DrMike2000

Dark Armour and Energy Melee. All your stun punches (Energy Transfer, Total Focus and Stun) will take out a boss if you've got Oppressive Gloom on.

The downside is, tanks have to wait till 35 to get the good attacks, Brutes have to wait till 35 for OG.

But its worth it!

I'd settle for a "Reduced KB" IO that could be slotted in powers like this.

For Handclap, its obviously an improvement, so pay for it with a slot.

Other powers where it would be too overpowered (eg Bonfire) could be flagged as not accepting the IO.

Personally, I love knockback. Sonic/Energy Defender + Peacebringer duo for the win!!!

So what do you think blasters need, Bruise_Missile? More offence or more self-protection?

I think nay extra built-in surviviability goes against the grain. You can already build that way, even just by taking Elec Blast Sonic or Energy instead of Fire Blast.
But, I've got to say, I think a bump up in damage wouldn't be amiss.

On my Electric Blaster, with standard 4 second, 8 second and snipe attacks, I could drop an even con minion in one shot with Build Up and Zapp, and a second one with Charged Bolt + Lightning Bolt in the Build Up window.
An even con lieutenant would take all three to fall - Build Up plus Zapp, CB, LB.
(For reference with melee, Bone Smasher does around snipe damage too. No interrupt, but high end cost, melee range and longish recharge)

Now most of my career I wanted to fight +2s, because I could handle them. What, I thought was wrong with Build Up +Zapp NOT dropping a +2 minion in one shot?
I'm using the best damage buff and a special interruptable attack here, on a class that's sold purely on its damage dealing, and I cant snipe a minion? My Fire/SS tank could one shot a minion with KO Blow and Rage (and Blazing Aura helping a little), why couldn't my blaster?

Would a 25% increase in Ranged Damage be over the top? (I could then BU, Zapp, CB+LB two orange minions or a red lieutenant). Maybe even a 25% increase in single target ranged damage?
This was all before Defiance 2.0, so we get asmall boost now, but I doubt its that big.

How would that sound? Would that be improvement enough?

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Pick up static discharge as your 3rd cone attack for your chain, you'll find it MUCH better drmike2000.


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I did consider that, but Nemesis 12, the Nemesis from the 37th Century, just HAD to have a Personal Force Field

I take it you're talking about soloing mainly? I love Blasters too, and love soloing.

Fire/Fire is a tough one to solo alright - mainly due to lack of pre-emptive mez. My first main character was Fire/Fire - I got as high as 38 before moving on (to a solo Elec/Elec as it happens).

I'd still say Defenders have bigger problem solo-ing, depending on their primary. Force Fields, Empathy and worse of all Sonic Resonance all have to rely on inspirations and alter their playstyles in ways a blaster doesn't.

Mezzes are the biggest pain for a blaster, especially ranged ones.

I dont know if I'd change much about the way the archetypes works myself. I like the edge of your seat play and think blasters solo pretty well, better than Tanks and Defenders, on a par with Controllers, as long as you're careful.

My advice to a solo Fire/Fire blaster would be:

- Get Hasten, and 3 slot Aim and Build Up. One of these is then recharged every 20 seconds or so.

- Wait till Aim or BU is up, then rush a group with either Fire Breath/Fireball or the slightly madder Fireball/Fire Sword Circle. Target any leiutenants and Blaze them in the face straight afterwards.

- Get Aid Self. You can patch yourself up after every fight, and keep green pills for emergency in combat healing.

- Always carry break frees. Yes, it's a pain, I know. You dont need to use one for every mezzer, but you do need one when you get mezzed.

- Later on get Hot Feet and slot for slows. The afraid effect of everyone running away in slow motionis actually very good damage mitigation.

- Air Superiority might be handy for juggling enemies. Also, the much maligned Whirlwind can be handy for hard mezzing bosses - put them on follow, Whirlwind, and go all out offence while they're flopping around.

The chance for +End is also not affected by Recovery debuffs. It can give you back a bit of juice after a Sapper or Dark Ring Mistress has zapped you.

I think per-AT sets would just be a major source of envy.

If Scrappers got access to something cool that Tankers could in theory use, but couldn't because it had "Scrappers only" written on it, its going to lead to far more unhappy Tankers than happy Scrappers.

I can't think of a single case where I'd be pleased because I had an IO that other characters couldnt use due to some arbitrary rule.

The toggles that affect other powers in the set is a really cool idea. Are they intended to be mutually exclusive? You would want to fire flaming Liquid No2 shells would you?

It reminds me a bit of how Dual Blades introduced a new gameplay mechanic with combos. It could have been just another set with different looking attacks, but it wasn't.

Its a cool alternative to Build Up which we havent had yet. Soul Drain, Follow Up and Rage all make their respective sets more fun when you're on your 20th alt, this would be a great addition.

Nice one, Vel!

I've got one in the 40's.

Its a very much DPS AoE build - you can pretty much spam cone damage round the clock with Howl, Shockwave and Psychic Scream, and run in for a quick Psychic shockwave or Drain Psyche while everyone's fallen over from Shockwave.

I didn't take Shout or Mind Probe, so the burst damage isnt great.

The long animations on some of the cones also lead to annoying rooting when Im trying to position myself for the next cone.

So its not the best Blaster I've ever made, but does what I set out to do - ie spam cone damage. I'd give it 2 or 3 stars out of 5.

I agree with Laughing Man here.

Out of my current set of characters, my Sonic/Mental blaster and my PeaceBringer dont have Stamina but make up the shortfall with Set Bonuses from Thunderstrike and Positron's. Both have an extra END management tool (Drain Psyche and Nova Form) but I often find myself getting by without those tools. It helps that Thunderstrike also gives you +50-odd % End reduction in each single-target attack.

Grabbing Stamina at 20 can be deceptive. At 22 you get SO's, which means more damage (and therefore more damage per end) and more value out of any end reduction you slot in your attacks. If you find yourself gasping for endurance at 20, hanging off a couple of levels may be quite instructive - I definitely found it the case when I was levelling these two up.

My end problems got a whole lot better at 22 without Stamina (and without the set bonuses yet)

I slotted a lot of damage procs on my Ice/Kin - two Confuse ones in Arctic Air and three in Frostbite, with the aim of generating as much AoE damage for a slittle END as possible.

It worked OK, I could take on even con spawns in Dark Astoria pretty easily.

But Ice/Kin does obviate the need for most of the set bonuses I chase - Recharge and End flow freely eventually, and you dont need much defence when you have lots of AoE lockdown.

Even then, this felt less than perfect, since all the extra proc damage would be much better served by a secondary with -Res than +Damage.

I think this is unfair, yes.

Its created a bonus for certain secondaries or primaries that was probably unintended. By that I mean I don't think anyone on the dev team thought "Hey, lets give /Storm, /Traps and Thugs/ Masterminds a much-needed boost!" when they first made these sets.

There are some other cases like this. I really enjoy making Defenders as tough as possible using positional defence set bonuses, for example. Kinetics has a bonus here in that you can slot the Steadfast Protection IO in Increase Density, a power which has a default slot just sitting there waiting to be used. Sonic also accepts this IO, but most other primaries mean you have to get Tough to slot it or wait till Epic Shields.
(or stick it in a slot hungry stealth/Def/Res aura and waste a slot)

Another example is the Achilles Heel proc that adds a chance of -Res. This hugely benefits Rad Blast in a way that wasn't intended. They also now get Damage procs available from Lady Grey and Shield Breaker. Archery in contrast gets no extra damage procs or debuff procs.

So yeah, I feel you pain, FreshFish. But you're not alone in this. A system this complex is never going to be balanced perfectly.

I ended up using my Empath/Psi and Elec/NRG blaster and it worked a treat! 1 hour 7, I think it took.

But man, it felt so much longer! I've done Posi now, dont think I'll be back in a hurry!

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The real problem came in the high levels. Controllers are much better than you at locking a spawn down. Tankers are much better than you at keeping a spawn occupied and under control, and they might need a little healing, but all Kins do that easily. Scrappers and Blasters might benefit from your draining, but they can't help keep you alive, so you probably won't survive long enough to drain the whole group. Other Defenders can help keep you alive, but unless they're another Kinetic, they're probably doing more for team survival than you provide with your draining, at least for the first 10 seconds.


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Really good point here, Nick.

I think one of the design flaws of the set is that its a blast set, ie intended to have control as a secondary feature. But the only viable end drain power is an AoE. Beefing this up to provide reliable AoE boos-level control in a blast set would be way overpowered, so we end up with a set that does AoE control poorly and single target control not at all.

Well, except for Tesla Cage, which makes it just like all the other sets with a hold or stun.

The only times its safe to use Short Circuit in big teams are when the enemy are already locked down by a Tank or Controller.

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Y'know... I think I'd actually like to see a new power like this, that gives large ticks of healing over a short time. It'd be something new and interesting at least, and could fit into a new powerset.

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I agree. DoT healing would be kind of cool, and fit the idea of pre-emptive healing exactly.
Its not a million miles from +Regen like Adrenalin Boost or Regen Aura really, so they prove that the idea works in principle.

Pro: Doing story arcs becomes more attractive for solos or small groups. Some arcs (eg Steven Sheridan) are worth a random roll on their own, just like a Task Force used to be.

This has lead to me running a whole heap of content again and enjoying it.

Task Forces mostly return more recipes than before if you take Random rolls (eg Positron is now worth 3 plus change). This arguably means more of these recipes on the market than before.

Cons: Pick up groups are more likely to be doing the leader's story arc than radio missions, which means more zoning.

The older generic story arcs can be almost impossible to acquire. Gordon Stacy gave me every possible non-arc mission and then told me he was finished, despite the fact I didn't have any other arcs on the go.

Thunderstrike is the king of sets, in my opinion.

You can have 3 sets slotted at level 27, for 11.25% Ranged Defence and some nice Recovery and Accuracy bonuses. Its all non-rare, and costs around 1/4 to 1 million per recipe with no expensive salvage.
It also helps your blast powers, which are your main bread and butter, so you're augmenting your main role rather than sacrificing it.

Pool powers like Weave and Manuvers give low returns for blasters, and do eat into your build in terms of slots and power choices, so be aware of that if you decide to pursue that route.

This page provides a list of all sets that boost ranged defence:

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Category...Ranged_Defense

Blood Mandate in Voltaic Sentinel if you're Electric is very cheap and gives good Aoe and Ranged Defence bonuses along with good-ish use of actual enhancement values.

Lockdown is good for holds, but expensive.

Blessing of the Zephyr is awesome, requires few slots, and can be used by anyone multiple times, but consequently is very expensive.

You're right.

End drain in the electrical blast is currently really badly executed for a number of reasons. Its fair to say its broken.

Ice Blast, for comparison, has a meaningful -Recharge on each single target blast - you debuff as you blast. Same with Dark Blast - after a few hits a single target is unable to attack you properly due to the stacked -To Hit.

IMHO electrical blast should work more like that, so that when you attack a boss (as a Defender) you switch them off around 1/2 to 1/3 health, sooner if you slot for it.

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Why, I do not know.

[/ QUOTE ]Because they thought stacking resistance would be too beneficial to players

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Yeah, my guess is that Defence bonuses can be debuffed (whereas resistance resists Resistance debuffs) and always allow a lucky shot through, so leaving a little bit of risk for the user.

I still think all resistance set bonuses could be doubled without introducing any exploit.

Yeah, for looking cool when I hover and do the yoga emote :P

Thanks for the info, Umbral

Ive played a Kin/Elec Defender and an Elec/Elec Blaster to 50, and the Defender was by far the better sapper.
These two are pretty much the only viable builds for sapping now.

Transfusion at 26 gives you a ranged attack that will drain almost all of its targets end. Even a boss. Short Circuit is the only Electrical Attack worth slotting for END drain, and will take over half of a groups END while slotted for end drain. Dont bother slotting for damage in the long term, becaue Fulcrum Shift will take care of all your +Damage needs.

So, my tactics would be, Transfusion the boss from a distance, fire of Short Circuit as they get within range to neuter them, and then stay alive using Transfusion until Short Circuit is recharged again and neuter the rest of the group with a second hit. Use Siphon Speed on the boss to stop them running away, and you never need to target anyone else pretty much - use them as a source for Fulcrum, SiphoN Speed, Transfusion and Transference, and the minions will drop from Ball Lightning and Short Circuit splash damage.

You're still not as safe as a Controller, but its a more dynamic and fun, and well, Kinetic experience.

[Edit] Its rough getting there. At 26 and 28 you get Transference and Tesla Cage, and your survivability soars. Until then I lived off Siphon Speed and jousting to stay in one piece when I solo'd.

Yeah, I was thinking that Contagious Confusion might be nice.

My Blaster mainly uses WoC to look cool with hover and the /yoga emote
It procs every 4 seconds and does a base 1.5 sec confuse, 3 seconds if slotted, dropped down to 2 seconds for +2s and +3s roughly for Invincible missions.
So at best you've got enemies in its tiny radius confused half the time.

I'm guessing Contagious Confusion helps out both ways - gives you the occasional longer lasting confuse and spreads the readius out a little, since any target within 8 feet of you then transmits the confusion another 8 feet around them.

Paragon Wiki doesnt have a duration for the purple proc. Does anyone who use this have an idea how long it lasts?

Cool!

Thanks for that info!

What does the animation for Seismic Smash in the Earth epic look like?

Is it a punch, or does it involve summoning a Stone Melee style mallet from hammerspace?

Theres no reason a "Tankmage" set, ie shields and ranged defence couldn't be made, it would just have to be balanced correctly. Maybe Scrapper level defences and Defender level Blasts, roughly speaking?

I quite like your idea for the inherent - having a character who absorbs damage to become offensively more powerful.

There are plenty of examples in comcis, Sebastian Shaw foer example, and the Brute Archetype proves that this can work in game.

I especially like it if their defences are not Tank level, because that introduces some gameplay tension - you could get a sweet damage buff by taking that alpha, but you may not survive it. Or you could follow the tank in and get a lesser buff more safely.

I would rather see this applied to a new Defence set though, rather than to a whole new archetype. For example, an Absorption set for Scrappers and Stalkers that gives them resistance, no heal or rez like you say, mez protection and a toggle that allows them to convert damage into damage buffs.

It would be a fun new game mechanic to play with.