Miladys_Knight
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Quote:I believe that Arcanaville has done something "like" that. The performance issue isn't that defenders do too little damage but rather that defenders use too much endurance dealing the damage that they do.Originally Posted by Fulmens
Adeon and Talionis:
I sort of agree that Vigilance is a nonpower (well, sometimes it helps, but I agree that those are unpredictable moments and rare ones. ) However, to replace Vigilance with a power that improves Defender performance, shouldn't you first prove that Defenders need a performance boost?
As Talionis and other have pointed out vigilence doesn't solve this issue for the defender AT as a whole. Defender primaries that assist the team by eliminating incoming damage either through defense or resistance buffs or by reducing the damage enemies inflict by debuffing damage or accuracy are at a distinct disadvantage when compared to defenders that repair damage after it has been inflicted.
Team size and player skill also make a large difference where vigilence is concerned and we all know that for "some unknown reason" the defender relaxes that vigilence while solo...... -
Quote:I believe that your perception on this entire issue is quite a bit off.Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
The thing is if you read the Controller boards you'll see that the two sets that TA is usually associated with are Mind and Illusion. Why? Not because the powers stack, but because they add things those power sets lack. Taking TA on a Controller for stacked mezz is 90% pointless because:
- The single target immob in all Control sets that have it is already mag 4, which will immob most bosses anyway, on top of doing damage and a debuff superior to Entangling Arrow.
- The need to hold bosses instantly is overstated. Controller single target holds already recharge in 8 seconds, 4 seconds once slotted, and the Controller won't have charged in with a hold at all, but with an AoE mezz. Instantly holding bosses is far more important on ATs like Blasters, Corruptors or Defenders who lack good defenses that are up every fight.
- Oil Slick Arrow doesn't stack with controls in any meaningful way. In fact bugs in pet AI make them run away from the slick once it's on fire.
Firstly, I have and do read the controller boards. The most recent threads there that deal with /TA controllers are:
Plant/TA - Thoughts? Which you participated in.
plant/ta which was removed by the OP.
Best Secondary for Earth? which has lots of votes for /TA specifically because of the stacked controls.
Good 2ndary for Grav troller which also has several reccomendations for a pairing with /TA.
Some help with Earth/TA?
Gravity/Trick Arrow/Primal Forces Mastery
Fire Control/TA?
Plant / TA
Sanity check for Earth/TA build
That goes all the way back to August, 18th of 2009 and not a single post title mentioning Ill/TA or Mind/TA.
Not only that but I can't recall anyone saying that insta holding bosses was "needed" but it's certainly not overstated. Insta holding bosses is very very useful especially when you have a team that has a large number of blasters or other squishy ATs or new or poor players. It's also very good early in the game when you don't have the single target hold fully slotted especially pre-level 22 before SOs are available and I can't stress how nice it is late in the game for things like green mitos in a hami-raid where a second single target ranged hold in the secondary makes you worth almost 2 controllers on the green team.
Your contention that OSA doesn't combine well with any other control is likewise bogus. There are several ways that OSA can be combined with other controls. My Earth/TA has kept ambush spawns and adds busy by using earthquake on one spawn, OSA on another, and Quicksand on a third, likewise my Ice/TA except with Ice Slick, OSA, and Arctic Air.
I can also tell you that having a spawn immobilized or held in a burning OSA is quite meaningful, bugs in pet AI or no. My Plant/TA rarely casts Fly Trap and doesn't miss the damage from it one bit. My Fire/TA loves the 15ish % -To hit from Smoke + Flash Arrow and standing in a burning Oil Slick with Hot Feet running and the mobs all stuck in Fire cages is a thing of beauty even if the Fire imps are freaking out.
The saddest thing about that? None of my TA/ defenders have/had anywhere near that kind of contribution on a team even though 1/2 the powers are nearly identical. -
Quote:Ah, but you are missing some things.Originally Posted by Dispari
TA has five control powers:
Entangling Arrow - Immobilize. You're not going to be dazzling anybody with a single target immobilize. Let's be honest here.
Ice Arrow - Hold. A single target hold at that. 18s recharge with 12s duration for Defender or 15s for Controller. So all you get is +25% duration on something that's easy to perma anyway. But it's still single target so you aren't going to making or breaking any teams with that.
Poison Gas Arrow - Sleep. Okay, sleep sucks. But just for the sake of argument... This is 66% chance, and mag 2. So even if it does hit, it's only working on minions. But you can't rely on it working anyway. One advantage sleeps have is that they last a long time, but this one doesn't, at only 11s. And if you're actually doing your job, two of your TA powers are going to wake enemies up. And most of your primary. And every other person on your team. The sleep is more like a quick jolt than anything, so the duration is irrelevant.
Oil Slick Arrow - Knockdown. Mag is the same. Same for both ATs.
EMP Arrow - Hold. This is the only one that really matters. It's a 28s duration hold. But it's also on a 5 minute recharge. So again all you get is +25% duration, but only every two and a half minutes.
So yeah, it's overpowering if you count an extra 7 seconds of hold on a power you get at 38 that you can only use every two and a half minutes overpowered. Because other than that, none of the other ones matter.
You've neglected Glue arrow which is a control.
Taking the powers in isolation doesn't make it jump out at you or say wow but combining it with another power of the same type from a controller primary does make it a wow.
Entangling arrow for example can be used by a plant troller to bring down a flier. Flying mobs can't be hit by Roots or Entangle but Entangling arrow solves that problem. On the lowly Posi TF Vaz resist immobs. A cast of the AoE immob followed by an entangling keeps that Embalmed where he won't be hurting any teammates and it keeps the Murk out of melee range of the squishies so that OG is not a problem. On an ITF it means that Rom is going no where. On an STF it means that Ghost Widow stays at range.
Ice arrow is indeed a single target hold BUT combined as a one-two punch with the single target hold from the primary it means that a troublesome boss is locked down in 3ish seconds, fast enough that the boss has no chance to cause any real trouble, and far earlier than a controller without a second single target hold. It's quite valuable early, the Posi TF is again an excellent example. Ice arrow a Ruin Mage and he turns on Dispersion bubble but before he can do anything nasty like drop an earthquake in the middle of the team or slap his hold on one of the squishies your follow up single target hold from your primary locks his mystic little keester down.
Oil slick yeah as a control and KD power it's a bit lack luster but what if we are talking Earth/TA? Now we don't need to go for a high recharge build since we can alternate Earth Quake and OSA that's without even taking into account the damage that OSA "can" put out. Quite valuable for a low damage AT like a controller or quite overpowering when combined with a Primary that has a damage aura that can light the slick like Fire/. Even Ice/ benefits since you can use OSA just before Ice Slick expires and just keep things perma flopping.
Emp Arrow? Yeah it's good on it's own but it's even better when combined with the AOE hold from the primary. Manticore TFs where there are large multi boss spawns? An AoE Hold followed by EMP arrow locks down the whole ball of wax, nasty PPs included. Volcanic Gasses and EMP Arrow is the bee's knees and I still chuckle evilly every time I use the 2 powers together.
Bottom line is that any controller that is good is just that much better with /TA as a secondary but TA/ as a primary for a defender doesn't do enough for the defender, not even when combined with /Dark as a secondary. -
Quote:You have it correct and I found this out the hard way when I slotted a DW proc in Flash Arrow.Originally Posted by Rush_Bolt
According to Parawiki, Smoke Grenade's -Perception debuff was made autohit, but the -ToHit debuff still requires a hit check. That's kinda dumb.
As to the DW proc: Yes. It would cause aggro. For note, it doesn't have to be damage to alert enemies. Pretty much EVERYTHING alerts enemies. Only powers/effects specifically flagged for it will not aggro. Procs are not flagged, so they default to aggro.
Any debuff except -Perception will cause mobs to aggro on the caster so even if the proc doesn't fire it's still a debuff that is being applied and causes aggro. Because of the way that -perception "doesn't" work for the mobs this makes the -perception part of the power useless. -
Quote:I'm going to have to disagree with you on most points in this post. Dark Miasma is arguably a more control heavy set than TA/ and each and every similar power in dark is better.Originally Posted by ShoeTattoo
To Oedipus Tex:
There's nothing overly harsh about your reply. You were courteous and you focused on the issues, from my perspective. Where we may disagree is in how comparisons are best made across powersets.
It is better to compare sets on a holistic basis. Comparing powers in isolation (one power at a time or a group of powers) from others in a set tends to lead to an incomplete and misleading analysis. TA is a debuff / control / direct damage set. In exchange for providing no ally buffs and no healing, it provides a trifecta of other benefits that, taken as a package, are unique among defender primaries.
TA offers more damage than rad and dark, against which TA is routinely compared for debuffs, more control than probably any other defender primary (dark arguably comes close because of fearsome stare and its pet; still, one AOE fear power is not equivalent to TA's three AOE controls put together), and more debuffs (in numbers and in the numbers) than most defender primaries.
As an example from your post of how it can be misleading to compare individual powers across sets, instead of thinking in holistic terms, putting freezing rain on a 2 minute timer would just about eviscerate much of the appeal of storm, especially for teams. In contrast, having a more or less "every spawn" OSA that functions much like ice slick and that also does high damage would essentially turn TA into a control primary mislabeled as a defender primary, with a lot of damage added to the mix.
I believe TA would be more fun to play if it received some buffs and that there is room to boost the trifecta of debuffs / control / damage further without overpowering the set. I also believe it will be a challenge to buff it without having to subsequently nerf it, mostly because of how close TA already is to being a control primary. On a related note, the current near equivalence of TA to a control primary leaves relatively little room for recharge to be the focus of buffs.
My own experiences are that spawns melt faster with a good TA player along and the occasional problem that comes up with over-aggro from additional spawns and such things simply and quietly goes away. Rightly or wrongly, and of course I might be proven wrong when the devs do finally buff TA, I believe that -regen is the missing ingredient that would indirectly help to shine a light on the already considerable strengths of the set. Like a lot of other sets that were underappreciated for extended periods of time (ie: rad and storm), TA needs to be played more to be appreciated more; as long as TA remains a likely candidate for the "pity spot" on a variety of upper-level content, it will probably continue to be under-appreciated.
Defenders are a buff/debuff focused AT. The debuff values in TA aren't high enough for a defender to make TA a good primary. The amount of control offered isn't enough to compensate for the low value debuffs.
HOWEVER when it is used as a controller secondary it is nearly overpowered. Controllers are control oriented. The additional controls make for an ubertroller. Since controllers also have buff/debuffs as a secondary the lower debuff values of TA are lost in the white out of the extra power provided by the control of TA. The lower buff numbers make almost no diference since the extra control gives you all the extra time and safety that the team needs to safely defeat a spawn.
There is no question for me that TA/ needs a buff for defenders but I don't actually see a way for the devs to do that with out making it overpowered as a controller secondary. This is also the reason that I believe that Dark Miasma will either, never be a controller secondary, or will be gutted so much that no controller will want to use it except for concept reasons. (Same applies to Traps as a controller secondary. I don't think it will ever happen.)
Bottom line for me... I love my /TA trollers. I have taken 3 of them to level 50 and have 5 others in the low 40s.
I've hated every TA/ defender I've ever played and deleted every one of them except a TA/Arch tribute toon that I have that has been stalled out at level 37 for almost 2 years.
It's the same power set. Why should I love it for one and hate it for the other? The answer is that it doesn't pair well with ANY defender secondary but it's awesome when paired with any control primary, even the lack luster Grav. That says broken to me. -
Doms got a revamp recently.
You might want to peruse this thread....
Dominator revamp
And you may want to check out Paragon wiki -
Quote:The people I team with know what they are doing. (I've teamed with Novella before in fact.) Melee toons that know there is an Energy blaster (or an illusion controller for that matter) on the team should be gathering aggro near a wall or a corner instead of out in the middle of a huge room. If they aren't they are depriving the team of AoE damage from your blaster that is every bit as good as Fistfull of Arrows + Explosive Arrow or any other cone + AoE combination (Buckshot and M30 Grenade are the same powers and effects they just have different graphics though they are seldom complained about)Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Thanks guys.
I mostly play Controllers, so I'm very familiar with the various -KB powers. Unfortunately, I'm also familiar with the havoc of poorly played knockback can cause.
After trying Energy/Energy to level 28, I gave up and swapped the character for Energy/Mind. I know some people really like Energy/Energy but I was struggling to enjoy it. I'm hoping the the AoE in Mind plus Repulsion Bomb from the Energy APP will leave me some AoE options for teaming.
BTW I do Hover and shoot from above, but I have found even doing that that enemies still get flung further than I want. It works out well enough solo. Luckily I'm familiar enough with Storm Summoning that holding back isn't a huge issue.
Quick question for you all though. Considering we're basically saying in most team situations Energy should not use its AoEs, does this mean the set is a considerably less desirable team member to have? I know the main issue with Mind Blast is the lack of AoEs thing.
In general the people that complain about knock back are usually their own worst enemy on the team. They want the energy blaster to play smart yet they don't.
To answer your other question...
If you want massive AoE try Fire/Fire or Rad/Fire. If that isn't survivable enough for you try an Ice/Fire and slot your primary with at least 1 slow enhancement in each AoE power (except blizzard).
Before I had any IO sets slotted my Ice/Fire was soloing +1/X4 in the late 20s with few survival issues. -
Quote:Just make sure that there is a competent controller on the team.Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex
Energy Blast is beautiful. I love the sound effects, the graphics, and the overall feel.
But I'm getting frustrated, because I can't figure out how to use this powerset on a team without making a huge mess. The issue, of course, is the knockback. I spend more time positioning myself than actually shooting at stuff, and no matter where I'm standing things still go flying everywhere. I feel like I'm a huge hinderance to the team, even when I try to knock things down or into walls.
So what are the secrets of dealing with this set? Or are there any? I've teamed with Energy Blasters before and noted things didn't go flying all over, but was it just because they decided not to shoot as much?
Illusion has no AoE Immob, Grav has no -KB in it's AoE immob, and Defender Dark Blast has no -KB in it's AoE Immob.
Other than that it shouldn't be moving after aggro has been established even if you slam it with maximum slotted +KB attacks.
As an amusing anecdote... Last weekend I was leading a pug with my Energy/Energy/Force. I had 3 controllers on the team a Fire/Kin, an Earth/Emp, and a Plant/Rad.
I was crusing along playing as always and about the third mission on all 3 of the trollers complained about me KBing stuff. I kicked 'em all and hired one real controller (a Plant/TA as I recall) and had no issues after that. (In other words not ONE of those players that were complaining were doing their jobs by using their AoE immobs when they clearly knew from the previous missions that there was an energy blaster on the team.)
(Well it's not an issue for me I use and love the KB while soloing.) -
Quote:You have to learn to kite. Turn on Super Speed and que up Total Focus. Zip in and out of melee range before the boss can react. You can easily start 80 feet away and then have the full 3.3 seconds of activation happen after you are another 80 feet away. Que up stun and zip back by. Mezzed boss now easy pickings for what ever you want to hit him with. Throw in Stun every time ir recharges and he'll never lay a glove on you.Originally Posted by Illumancer
Well, yes. You use powers dependent upon the situation. When you mainly stay with a ranged attack chain, you can alternate your powers depending upon which enemies need what to finish them off.
Also, depending on your build, you can get a lot more out of messing/stopping enemies with powers like char or frozen touch (though it is melee as well, making it somewhat obnoxious).
Maybe my perspective's a little skewed, being fire/ice. And becaues I run with superspeed/superjump. Ice patch gives great group control, frozen touch and char hold bosses, especially when combined with aim. Seriously though, I would NOT want to rely on a power with a 3.3 sec casting time for a stun. Especially if it's melee and if you need an additional power to lock them down; you'll take a hit or two during that time. When you're trying to solo two +4 Cimmorean bosses, that's more than enough for them to kill you dead.
Maybe things are different in the /energy world where you don't have a second quick and reliable hold. *shrug* But if a melee power with that long a casting time's what you're relying on to hold down a high level boss... Seems dangerous to me and not worth the risk.
What about the second Boss you say? Why, a quick Power Thrust every time he comes close will let you juggle him until you are ready to deal with him too. -
Quote:Because not all secondaries do just damage and their intended purpose is exactly for that variance.Originally Posted by Illumancer
Okay, that is a compelling argument for those two powers or for charged brawl/havoc punch. I'm not sure I'd personally use them given the setup time (which is nontrivial and obviously higher for melee powers than for ranged) and increased risk/damage. Is there any argument to be made for the other powers, such as fire sword (longer cast time for worse results than the four powers above), any of the ice melee, total focus, or thunderstrike (3.3 sec cast time)?
/Fire is almost nothing but raw damage there's very little mitigation in it at all. Slow and avoid in Hot Feet and immobilize in Ring of Fire is about it.
/Elec is mostly damage with a few more utility powers.
/Energy is a nice mix of fast activating and hard hitting attacks that also mix in several single target stuns. It has many of the best and most unique utility powers of all blaster secondaries.
/Mental is a mixed bag of utlity powers which includes a HUGE regen and recovery engine it also has a few attacks and an extra ranged AoE damage power (also unique among secondaries).
/Ice is a mitigation heavy secondary utilizing slows and enemy -recharge. Damage from the secondary is not it's forte'.
/Devices is also a mitigation and utility heavy secondary though it is painfully slow to use. So slow infact that most of the powers in that secondary will see little, if any, use in a team setting.
All that said just a quick run through of a few of my favorite blasters.
My main is an Energy/Energy/Force Blapper. Focused mainly on the melee attacks. I run a mere 7% defense to all positions. I have my Primary slotted FOR knockback and use my primary for both mitigation and AoE Damage. I'm consistantly toe to toe with the mobs and only die when I get a string of bad rolls. I don't have to set the fight up to use my melee attacks I let the mobs do that for me.
My next favorite has an entirely different play style. It's not the active constant mover that my main is. My Arch/Dev/Munitions soloed almost exclusively to level 50 it was slow and methodical and played as a stealthy trapper. It's my only blaster ever to arrive at level 50 without even the first debt badge.
Next is my Sonic/Ice/Elec. He can stack AoE sleeps (Sirens+Frozen Aura) and then mez a single sleeping foe (minion or lieut with Screech and boss with Shocking Bolt+Freezing Touch) and use single target damage to defeat it. Screech is amusing against minions and lieuts since the mob is charging me in his sleep and the stun makes him unable to activate any powers but he's kind enough to toodle on over so I can smack him with Ice Sword. When Sirens is recharged I get AoE damage in by using Shockwave+Howl+Sirens. When I really want to be sick Sirens+Frozen Aura followed by EM Pulse + Dreadful Wail leaves any thing that survives stunned until after I begin recovering End. It's an easy matter to hit Sirens + Frozen Aura and just mop up.
Lately I've been quite charmed by 2 new blappers that I've created.
My Ice/Fire is a medium recharge/medium defense IO build. I use the slows, -rech, and single target ranged holds in the primary (and Hot Feet) to become a PBAoE monster. BiB and Ice Sword drops what my initial alpha doesn't melt.
My Rad/Fire is a low recharge/high defense IO Build. I wade in using the defense from the IOs and an occasional purple insp to mitigate the alpha and literally mass AoE stuff to death. The only thing that survives the alpha is bosses and they take so much damage so fast that the run AI kicks in. Hot Feet makes sure that the rapidly combusting bosses are around and in range long enough that a quick Neutrino Bolt or X-Ray Beam is all that's required to finish them off.
Lots of styles, lots of options, just the way I like it. -
You are comparing things in a vacuum.
Elec, Psi, and AR for instance have no tier 3 heavy hitter.
Sonic's Shout does 132.6 with a 2.67 activation time.
Energy's Power Burst does 132.6 damage in 2 seconds of activation.
Rad's Cosmic Burst does 132.6 damage and applies a mag 3 stun in 2.07 seconds of activation.
(Bone Smasher and Energy punch do a total of 253.6 in 2.33 seconds of activation with a 30% chance of a mag 2 stun and a 60% chance of a mag 3 stun)
The only place your claim really holds true is with High recharge IO builds and the Fire and Ice primaries.
Hardly a reasonable comparison. -
Quote:I can. Make it a Molotov Cocktail (arrow) with the same stats as OSA then there's no worry about targetting it or about it being a dud. It becomes the same as any other patch type power in the game just using a flying (or flaming) arrow graphic. The devs can remove the clunky lighting "feature" from it and allow it to be used every spawn.Originally Posted by New Dawn
Can you come up with a solution as to how it can light it without adding a damage component?
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Quote:Atlas Medallion can be gotten solo around level 23-25 with out slowing down leveling speed by running over the exploration badges when ever you are in the area and then running the Council missions in Striga. (Which I have occasionally done). Geas can be gotten without slowing down by level 34 but does require a team to complete the KHTF.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
In the case of the accolades, its unlikely a player will have very many of them for most of their levelling career, and you have to factor in the time to acquire them where you are not earning XP efficiently.
Theoretically speaking the base empowerment station is something available to a lot of players even if they are leveling solo, but I specifically didn't factor that in. The vet pet is something I didn't factor in even though I myself always take the endurance version specifically because I think the pet doesn't do much at higher levels, but at lower levels every point of endurance helps. But its a relatively high-level veteran reward, so its not available to probably most players.
Here's an experiment. Take one of those blasters, and make an AE mission with an extreme Willpower AV as the boss (just to make it basically impossible to kill solo). Test mode the mission, and set yourself to be immortal. Now wail away on that AV as fast as possible, constantly. If your endurance bar genuinely doesn't move downward at all over a long period of time, let me know what the build is and at what level does it become possible to construct it, and as a result level with it. I'm not asserting such builds are impossible, but I believe they are rare enough at early enough combat levels and/or require enough compromises to make them not significant to leveling balance.
As I recall my Sonic/Ice was sustainable with SOs only with the exception of a Miracle+, Numina +/+, and Perf Shifter proc in the low to mid 30s and had a seamless (or nearly so) attack chain without hasten at that point.
If I have time this weekend I'll copy him over to test and play around with it, see what I can come up with, and give you the build if it's sustainable.
Edit - If I remember correctly my Arch/Ice was sustainable pre-archery buff (which was also before IOs) and so was my Ar/Em before the AR buffs. -
Using sets that give alot of extra global accuracy can allow you to skip Targetting Drone entirely. Especially if you also slot a Kismet +6% accuracy IO (which is actually a to hit bonus and not accuracy) in a defense power like Cloaking device or combat jumping.
(I have an Arch/Dev/Munitions that only took Web Grenade, Caltrops, Trip Mine, and Time Bomb from the secondary and I did extremely well with it, reaching level 50 without attaining even the first debt badge. My only blaster able to make that claim before or since.)
In tough situations where your accuracy is debuffed you can rely on the global accuracy bonuses from your sets plus the boost from Aim, Geas of the Kind Ones Accolade, and the occasional yellow inspiration. -
All my red side toons are moving blue side permanently.
Red side is extremely unfriendly to my favorite travel power (super speed) and I never want to use the Black Market or have to travel through Grandville ever again.
I also want to be able to take my villians to the Shadow Shard and try them there.
I have absolutely no reason to take a blue side toon to the red side ever (and several reasons not to). -
Quote:I'm wondering if endurance is actually the limiting factor. I have a sneaking suspicion (but no proof) that the actual limit for leveling speed is going to be based on the animation times of a particular power set. Specifically the point at which you achieve a seemless attack chain (either single target, AoE or a combination of the 2) and how Arcana time factors into that.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
I'm actually sort of hoping someone comes along and tells me a way to beat this that bypasses the assumptions rather than breaks them. Something I just haven't thought of. I'm pretty sure the assumed limits themselves are practically unbreakable as stated. But they might not represent the best possible options.
Against non-end draining foes, I can create a blaster that has a seemless attack chain, ED capped damage, and 100% end sustainability even with a travel power runnning (I have a few actually).
My leveling speed on these blasters was limited not by endurance useage, but by animation times and mitigation of enemy damage.
My Fire/Energy and Rad/Fire both leveled faster than my Sonic/Ice (slow activating primary) or my Arch/Dev (extremely slow activating secondary) for instance.
My Fire/Em is mostly ranged damage and my leveling speed with it was limited by activation times. My Rad/Fire is an AoE/PBAoE focused blapper and my leveling speed with that toon was sharply limited by my ability to mitigate incoming damage.
Edit - in your post directly above did you factor in the Atlas Medalion, Portal Jockey, and the average boost from using Geas of the Kind Ones every time it recharges? Also the recovery boost from the base empowerment (cheap and easily sustainable requiring only an SG with the appropriate empowerment station and salvage that can be easily obtained in the hour that the empowerment buff lasts?) and the boost from using the Vet pet that grants recovery. -
Quote:If you are using sets or franken slotting IOs then you are getting accuracy enhancements even if you don't "need" them.Originally Posted by Radubadu
So I made a rad/dev blaster last night and just screwing around in the tutorial with him I think I'll really enjoy it but I have a question about /dev. Does targetting drone make enough of a difference to make slotting for accuracy somewhat obsolete? or does it at least give you a little more freedom when slotting your primary if your torn between accuracy and damage or recharge reduction?
You "need" accuracy enhancements in:
Nutrino Bolt - This power can be fired while you are mezzed. While you are mezzed you get no benefit from targetting drone so this power needs accuracy to function properly while you are mezzed.
X-ray Beam - This power can be fired while you are mezzed. While you are mezzed you get no benefit from targetting drone so this power needs accuracy to function properly while you are mezzed.
Web Grenade - This power can be fired while you are mezzed. While you are mezzed you get no benefit from targetting drone so this power needs accuracy to function properly while you are mezzed.
Trip Mine - This power spawns a Psuedo pet. Pets and Psuedo pets do not receive useable benefits from Targetting Drone.
Time Bomb - This power spawns a Psuedo pet. Pets and Psuedo pets do not receive useable benefits from Targetting Drone.
Gun Drone - This power spawns a pet. Pets and Psuedo pets do not receive useable benefits from Targetting Drone. -
Quote:I don't really find that to be the case. The defender /Sonic secondary actually does a better job of -res than the TA/primary does.Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
In general though a TA Defender will increase the teams overall damage more than the Blaster would. The Blaster will do more personal damage but the one thing TA does do well is debuff Resistance which increases the teams damage.
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Quote:As most of the oher posters have all ready pointed out, being a successful blaster is less about the power sets and much more about playstyle especially positional awareness. Rather than retype or repost a bit of advice I gave another poster who had similar issues I'll just give you a link to that previous post.Originally Posted by _Elektro_
I am sorry to make one of these threads, but as I've come back to this great game, one of the archtypes I have to admit (embarrassingly) that I've never got past 30 is a Blaster.
I want to do a concept blaster up, and have him work well alone, but be a good contributor in a team.
The reason I'm posting this is I really know little about how to answer my own question, and as I've admitted, I've failed even getting past 30 with any blaster I've made.
Closest? Fire/fire. I had a guy that always got invited to teams... but his debt load (this is years ago) was massive.
Funnest? Tie Elec/Elec. I always loved "Electro" but the first version didn't do much. The second version was built for END drain, but made him terrible on his own.... I now have a 3rd version (Krackle) and he's fizzled out at like... level 10.
The other funnest? Arrows/Devices. Looks cool, but is it just me or is he slow?
I really hate to put up a post like this, but considering how little success I've had with blasters, I'd appreciate the thoughts of those of you that have hit 50 with a blaster or two.
How to be a blaster
Being a successful blaster is more about HOW to be a blaster than what power set combinations are good.
With that said and to answer your original question.
The Fire/ primary is the best one for damage since it's secondary effect is more damage.
You want mitigation for your secondary. The safest blaster secondary is /devices. It is also the slowest (painfully slow in fact. Devices isn't most players cup of tea. If you like it though go for it) secondary to use.
The best mitigating secondary that plays at a reasonable speed is /Ice. It gives you the survival needed to get the most out of your primary.
The Fire/Ice blaster is an excellent blaster to start out with and is also quite fun. I'd reccomend it as one to use while you are taking the time to develop the positional awareness needed to survive as a blaster player. -
Quote:I merely mention that the extra -rech in /psi is redundant, not that the 2 paired together is a bad idea. They synergize quite well together but that's due to the power options available, not to adding together or layering the secondary effects. Just like my FF/Dark defender an Ice/Psi Dom exemplars fairly well. (It actually plays better when exemplared than at the same level when leveling up.)Originally Posted by FizRep
One thing I like about my Ice/Psi is that you can even nerf AV recharge pretty well with the hugely stackable -recharge from both primary and secondary. Though I like /Psi as much or more for Drain Psyche and Psychic Shockwave.
Soloing, I tend to rely on AA and PS to do my -recharge nerfing, as I just hop in and let fly to start damaging early instead of setting up a Shiver cone. But... I'm impatient. -
Quote:Much better than it looks. Without slotting Arctic Air + Shiver reduces the mobs movement and recharge rates to the -move and -rech caps (all the way up to +2 mobs). The -rech cap is 75%, thats the same as quadrupling mob recharge rates. That's without taking into account the Avoid or Confuse that's built into Artic Air just the slows.Originally Posted by Heraclea
Thanks to everyone for the help with this character.
I had seen Arctic Air, and did not consider it a priority; it is first a toggle, and second a PBAoE, and I never really imagined that a character like this would want to be in the midst of mobs. I gather that it's better than it looks.
In other words after the Alpha it's like having 75% resistances to all damage types. Mitigating the alpha is easy. It's called Ice Slick. -
Quote:Yep and if you look at the build it's all ready in there....Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
But I could also slot Total Focus with a 6-piece of Mako, lose out on the stun duration mods but also don't worry about the knock.
Theoretically stun could be slotted with Mako also but that would be a total waste. -
Quote:Shiver - It's cheaper on endurance for the job it does.Originally Posted by Local_Man
Ice control is a great primary if you want to provide melee support. Arctic Air, max slotted for EndRdx and Confuse is the key. Since you can stack so many slows, you don't need more slow. The strategy is simple . . . let the tank go in, then throw down Ice Slick. Follow the tank, allowing AA to mitigate damage. You may want to use Frostbite to keep foes from running after Ice Slick is gone. Other than that, just use Block of Ice-Chilblain-Vet powers to contribute to damage.
I recommend keeping Glacier -- it has its uses even though it is not an "every fight" type power. I mostly use it after I have been mezzed, while AA is recharging -- Glacier fills that gap quite well. Having two slow powers is a great idea -- the second can either be Shiver or Snow Storm, at your option. -
Quote:It will make you a "little" less squishy. It will also make your endurance gurgle away a whole lot faster.Originally Posted by marc100
Say a blaster wants to be less squishy, should he choose the fighting power pool?
or does it just give more attacks? -
Arctic Air + Shiver + Frostbite (double stacked which can be accomplished by a single Rech SO in Frostbite) will keep even +4s at the -Movement (95%) and -Recharge (75%) caps. (Without Frostbite you're still good to +2 mobs)
All you have to do to survive with this primary is mitigate the Alpha which you can do by opening with Ice Slick.
All you need is those 4 powers.
Edit - Also forgot to add that the Gravitational anchor proc in Frostbite is sweet. The power is worth having for that alone.