What can you do with a problem like a Blaster?

Correct. It used to be the case that blaster melee attacks where just as good as ranged attacks (both had damage scale 1.0), but some time ago blaster ranged attack modifier was buffed, so now blaster ranged attacks are always better DPS. Which is what I have been saying: blaster melee attacks are pointless.

(where melee attacks appear to good damage, it is because they have longer recharge times).

Ah I see it's the recharge times that make the melee abilities have higher damage. I guess I should have looked at more than just how hard they hit

Probably because most of those classes can do as much or more damage as blasters do (and can do it at range in the case of SoAs)...

That makes no sense. You can play whatever you want. Why should anyone else have to play the game the way I like to ? Why should everyone have to play exactly the same way.

It sounds like you want Baskin Robbins to have only one flavor.


When I play blasters I am not looking for safe. If I want safe I will play a tank or a mastermind.

Your idea of better. People that enjoy the thrill of playing blasters might disagree.

My tanks had a pretty freeform style before the last buff and I was able to use or not use the 1st secondary power at whim. Now 20% of my damage output is due to 1 power and not using it teamed is cheating the team. I really don't see that as liberating. That little buff also took what was an easy mode AT into easier territory. Before the buff to stalkers Assassin's strike was an optional power, now it is too powerful not to take. The devs have said flat out that doms are meant to be limited to their, for me, annoying melee/range focused assault sets.

If you want to do things like a scrapper, a controller a defender. I remember way back around i12 there were a few blasters that soloed the ITF. I guess these people are also just too awesome for this game and should gtfo as well.

Nobody is forcing you to play blasters. If you don't like them don't. There are 11 other ATs, you shouldn't expect let alone demand that they be all things to every player.

If you're talking strictly damage, then sure... but that's not what the bulk of this thread is addressing.

Then that survivability needs to fall within the parameters of the playstyle (especially since reconstructing seven Secondaries may involve a lot of resources that would be allocated elsewhere).





If you're asking for parity in mez defense (even if it's only short term), then you're asking Blasters to be molded in the likeness of their closest kin; Dominators.

If you're asking for more control; then you're definitely infringing on Doms.

Asking for both could make Doms obsolete.

If you're asking for heavier debuffs that fall outside of the theme of their individual powersets then you run the risk of obsoleting Defenders (or Corrs).

If you're asking for parity through Defense and Resistance powers by adding Armors then you're pushing into Kheld territory (ie. if you want a Blaster with Armor; play a Kheld).

If you're asking for Armor and mez protection; then you're stepping over Khelds and into Tanker, Brute, Scrapper and Stalker turf... with the added benefit of range; Tankmage (or SoA; which can get pretty close to hat distinction). Throw more control into that same mix and it becomes a joke. (Like how my Plant/Storm would play against normal mobs if Hybrid Control didn't have downtime)

And yes... that's what some people are driving at; creating parity by giving Blasters what other ATs have (resistance, defense, mez protection, control).

The questions become how much of each of these aspects do you give before the desired parity is achieved? What are you willing to sacrifice to integrate any of these desired aspects?

Trust me, I get the brainstorming intent of the thread but there is a definite following to making tradeoffs that involve giving Blasters Armor powers that I'm not in full agreement with.

[Or tradeoffs that involve giving Blasters Debuff powers]



I don't [know how feasible it is] either but they seem to have done something that changed how proximity works when applied to location-based AoE damage vs. player's current position. It used to be that if you were in the damage radius when an AoE attack started you got pegged for the damage; even if you moved out of range... now you can avoid it. Fortunately they haven't allowed mobs to escape our damage in the same way. Something like this could actually change that so it could turn out to be a two-edged sword.

[If one of the other above suggestions (higher base range) were added... then the effect would be even better]

Well excluding the epic ATs, they can have both a good ranged attack chain and a good melee chain at the same time.

Just as an example, fire/energy is a combo that has the longest ranged attacks in the game and can pick apart spawns with its snipe but also is devastatingly effective in melee.

I'll take a look if its not too bad and doesn't seem to be passing out more information than I care to share, I may give it a try.

When a power becomes dominant to the point where not taking significantly lowers your damage output you are forced to take it. I can't think of playing a tank now that isn't actively using that 1st level power.

You mean like Dominators?


So you contend that it's better to gimp an entire class so a few players can enjoy the difficulty than it is to boost the class so it's on par with the other classes and let the players who enjoy the difficulty add their own challenges? Do you realize how selfish that is?

You should probably edit that first line to read "excluding epic ATs and Dominators". Or maybe simplify it to read "excluding five other ATs, Blasters are the only AT that can have a good ranged attack chain and a good melee chain at the same time."

And here is something you don't seem to have noticed: you don't need a melee attack to attack a target in melee range, a ranged attack will do just as well.

Doms are explicitly designed not to let you do that.



If you can't make your point name call.

What is worse you can't even get your facts straight. When you say a few people, you are talking about the number three most popular AT at 50, according to the numbers Paragon Studios released last year.

Oh, so the design is broken then....

Believe me I am aware of that. The melee attacks just do a much better job in general. If I am not mistaken the highest DPS chain in the game still belongs to fire/electric thanks to shocking grasp.

Well, all that blasters get is damage.



Doms got a buff fairly recently, to their damage, which infinged heavily on the role of Blasters.


Both have recieved damage buffs and infringed on blasters. Especially 'fenders with thier most recent buff.


Again, all have received buffs to their damage that blasters haven't and encroaching on blasters roles.

yes, different people are asking for those things, and apart from some extreme examples, no-one is asking for ALL of them. and those that are tend to quickly put down for being far too unrealistic

But that's the thing, Blasters made the sacrifice, then every other AT got a free buff to their damage with no sacrifice. Now blasters sacrifice isnt worth their gain. and as their damage cannont, aparently, be buffed any more, or at least much more, what else can be done to bring them back to where they should be?



No, that's not what is being asked for, as least not by the majority. What we want, for the most part, for changes to the tools we already have that allow us to survive a bit longer to deal the damage that we are supposed to be able to, without having to trade off our already not greatest damage, range or otherwise, to do so.

I for one am not in favour of complete changes to Blaster secondaries. far too many of my blasters make use of some of the melee powers in them. yes, a lot of them, for my play style, are situational, but those situations come up often enough to be a lifeline most of the time.





As I say, I very much like that idea, but someone like Arcanaville would be able to speak more on how posible it is. I only know as much of the mechanics as I do from reading her posts.

Originally Posted by Forbin_Project Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.

How did you go from what I said to what you said ? I can't imagine how you got that.

Sorry to speak for you PRAF, but he gets that from the fact that Doms CAN and DO have both Good Melee and Good Ranges attack chains, so if they were designed not to but have, then they are broken!

Rather simple really


Not name calling, just observation. And yes, blasters are the 3rd most popular at L50, but they are THE most popular a L20, does that not tell you anything? blasters, by the dev's own datamining, from the same scource as your figures are the most abandoned or deleted AT's.

Just because you can solo a blaster at +4X8 doesn't mean that even 80% of the rest of the player base can. Hell, most of the player base cannot solo ANYTHING on +4X8. You asking for blasters to be left as they are JUST so you, and the other uber players CAN solo at that level and still have a challenge IS selfish as it disreguards the rest of the player base that might want to play blasters.

Originally Posted by Forbin_Project Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.

That's why I say Dominators are a Blaster's closest kin; they have a similar offensive setup: Ranged/Melee Offense.

Blasters tend to have a better ranged chain and damage buffs while Doms get better controls; they both have similar pitfalls as well.

That was from a red name statement concerning dark assault.



Do you realize how smug and stupid that sounds ?


Do you actually have that or is it just wishful thinking on your part ? Do you have any idea why they are the most abandoned AT or is it just more wishful thinking ? For all you know its nothing more than the fact that description of the AT doesn't do an adequate job letting people know what they will be playing.

Well, you could say Doms are part blaster - part controller. Which is basicly how I view them.

Personally I see Corrs as the closest kin to a blaster, as they are part blaster part fender, and fenders themselves are part blaster.

Originally Posted by Forbin_Project Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.

How? They have a mix of melee and ranged attacks, and often built for high recharge to get perma-Domination. In one powerset, they have enough attacks to get a ranged, melee, and AoE chain set up, because those attacks recharge much faster than they do for most other AT's due to the Doms unique slotting requirements.

Perhaps I misunderstood, but it sounded like you were arguing that you can't buff Snipes because then you would be compelled to take them and you don't want that. That is the definition of selfishness, putting your own needs ahead of everyone else. If that wasn't what was being said, I apologize.

St_Angelius covered it much better than I could on the facts though.

Personally, I cannot point you to the exact post, but I am sure someone else can, Like Acanaville, who I have seen quote that very peice several times. And believe me, I'll trust her knowledge over things of this nature far more than anyone elses beyond the devs.

Originally Posted by Forbin_Project Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.

IMO, Corr/Fenders are more kinfolk than Blaster/Corr. The only common denominator are ranged attacks. Blasters do more control than buff/debuff which puts them closer to the Dom camp than that of either Corrs or Fenders.

Which makes Corrs Blasters with Buffs

Try it, look at the posers in common between a dark/dark blasty and a dark/dark corr

But in all seriousness, there are lots of corss overs between many AT's.

Originally Posted by Forbin_Project Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.

Doms are designed to have to enter into melee you don't have to do that with blasters at all.


That would be selfish the same way the PvPers were selfish because they didn't want their game destroyed to benefit people that didn't play it and wouldn't anyway ?

I'd call it being protective of an enjoyable part of the game.

Seeing as he didn't have any you aren't saying good things about your position.