outpaces any Scrapper or Brute in those situations. Solo is of course different and I spend more time moving around trying to avoid mez, so damage output is somewhat lower.

I know there are a lot of people who love their AT of choice, and feel slighted when it can't solo at the same pace as other ATs, but this should not be how the Devs balance AT strengths and weaknesses. This is still a social game even if many people choose not to play that way, and there is no reason why some ATs shouldn't perform at a higher level when teamed.

Even for solo play, the Devs have already provided Blasters with a significant number of methods to lessen the impact of mez at all levels. If people choose not to make effective use of those, well that is on them. They should not make changes to an already effective AT simply because some people feel they need more. I see a large number of builds that concentrate of high defense to avoid damage and mez, and this is a very good idea from a min/max perspective. However, most of those builds I see choose not to take Acrobatics, one of the single best methods the Devs have given Blasters to lessen the impact of mez. If mez is such a concern, why are so many Blasters choosing not to take that enormously effective power?

To add to what Stealth_Bomber said: It's "enormously effective" vs. knockback. It's "slightly effective" against Holds. (Isn't there a 100% cap on mez resistance, so you're always affected for at least half the duration?) It's "completely ineffective" against Sleep, Disorient aka Stun, Immobilize, and ... I feel like i'm missing a couple forms of common mez. Bueller? Bueller?

As far as not dying on teams? To steal a quote: "If the Blaster screws up on a team, the Blaster dies. If anyone else screws up on a team, the Blaster dies." As I measured recently for another thread around here, a +1 Freak Tank hits for 60% of a Blaster's HP in melee at level 34. And if you're on a team, you WILL be seeing +1 bosses.

A few things:

While it's not a panacea, blasters get Defiance, which means they cannot be mezzed completely. That means you can still output single-target damage no matter what. For some power sets, you can even take defensive actions that in some situations reduce incoming damage (for example, /Energy blasters can use Power Thrust on melee attackers). At least some of the time you're not really missing out on anything because the mez will occur while the powers you can't use while mezzed are still recharging.

I have a level 50 Fire/Energy blaster that probably has more than 500 hours on it (asking an M-named civilian says I have 2100 hours, but since that includes any time spent logged out during, say, an AE "task force" the number is basically meaningless). The character has been mezzed about 90 minutes in five years.

In many cases, you can avoid getting mezzed by knowing what mobs mez you and taking them out first, either by mezzing them first (holds, KBs, stuns, etc.), or avoiding their mez (stay out of melee range of Freakshow PBAoE stuns), preventing yourself from being targeted (using a click-targeted ranged attack like Rain of Fire from around a corner, then shooting the mezzer in the back as they flee), use Aid Self proactively before engaging mobs that stun you, and so on.

Managing inspirations to ensure you have a Break Free at all times isn't that onerous (combining "junk" insps like accuracy really helps). If you're playing a blaster on a team, a lot of the time you won't ever be targeted if you're playing with an aggro magnet like a tanker or brute.

If your goal is to avoid face-planting, you can play blasters in such a way to avoid it. Will you be able to stand in one place and unload one massive AoE after another on helpless mobs? Not until you hit level 50 and get all the defensive tools you need (which may include Clarion, Scorpion Shield, Weave, etc.), and an inspiration tray large enough to make up for the deficiencies blasters have. But also remember that many scrappers don't have very good defenses until level 30 or 35.

Is it easier to play a scrapper that doesn't have to worry about getting mezzed and can take most attacks on the chin? Sure. If you want to play that way, create a scrapper. Or a tanker or a brute that gets a lot of AoEs if that's your thing.

I would argue against the view that the Blaster's range is anything like an advantage over melee ATs, and certainly doesn't make up for the lack of defenses. Pretty much every enemy in the game has a ranged attack, from guns, to crossbows, to buzzsaw shuriken, to a thrown rock. I think I can count on one shop-teacher's hand the number of mobs that don't have one, even if it's not as strong as their melee attacks. Also, the range of their attacks in invariably longer than a Blaster's, even the Snipe. The 100% defense vs range is only valid if there are mobs that only have melee attacks and are not capable of getting to you fast enough. Trying to kite is dangerous as it could lead you into another group, and using Hover basically requires all Blasters to use a power slot for something, regardless of concept or build desires. A power set like Energy can use KB to keep them away, and Ice can slow them, but not all sets have movement mitigation available.

The only advantage I see of range is that aggroing a group from a distance might mitigate some of their alpha response, but not that much and only if it's melee-heavy mobs and not ranged ones. Do it to Trolls and it helps against the non-boulder throwers. Do it to Nemesis with their gas grenade rifles and they'll mass gas you to death just as easily as if you were two feet from them. In short, I feel that the difference between ranged and melee is almost negligible in most respects.

So let me get this straight. I need to build my blaster around the Medicine Pool, Leaping Pool, Fighting pool and Clarion Only as my Destiny pick...so let's see that's 8 power picks I lost just to be able to play my Blaster efficiently.

Loosing 8 Levels, only able to Clarion for my Destiny choice, waiting to level 53 before I'm on par with every other AT Damage output wise...sure seems like a lot to sacrifice to properly enjoy the AT.

I think he's referring to Clarion ? Either way you don't get that perma until lvl 50+.

Oh and it's hard to hit the defense softcap until lvl 36? Once you're able to slot Scorpion shield.

Ah yes, good old dungeons and dragons. I remember it well, DrGemini.

How were fighters and paladins balanced in second edition?

Or, give an actual specific explanation of the mechanism by which Blasters are balanced against, say, Crab Spiders with three ranged AOEs, mez protection, Defense and Resistance built right into the class.

Because I can't disprove any of the following assertions:

I think the important question here is what purpose mez serves in game balance. Giving straight mez protection to Blasters most likely wouldn't in itself unbalance the game, but then the question has to be asked, why not give it to the other 5 ATs that don't have it. Why even have mez at all? And if mez does serve an important function, why should Blasters be the only squishy AT that doesn't have to worry about it?

I think a lot of this really is the Devs fault for blurring the lines that each AT is supposed to be designed for. Blasters are supposed to be the glass canons, capable of tremendous amounts of damage while staying at range, and early on that was true. But then they gave NPCs just as much damage capability at even greater range, and suddenly Blasters became even more fragile than before. Over time other ATs have been given more damage capability to rival or even exceed Blaster damage without the glass part to hold them back. It seems as if there has been a tremendous amount of powercreep over the years. It might be time to redefine what role Blasters are supposed to serve in this game and find the best way for them to do it.

I think that mez is way overused in the game. Reduce the number of mobs who have and use it would do a lot to fix the Blaster issue without having to add mez protection to the AT.

No minion should have mez powers. The biggest example of this is the Sapper. Not only is it a minion with mez ability that also drains end, so Defiance is useless, but at some point they, along with the Rikti Comm Officers, got a surreptitious boost to their health that made them able to survive a Built Up Snipe (before IO set bonuses, Musculature, et al). They became a Minion/LT, because the devs couldn't handle the idea of them not surviving long enough to use their special power. These kinds of boosts against type are the sign of a GM that has begun an adversarial relationship with their players, which isn't healthy, especially when the players are paying to play the game. Mooks should be mooks, doing nothing but damage in support of the more powerful mobs. Some other powers or effects are acceptable, but not absolute " turn the player off" powers, like mezzes.

Lts who "simply must" have a mez should have a mez that needs to stack at least twice to affect any player. I don't know if this is possible with the game mechanics, but it should reflect that Lts might have more powers than just damage, but still leave them below players.

Bosses can still have mezzes, but I would implore the devs to look at the ones that do and ask themselves if the boss in question really needs it as part of the concept or if it was given the mez just to fill out its powerset.