Miladys_Knight
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Originally Posted by StratoNexus
I probably shouldn't do this, but just as you seem compelled to slam Pistols every chance you get, I guess I am compelled to scratch my head occasionally and point out where I think you are having a disconnect.
If it is so hard to live through HoB's 5 second animation (if we throw in Build Up, call it 6 seconds), how in gods name do you even get to the nuke in your chain before you are dead? And you have to be in melee from the very beginning, because if you add movement the nuke will come too late to benefit from at least Aim, as you state it comes in the very last second.
Even if you discount the animation time of Aim and Build Up (hey, you are likely invisible), you are still in melee with very angry enemies for over 6 seconds before you start to activate the Nova, which takes another 3 seconds before it goes off (I hate dying in the middle of Nova on my Nrg/Devices blaster, thankfully it is very rare).
You are right you shouldn't since your comparison is a series of non-sequitors.
Since you have I'll once again address the issue in the (most likely forlorn) hope that it will finally stike a cord.
First lets eliminate the non-sequitors:
* The 10% defense in HoB on a brand new, totally nekkid, Dual Pistoleer is = to a fully IO'd, been played as a blapper since I4 (man do I miss old defiance with this toon), been my main since I9, loaded for bear on accolades, Energy/Energy/Force blapper.
When I'm talking about the suckage that is HoB I'm talking about an SO'd toon (since that is what they are "supposedly" balanced around [not that I find that to be a completely true statement anymore either]) especially when solo. In this case the former Dual Pistoleer.
When I'm talking about the awesome that is my attack chain with my Energy/Energy/Force. I'm referring to a player with lots of blapper experience, (me in this case), running Force of Nature, Perma Hasten, Slotted Alpha Incarnate, and 50% defense from the 2 medium purple insps I consumed 5 seconds ago, with Geas of the Kind Ones, a catch a breath, PFF and Phase shift, the Wedding Band, and Eye of the Magus as back ups. In this case the later blapper.
Winner the ancient Blapper, Loser the newbie Pistoleer
* HoB = Nova. These are not even close to comparable powers. The only thing that is similar (and most likely leads to this mistaken conclusion) is that both powers are tier 9 PBAoEs.
If used wisely the Nova will eliminate the entire spawn (and incidentally fill your insp tray in a fraction of a second). This renders the end crash moot since there is nothing left to attack you.
Even with high insp consumption the best that HoB can hope for is to clear all minions in the spawn (and get a few miserly inspirations over the course of the animation).
Spawn clearing attack - Winner Nova (and all other crashing nukes), Loser Dual Pistols.
* HoB = Full Auto, Rain of Arrows, or any other crashless nuke.
HoB suffers due to the way it ticks and the RNG. We all know that the blaster's real Arch nemesis in this game is a bad roll from the RNG.
Dual Pistols Lacks Aim (as does Assault Rifle) - 2 ticks less than average won't eliminate minions. A perfect, all ticks hit, roll won't eliminate lieutenants. The best you can do (and there's no guarantee) is eliminate minions roughly 3/4s the time.
Assault Rifle does slightly less damage than an average HoB except 10% of the time when FA crits. How ever Assault Rifle does so from 80 feet away. An AR user can start behind an object, leap up and trigger FA, and then fall down behind the object eliminating 100% of the mob's Alpha Strike. Afterwards you still have time to use M30 Grenade and perhaps Buckshot before they are on you. You can increase that safety margin by slotting range into FA and/or using boost range and Alpha Cardiac. FA does have a fairly narrow cone and a 10 target cap but this can be compensated to a degree by slotting for range and the extra safety from distance limits the mobs to ranged attacks until other sources of damage can be applied, especially when using a PPP with a ranged AoE immob.
Rain of Arrows will always do more damage than either HoB or FA as it has Aim in the set. RoA can also be fired from outside of Line of Sight so it is safer than either FA or HoB. It starts out with more range than either FA or HoB and can be further enhanced and/or coupled with Boost Range and Alpha Cardiac. It's 16 target cap makes it the crashless nuke of choice.
The Pistoleer MUST be in close/melee range where objects provide no benefit (and can in fact be a hinderance). The Pistoleer suffers an immediate ranged Alpha and will suffer a melee follow up attack immediately after. Slotting range does nothing for the attack and it's only benefit is being able to switch secondary effects that come pre-nerfed because they CAN be switched and a 10% defense buff (actually 9.25%) that lasts 5 seconds (and is instantly nullified by a single mob that uses a rifle with the burst power).
Winner - RoA, close second - FA, Loser by a wide margin - HoB
Are we on the same page now? Good, now divide by 2 because the base recharge for HoB is twice that of RoA and Full Auto.
(by the way, I too hate dying in the middle of my Nova and thankfully it is also a rare occurance for me.)
No my friend, what we actually both know is that it is extremely hard to survive in melee range as a blaster, but that you can compensate for it with several years of practice and skill, lots of IO set bonuses, lots of Accolade and temp powers, a boatload of inspirations (colloquially known as blaster candy for good reason), and a good team. All these things will bring you up to somewhat less survivable than an SO'd scrapper accounting for the same amount of skill.Quote:Of course we both know the answer is that it is not hard to survive that long in melee on a blaster, so you should stop using that as a strike against HoB, especially since they buffed it to add defense to make it even easier to survive.
The amount of damage my blasters deal has never really been an issue. Surviving long enough to bring that damage to bear has always been, and continues to be the real issue.
10% defense for 5 seconds is merely spitting in the wind. My issues with HoB and Dual Pistols will be eliminated when the devs actually eliminate the problems or at the very least when the powers approach parity when all factors are considered.
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Quote:fix'dOriginally Posted by Another_Fan
Good reason to revisit the why a blaster thread again.
Imagine a team of 8 each with one of these nukes. Every 12 seconds somebody takes a turn and fires off their nuke, all the minions and lieutenants drop, then the boss is promptly dispatched.
AoE damage is much like survivability once you have enough more is wasted. With the judgment powers I think we will be very near the point where a team of anything has more than enough AoE and more than enough damage in general. The blaster just remains the least survivable member of the team. -
As a low level Kheldian fighting hellions, I'm always amused by, and in agreement with, Damned Quantums.
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Quote:Oddly enough I can give you an answer to that question. I tested it on my Arch/Dev. Devices has the longest and most egregious animation times in the game.Originally Posted by dave_p
It's been long enough since defiance 2.0 was introduced that I don't remember, but has anyone done any math on cost effectiveness of various defiance powers? Long animating powers generally give higher numbers, but they obviously take longer, and usually also have lower DPAs. Are you better off firing off that TF or just a pair of quicker animating attacks instead, even if prepping for a nuke? Just ottomh calcs show a 24% defiance from a Blast + Burst chain, which should take roughly the same time as TF, though TF's buff lasts a bit longer--that might be the key as TF's defiance will last through all of the Aim+BU phase, but then there's no reason you have to wait til the absolute last second of Aim to fire off Nova either.
Oh, and yeah, set mule for Mako's for my En/En. Hardly ever use it though in my attack chain unless I want to stun an Lt or lower, which is to say almost never.
Note DPA has Arcanatime baked in. Assuming you're En/En (and En blast has more or less normalized T1 & 2 DPA blasts, T3 is mediocre), TF is doing slightly better DPA than Bolt & Blast, but worse than Burst. The numbers are close enough that unless you're looking for the stun or wanting to avoid KB, I'd prefer the ranged options of my blasts. So yeah, I rarely actually use TF.Code:Attack Name Dam Act DPA Energy Punch 109.00 0.83 103.22 Bone Smasher 144.59 1.5 84.26 Total Focus 197.97 3.3 57.68 Power Bolt 62.56 1 52.66 Power Blast 102.60 1.67 55.52 Power Burst 132.63 2 59.10
Naturally, Fire, Ice, Arch & Psy, all with superior T3 blasts, would all fare even better w/o TF in their ST chains.
Time Bomb gives a 52.8% defiance buff that lasts for 15.5 seconds.
Trip Mine gives 26.4% defiance buff that lasts 11.5 seconds.
Caltrops gives a 7.1% defiance buff that lasts 8.57 seconds.
You can set a Time Bomb at your feet (Defiance 52.8%, 15.5 seconds remaining)
Drop a trip mine at your feet (Defiance buff 79.2%, 6.5 seconds remaining)
Drop Caltrops at your feet (Defiance buff 86.3%, 5.43 seconds remaining)
Aim (Defiance buff 86.3% + 62.5% damage buff, 4.26 seconds remaining)
Roa (784.17 damage, .26 seconds left)
Fistfull (171.11 damage, defiance + Aim damage bonus now at 101.6 from losing Time bomb but gaining RoA)
Explosive (171.11 damage, defiance + Aim damage bonus now at 104.8)
Total damage at this point is 1126.39 and even level minions and lieutenants should be gone. Time bomb won't actually hit anything as it will detonate when RoA hits and none of the mobs will have had time to approach you.
Any bosses that are upright and not running will run afoul of your trip mine and take another 387.4 (497.4 with a crit) total damage at this point will be 1513.79 which should kill of the bosses discounting ticks of regen which caltrops should be able to account for.
The problem is that any blaster secondary that has build up can deal 1233 damage (RoA + Fistfull + Explosive) 26 seconds faster and can do so every 45 seconds instead of every 180 (using level 50 common IOs for ED capped slotting and excluding hasten).
From having tried the defiance buffing Arch/Dev I don't reccomend it because in 4ish seconds with the Arch/Nrg you can add in about the same amount of total damage that the trip mine cap, that took you 9 seconds to set out, adds up to.
You can start with Caltrops farther away and drop the time bomb in the spawn to try to take advantage of it's damage but 23 seconds with the mobs potentially wandering into caltrops or out of time bomb radius is not something I would reccomend.
As far as my nuke chain goes:
I don't have burst in my build and the defiance duration of TF is one of the keys in the chain. Nova is in the last second of Aim to take full advantage of the chain. -
It's pretty end intensive especially if you use Combustion instead of Burn. Cardiac is my choice.
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The build below will farm a S/L ambush map just fine. You don't have to worry about runners because of the AoE Immob in the PPP.
Depending on your particular playstyle you can substitute Burn for Combustion especially if you slot Cardiac.
I'd make sure that you avoid mezzers in your ambush map as Hot Feet is a power you want to stay toggled on. Defense and resistance debuffers aren't as big a problem as you will kill so fast that you can just continually munch insps and have as many as 10-20 active insps at any one time.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(43), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 2: X-Ray Beam -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 4: Irradiate -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Achilles-ResDeb%(9)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(11), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(11), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(42), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 12: Fire Sword -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), HO:Nucle(15)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Cosmic Burst -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(19), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(19), RzDz-Stun/Rng(21), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(21)
Level 20: Stimulant -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(23), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(23), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal(40)
Level 24: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(25), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(27), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 28: Consume -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(31)
Level 30: Boxing -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Burn -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(39), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), HO:Micro(39), HO:Micro(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(42)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(45), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(46), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(46)
Level 47: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RctvArm-ResDam(48), RctvArm-EndRdx(48), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 49: Weave -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(3)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3), P'Shift-End%(5)
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Quote:Or a Plant/TA and use Entangling Arrow.Originally Posted by Amy_Amp
Play a Plant/storm. Use Snow Storm. :P
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Quote:FSC and Combustion (especially Combustion) are exactly what I don't want to compare to for new blaster secondaries. /Fire has a large number of the most egregious animation times for its powers. The only thing that's worse is /Devices.Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
Um, wat?
Kinetic melee animation times:
Quick strike, body blow, and smashing blow are all quite fast. Blasters likely wouldn't get repulsing torrent or focused burst in a secondary. Burst is 2.67s, but it's a PBAoE, which are almost always slow (see FSC, combustion). And concentrated strike is actually ~.5s *faster* than total focus and friends. And even assuming they got power siphon instead of a standard buildup (I have a feeling power siphon might be a bit tricky to figure out how to implement, as blasters have that entire other attack set), I don't see any reason to complain about the extra ~.5s given how awesome it is.Code:Power Animation Time Quick strike .83 Body Blow 1.07 Smashing Blow 1.20 Power Siphon 1.93 Repulsing Torrent 2.00 Burst 2.67 Focused Burst 2.00 Concentrated Strike 2.83
Honestly, it's really weird how universally KM seems to be regarded as a 'slow' set when the animation numbers are generally no worse than most sets.
I'd love to see a (or even couple) nice quick, crisp, no nonsense, get the job done, secondaries for blasters (since we don't really have any). Martial Arts or Claws would be excellent in this regard.
If MA went something like this:
Bolas - (or what ever lame ranged mag 3 immob they decide to put here that most everyone wants to skip but has to take anyway) anim time 1.17
Thunder Kick -
Storm Kick -
Cobra Strike -
Focus Chi -
Crane Kick -
Caltrops -
Dragon Tail -
Eagles Claw -
I'd still take it in a heartbeat. What I'd love to see would be....
Thunder Kick -
Storm Kick -
Caltrops -
Crippling Axe Kick - (make it the blaster's mag 3 immob but be unique and put it here in a power that does damage first and mag 3 immob second)
Focus Chi -
Crane Kick - (100% chance to KB for blasters)
Dragon's Tail -
Cobra Strike -
Eagles Claw -
Buddy I'd be there. I'd have an Arch/MA or a Fire/MA so fast the devs heads would spin. It would quickly be the most survivable, high performance, blaster in my stable. I'd be in 7th heaven and it would switch my focus from Doms and Controllers back to my blasters again. -
MA yes, KM no way.
No more long animating secondaries for blasters please. -
Quote:You are posting under the false premise that HoB and Nova are comparible powers, they aren't anymore comparible than (the also false premise) apples = oranges. If you have paid attention to my posts I have made my case quite clear on HoB and how the ills of DP could be remedied. You simply can't clear a spawn with HoB.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
That's an interesting attack chain for a guy who has repeatedly and vociferously argued that hail of bullets is terrible because it keeps the poor squishy blaster in melee for so long that it's a guaranteed death sentence.
Anyway, on topic, has total focus ever actually been worth taking? If you like how it looks, the answer is surely yes. Otherwise, you might as well just use energy punch. Total focus does 46% of its dpa, comes late in the build, roots you, et cetera. If you are a melee fiend, then presumably you can get by with bone smasher and a ranged attack to fill in the gaps between energy punching things.
My blapper's Nova attack chain is indeed an interesting attack chain and since I can alternate Eye of the Magus and Force of Nature with judicious use of Geas of the Kind Ones and PFF I can make it work just about every time Nova is up, definately on those occasions when I need a spawn clearing attack.
DP hasn't got a snowballs chance in comparison and will never clear a spawn with HoB.
Anyway back on topic. When TF was mag 4 stun you could eliminate the threat of a non stun resistant boss in 3.3 seconds, 3.2 of which could be done outside of melee range by kiting.
For equivalent safety (provided all attacks hit), post nerf, it takes 7.1 seconds of animation (not including the animation time of Aim and Build up since you can do those before aggro) plus any travel time needed (Power Thrust, Stun, Power Thrust, Total Focus) to half kill and stun the boss.
You can kill that same even level boss in 6 seconds (again excluding the animation times of Aim and Build up) using Bone Smasher, Energy Punch, Power Thrust, Power Bolt and Power Blast.
The thing that I find most puzzling about the TF nerf (and the acrobatics nerf) is that it came on the heels of the defiance change, which was put into place because blasters were, without exception, the one class in the entire game that received rewards at a rate far below the next least rewarding class. So they made it easier to survive (or at least gain rewards) on one hand and then turned around and made it harder again.
In my opinion (and experience) the no toggle drop on mez and the inspiration combining mechanism did more to increase blaster reward speed than any of the changes that were actually made to defiance.
In the case of my AR and Archery blasters the reduction in animation times did more to increase reward gain than anything else.
Watching the field on PuG (and even several experienced teams) blasters are, almost without exception, the first to be defeated and those most often defeated on any team I run on.
I wonder if the defiance changes actually achieved the desired result. I would venture to say that blasters are still the lowest rewarding AT even post defiance change. I just wonder if the devs have data mined to find out if they have been raised up enough in comparison to the other ATs. -
2 is enough for anything but AVs. My wife and I have a pair of AR/nrg/ice. range boosted snow storms on the bosses means that nothing gets close enough to hit you.
A pair of FA with BU and Assaults means that only the bosses survive your alpha. By the time you finish them off with burst and slug, FA is recharged and ready to go again. -
Quote:Agreed. I still have end troubles with mine and have oblits slotted only in low end cost powers like Burn and Consume (and Atomic Blast but since that empties your end bar no big deal)Originally Posted by Super Flu
Well I just started a level 16 rad/fire blaster and am pretty excited about the performance so far. AOE machine!
Tha s/l defense is surely gonna help but my main concern with what I saw on your build was endurance. Just not sure if all of your endurance measures in stamina, health, and consume are going to cover the toggles and high end powers slotted with Obliterations (which had low end reduction).
Just my two cents
Also the interrupt enhancer in Aid Self gives you virtually no benefit. It reduces the interrupt time from 1 second to .66 seconds. I can assure you that you won't be able to tell the difference. If you intend to use 3 slots then a Heal/End/Rech IO from 3 different set will be the best for performance.
As a note, if you team I would take Stimulant (slotted with a single end reducer) rather than Aid Other as you have it now. Chances that you will use Aid Other (and have it be useful) are almost 0. Stimulant will be used and useful once or twice a mission depending on your team.
If you want to compare, this is the current build for my Rad/Fire
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Gramma Ray: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(43), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 1: Ring of Fire -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 2: X-Ray Beam -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 4: Irradiate -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Achilles-ResDeb%(9)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(11), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(11), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(42), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 12: Fire Sword -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), HO:Nucle(15)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Cosmic Burst -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(19), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(19), RzDz-Stun/Rng(21), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(21)
Level 20: Stimulant -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 22: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(23), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(23), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal(40)
Level 24: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(25), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Aim -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(27), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 28: Consume -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(31)
Level 30: Boxing -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 32: Atomic Blast -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Burn -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Hot Feet -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(39), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), HO:Micro(39), HO:Micro(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(42)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(45), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(46), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(46)
Level 47: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RctvArm-ResDam(48), RctvArm-EndRdx(48), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 49: Weave -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(3)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3), P'Shift-End%(5)
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It gives a 21.8% damage buff from defiance. My Energy/Energy/Force blapper uses it as part of my nuke chain.
Aim + Build up + TF + BS + EP > nuke.
that leaves about a second of Aim left when the nuke goes off. Including my +damage set bonuses Nova deals roughly 1220 damage as opposed to the 1106 that
Aim + Build up > nuke
would do on it's own.
Other than that, and what Demo said, no its not worth it if you have a seemless attack chain without it. It needed it's animation time reduced to about 2 seconds post nerf to make it worthwhile. -
I have a mind/psi/fire that I rerolled as a mind/ice/fire. I really like it. Mind paired with ice gives you lots of layered hard and soft controls. Mind/Ice/Fire gives you 3 exotic AoE/cone damage types, Fire, Ice, and Psi.
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If the color theme works for you, Might I suggest taking a trip red side and picking up Mu Mastery? You get to add dark red to your color theme, you get that last bit of end drain in Electrifying Fences and Static Discharge, Static Discharge gives you another AoE/cone attack, and Electrifying Fences gives you a place to slot a Grav Anchor set.
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Details, details, and minor ones at that.
Bottom line for me is that I don't care for the aesthetics of the set so there is no "cool shiney" factor for me to make up for the lower performance.
Even if they get around to creating non-gunfu animations I won't play the set unless it's brought up to my personal minimum standards for blasters.
Since blasters live (and die) by their secondary effects the secondary effects of DP need to be brought up to standard. I don't buy that being able to change to the different types makes up for the reduction in effect for 2 reasons. Losing Aim for this power and not being able to effectively boost the secondary effects "properly" by slotting the power for secondary effects. I "might" marginally buy swap ammo as is if the split was 30/70 on damage type rather than the current 70/30 that it is.
If, for example, you slot a power for Slow, that slot only provides benefit when you are using cryo rounds and is wasted any other time. This lack removes much of the benefit of being able to swap ammo. If you want to increase your secondary effects you limit yourself to 1 or 2 types of ammo, defeating the entire purpose of the swap ammo power.
How would I fix DP?
First off would be a set of Malta-ish animations as an alternate.
Second, I would make Swap Ammo slottable. Swap Ammo would provide a global damage increase of 5% when selected (this would be ED slottable up to 10%ish which is (using SOs as a standard) roughly equal to the damage boost provided by Aim but spread out over 45ish seconds instead of a 62.5% boost for 10 seconds every 45 seconds.
Further more Swap Ammo would accept KB, slow, and def debuff enhancements and would apply their enhancement to the secondary affects of the various Ammo types as they were swapped, KB for lethal rounds, Slow for cryo, def debuff for toxic. So that multiple slots aren't wasted in the damage powers by trying to bolster secondary effects for only one aspect.
Finally HoB would get the 60 second recharge that it should have and it would animate in 3 seconds, 6 damage ticks (one per .5 second) having a 100% chance per tick of dealing 36 damage per tick split 9/9/9/9 Lethal, Fire, Cold, and Toxic and applying the secondary effect of each possible ammo type (though dropping the chance of KD to 80%)
If it is going to be the ALL out damage power of DP then it should have ALL the flavor of DP rolled into it.
That would bring it up to average for me. I'd probably play it then instead of passing it by like I do with elec, and Psi. -
Quote:All of my blasters have a Zephyr -KB slotted into my travel power at level 7, a Miracle + slotted by level 20, a Numina +/+ slotted by 25. I usually try to fit in a Winter's Gift unique, a Kismet +acc, and a Rectified Reticle + perception. My blappers usually get 2 more -KB IOs by the time they are level 25ish.Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
After seeing a recent thread asking about the usefulness of Karma KB protection it got me to thinking.
What are the IO's that you personally can't stand going without on your Blasters?
What are some IO's you've always wished you could get?
I'd love to have Mag 4 status protection IOs, I'd slot a -stun and a -hold one of those, might skimp on the sleep one though. -
I left combustion in the Rad/Fire build I have. I like the radius and being soft capped to S/L the animation time isn't so much of a problem.
I'll agree on all points about Blazing Aura being a bad choice. In my experience I did little damage with it because nothing was ever within 8 feet for very long. That was mainly due to the longish animations of /Fire's powers combined with the "run away" effect in Hot Feet.
If you want a potent 8 foot power take Burn. It's very good since it was unnerfed again, costs a pittance for end and is even more effective if you go over to red side long enough to get a PPP with an AoE immob. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Bright Shadow
I think you're either under-estimating HoB's power, or are exaggerating. It's not "the best" T9 attack. But it's definitely not something you'd SKIP if you rolled a Dual Pistols Blaster/Corrupter because you "can't think of any situation where I would actually want to use HoB"...
Neither actually, and it's still the same problem as in Beta, animations not with standing.
I am considering the quantitative aspects. You've neglected to mention that that damage output is an average of the 12 ticks. Average is not what you are going to get every time. Most of the time you will be on either the low or high side of the damage. Slotted to the ED cap for damage (3 level 50 common damage IOs in this case) the average is going to be 407.12, adding in Aim.....Quote:Base Damage/Recharge for some comparable T9 Blaster attacks from Mid's:
Rain of Arrows: 225 Base Damage, 60s Recharge
Full Auto: 178 Base Damage, 60s Recharge
Thunderous Blast: 265 Base Damage, 360s Recharge
Inferno: 472 Base Damage, 360s Recharge
Blizzard: 500 Base Damage, 360s Recharge
Time Bomb (technically not a T9): 278 Base Damage, 360s Recharge
Hail of Bullets (Lethal Rounds): 204 Base Damage, 120s Recharge
Hail of Bullets (Incendiary Rounds): 254 Base Damage, 120s Recharge
If you consider just the quantitative attributes, Hail of Bullets really isn't as bad as some people keep moaning about. If you don't count Incendiary Rounds, it's the second last in terms of raw damage output.
oh that's right the set lacks aim that means no damage boost to this crashless nuke.
If you have paired this power with a secondary that lacks build up your damage on average will be 407.12, 93 damage short of defeating minions that have no resistances to lethal damage. Even if you roll (consistantly) on the high side (you need to get 3 ticks over the average each and every time to do this) you won't be defeating minions as a DP/Dev and if you roll on the low side (not even a lot on the low side just one tick less) it will take more damage than a single application of ED capped Bullet Rain (124.42) can provide to finish off minions.
Pairing with a set that has build up mitigates this to some extent. The average damage provided with build up is 611.62 at the ED cap and you can miss 2 ticks (but not 3) and still dispatch minions.
This pales in comparison to RoA (589.13 with Aim, 814.35 with Aim and Build up), LRM (407.48 with Aim, 563.26 with Aim and Build up) and even FA (355.46 [10% of the time it will crit for 480.1], with build up 534.01 [721.12 with a crit]. All 3 of these WILL wipe out minions with build up each and every time and from a nice safe range of 102.5 (90 + 1/2 of radius 25), 160 (150 + 1/2 of radius 20), and 80 feet respectively. This can be further increased by adding range enhancements, pairing with /Energy, and slotting Alpha Cardiac.
Slotting for range, pairing with /energy, slotting Alpha cardiac only helps increase HoB's radius..... oh that's right HoB is a PBAoE. There is absolutely no increased benefit to doing any of these things.
I would call these quantitative and quite accurate. 6 minions can defeat a blaster in 5 seconds with their Alpha and follow up especially since they can use their ranged and melee attacks. The other crashless nukes can be used from outside of mob perception range and only the ranged alpha has a chance to hit you before you can respond with something else.Quote:The other non-quantitative attributes are the whole "It's a PBAoE" and the "It has long root rime" claims. Honestly, if your character can't survive 4-5 seconds in the middle of a spawn to cast this, then you really need to revise your battle strategy.
Revising your strategy I take it means something like slotting defense set bonuses (please remember that the game is still "supposedly" balanced around SO use) or perhaps shoring up your weaknesses by teaming with a buffer/debuffer/controller or 3. Things that if done by/for the other blaster sets, provide both more utility and/or more safety.
What exactly is the point then? If you are teamed with any other blaster they will have the spawn gone before you finish clicking build up if you wait for the rest of the team to soften the spawn up, making HoB next to useless. The rest of the team will be moving on to the next spawn while you still have a second or 2 of animation to finish up. The use for crashless nukes are as an opening move, designed to wipe out all the minions in the spawn, in relative safety, so that you can concentrate on the lieutenants and boss in the spawn without having to continually dodge the minions. A full crash nuke is meant to eliminate the spawn completely (except for those 5% of all mobs that are always missed) and the longest animation for any of the PBAoE crashing nukes is still 2 seconds less than HoB.Quote:Hail of Bullets isn't an "I Win" button like Rain of Arrows. It's not MEANT to used as a team's opening move. You have to wait a little for the team to soften the enemies and the aggro before rushing in to cast Hail of Bullets.
No, I expect to eliminate the minions each and every time (barring those 5% of all misses) with a setting of 0/x5.Quote:And if you solo a lot, then what do you expect to do? Kill +4/x8 enemy spawns in a single swoop?
I hadn't yet gotten to the fact that HoB only gets to under perform half as often as RoA or FA because of the eggregious recharge it has. HoB should have a recharge of 60 seconds or better yet 45 seconds to make up for all of it's other short comings when compared to all other crashless and crashing nukes (save Time Bomb).Quote:The only "flaw" I see with Hail of Bullets is that its Recharge needs to be re-balanced. It needs to be at the very most 90 seconds in recharge.
/rant
The only real advantage that I ever saw with HoB when playing DP was short duration mezzes applied as a response to me activating the power had worn off before I finished animating the power. -
Quote:Eh, for me its always a question of form AND function. I'm not fan of gunfu so HoB gets 2 thumbs down one for looking ridiculous and one for being imbalanced.Originally Posted by Bright Shadow
Nowhere in my post did I state that Hail of Bullets is particularly superior to any other nuke in terms of numbers.
I love it because of the aesthetics and just how badass it makes me feel!
I had to borrow my wife's and daughter's thumbs for Time Bomb as it gets 1 thumb up for form but 5 thumbs down for function. That said I can't think of any situations where I would actually want use HoB with the possible exception of wanting to trigger RotP right after.
Time Bomb I actually use while soloing but it's teeth grindingly slow. -
Quote:Not to burst your enthusiastic bubble but, if you've waited that long the Archer has all ready destroyed the spawn from range with RoA, AR player is just finishing up full auto, and the munitions user launched LRM from snipe range a long time ago.Originally Posted by Bright Shadow
Hail of Bullets.
Haters gonna hate. The Tanker rushes in, talking crap to a bunch of the enemies. They rush to him, and the Controller stops them in their tracks. The Mastermind unleashes her pets and the Corruptors and Defenders lay down their debuffs...
And then you jump in!
In the middle of all that chaos, there is you, dancing in the middle of all that mess and firing your guns madly, making the enemies flip-flop in the air with all that knock back before everything's shot into hell and back.
And then everything calms down, and there is only a field of corpses around you.
Yah, that's pretty darn satisfying to me!
And with the right recharge bonuses, it can go down to 30 seconds recharge. It's really my favorite T9 attack of all time! It gets only more badass when you combine it with Psychic Shockwave.
Also, you forgot Psychic Wail from Fortunatas. That one's pretty awesome too!
You could potentially cause a problem for the devices player who is in the middle of setting up time bomb but that's about it. -
Quote:This. Also note that with the same amount of work over the following 4 days you can sell the exact same thing you just slotted and have 325 million influence to spend on other IOsOriginally Posted by Kelenar
If you work for alignment merits, each of those recipes are 4 days of tip missions, tops. That's how I've gotten them on my characters I want them on--tip missions are a nice way to level up anyway, and getting good recipes out of it is just gravy. I wouldn't call them all worth having in every build, either. My /Elec Brute has no need for more recovery, and most squishies won't get that much from +25% regen (it would be a whopping 1.3 hp/sec for my level 50 Dominator.)
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Quote:Aid self gives 48.44% resistance to stuns for 45 seconds. It's a staple power for all my blasters and used both before and after a battle.Originally Posted by Katten
I just want to say thanks for posting the build, it's a lot tighter than the one I have planned on my DP/Fire, some good tips to take from it.
As for acrobatics it is NOT worth the end cost. I thought it sounded like an awesome idea too.. except, as it turns out, almost no enemy in the game actually uses holds. The majority come in the form of stuns and sleeps. The few holds there actually are are also over mag 1... so, it's only really good for the immob protection.
However, stun duration decrease could be significant. I know having AM's protection against malta stun grenades, tsoo claps, and magus stalagmites is very, very noticeable. -
Even though it's not my main, I'd have to say that my Mind/Ice/Fire Dom is my most versatile character.
It's has a wide range of both hard and soft controls (lacking only stuns and immobilize). Even when Domination is down there is a tool to quickly stop a Boss that isn't mez resistant. Stackable sleeps, stackable holds, stackable confuses. I can't remember running into anything that I wasn't able to control in one way or another.
Multiple damage types so that if I run into something that has resists I have a different damage type to throw it's way. (Psi, Cold, Fire, Smashing, Lethal)
Permadom (which isn't all that difficult to get with this combination) increases performance by a magnitude or 2 and yeilds a ranged using squishy with permanent mez protection and nearly unlimited endurance.
It can handle and survive nearly any encounter that the dev created content can throw it's way and on the highest difficulty settings. -
This is the problem right here, this is the exact wording from the official CoH web site. The colored emphasis is mine alone.
Spiritual Boost [Common]
For all powers: Increases Recharge Rate by 33%.
One-sixth of these bonuses ignore the effects of enhancement diminishing returns.
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This is what is misleading. It says all powers. No caveats, no exceptions, no explanations.
This makes it look like it is a global boost to all powers when it's not. In actuality the low level Alpha slot boost are only good for things that you tend not to slot heavily for anyway in this case for most toons its going to be end reduction or accuracy. Most players slot their damage powers at or over the ED cap for damage and recharge.