Elx3 Dilemma

My second ever level 50 is an Elec / Elec / Elec blaster which has been sitting around not really doing an awful lot over the past 4 or 5 years. This particular combo doesn't play like any other blaster I've ever played - I call it a "SlapTroller".. Blapper, Sapper and Controller, and oddly of all those things he does, blasting seems to be the weakest! The weird thing is though, I get the distinct feeling there's potential in there; there's just something missing.

I'm not a hardcore player and I've amassed about 400 million inf on my main. If I blow this on a cheapish IO build for him (he's so old, he's all SO's at the moment) is he still going to be a bit "jack of all trades, master of none" or could I use that 400 mill to get him started and use that as a sufficient level of awesome for a stepping stone to something better?

Electic is the weakest blast set in terms of damage. It sacrifices the damage for more utility, but that utility doesn't work very well. In i24 it will be getting its nuke upgrades along with all the others: crashless and lower recharge. This will help with sapping greatly.

I believe the devs have stated that they're aware that electric blast is under performing and will look into it at some point.

Personally I have an elec/elec. Was my first character I ever made. I still use him from time to time. When i24 rolls out I'll dust him off.

My first 50 was an Elec x3 Blaster, and it's one of the few combos where Electric Blast works quite well due to the effective sapping provided by Short Circuit and Power Sink.

I found the playstyle similar to a Dominator - neutralise the worse from range with holds, move in and sap, and then consider damage in melee ranged once they're all drained or held.

I'd suggest doing some basic IO-ing first with Thunderstrikes in your single target ranged attacks and Blood Mandate in Voltaic Sentinel and so on to get some decent defence and see how you play then. This will cost a few million but nothing major, and amp up your performance considerably.

I'd also consider a brief trip to the Isles to unlock the Mu mastery epic set, I imagine Electric Fences would be very handy. The worse thing a drained enemy group can do is scatter because they cant attack you, and thus prevent you from keeping them drained.
(And while youre there get the demonic Accolade - its easy redside and great for emergencies)

So yeah. Invest a bit of time and inf to try out a few things. This combination has potential.

Thanks for the tips guys. DrH that playstyle is exactly how i find he is the most effective; lock em down from range, sap them to within an inch of their lives then just when they think theyve had enough pummel them in the mush with an electric clad fist. I like the idea of the mu mastery epic instead of the blueside one too. any other key picks from that set other than the group immob? I just have shocking bolt amd the armour at the moment

The armor's pretty much the same between Mu and Electric Mastery. It very much worth taking, not only for the resistance but as a holder for the Steadfast +Def IO.
Electric Shackles are on a longer recharge than Shocking Bolt but hold for longer, I think, so they're comparable.

Static Discharge looks great, but isnt that awesome, due to you wanting to live at close range. Electric Fences provides a decent third area attack already. You dont need four.

The Mu pet could be very handy on a Blaster, I havent tried that out. Unlike VS it draws aggro from you.

Of course, for optimum effiicency you could go Fire Mastery instead and slot the Overwhelming Force proc into Bonfire, which seems to have settled down as a hugely effective area control and damage power now.

Yeah i had a brief google for the mu equivalents and aside the elec fences couldnt see anything that reall grabbed me. I did have static discharge on an earlier build and dropped it for the hold because i thought its damage was a bit sub par. I find sb is more useful because it allows me to lock down additional mobs or stack holds on tougher ones. Ive avoided vs for concept reasons and so would avoid the adept for the same reason. I think if having both pets would up the damage output sufficiently i could work in a conceptual explanation for both but i think itd be an all or nothing situation. Additionally looking at the recharge on the adept i wonder if id be better of just using storm elemental lore pets further down the line?

Additionally i havent put any slots in electric fence because i just dont use the power. Im wondering uf it be useful as a set mule with an io build. Will have to drag mids out and have a play this evening i think!

Here's what I had planned before the i24 changes- going to have to make some changes to take advantage of the new stuff, but I thought I'd throw it out there as another point of view. My best sapping, dmg, and one of my holds are all melee range, so I just charge right in behind the brute/tank. I built decent s/l/e/n def, backed by a resistance armor. And carry breakfrees, heh. 400m won't come close to covering this, but if you get some of the expensive bits via merits/a-merits/i-merits, it should cover most of it. Anyway, it may give you some ideas.

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From what i remember, They said they would buff sets without a t3 blast to compensate, No idea what they'll do for elec on that one.

tentative i24 plan:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.96
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
E3: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electricity Manipulation
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Electrical Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Bolts -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Electric Fence -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(7), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(7), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(9)
Level 2: Lightning Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Ball Lightning -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Posi-Dam%(17)
Level 6: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(9)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 12: Havoc Punch -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(23), Ksmt-ToHit+(34)
Level 16: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(29)
Level 18: Tesla Cage -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(21), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(29), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31)
Level 20: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 22: Short Circuit -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(31), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(33), P'Shift-EndMod(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erad-Dmg(34)
Level 24: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam(25), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(25), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(27)
Level 26: Lightning Clap -- FrcFbk-Rechg%(A), Empty(36), Empty(36)
Level 28: Charged Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(39), LkGmblr-Def(40)
Level 32: Thunderous Blast -- BlastersW-Acc/Dmg(A), BlastersW-Dmg/Rchg(37), BlastersW-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), BlastersW-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), BlastersW-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), BlastersW-Rchg/Dam%(43)
Level 35: Power Sink -- P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Shocking Grasp -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(46), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 41: Shocking Bolt -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(42), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(42), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(43)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(45), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(46)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Zapp -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(50), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(50), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(13), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(27)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
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