OneWhoBinds

AoE? Electric. Fire doesn't even get an AoE attack until level 18, and only has two total.

Electric gets an Arc attack (Jacob's Ladder), a small-radius AoE (Thunder Strike) the jumping lightning attack of Chain Induction, an AoE KB/Stun power (Lightning Clap), and a Tele-Nuke (Lightning Rod.)

Even ignoring Lightning Clap, you've got some significant AoE there.

For Brute AoE, you also might want to consider Claws or Dual Blades.

Okay...

Sonic/EM: Easy peasy. Siren's Song puts all of them to sleep. It's a coin toss which minion I take out first, but once they both are gone, I'll start in on the Sorcerer.

Arch/MM: I'd open with a quick combo of Fistfull/Psy Scream - If I'm lucky, I'll hit the Sorcerer with both. (I would use Aim+Concentrate... but I didn't take them until 26&28 on this toon.) Either way, after the opener, if they are still grouped together, I'll use Explosive Arrow. If they've spread out, I'll drop Subdual on the Green Ink Man to keep him at range, then focus on taking out the Yellow. Once he's down, I take out the Green. I switch to the Sorcerer whenever he teleports in to get him to GO AWAY long enough to take out the minions. I can take care of him after the small fry are down.

Sonic/EM: Not as easy as the previous group, by far. The Mortificator has priority - I should be able to keep away from the Embalmed Cadaver long enough to take out the Mortificator. Then I would probably take out the Cadaver quick, to not worry about it. The Eidolon... as long as I keep at range, isn't anything too dangerous. Which is why I went with Hover on this toon...

Arch/MM: Assuming I see them first, and didn't bumble too close... my first priority is Subdual on the Mortificator. My attacks outrange his darts - if he's immobilized far enough away, he is a NON-ENTITY. Once he's stuck in place, I take out the Cadaver, then work on the Eidolon, while keeping Subdual on the Mortificator for simplicities sake. Once the Eidolon's down, I'll take the Mortificator apart at leisure - if I've done it right, he'll never have the opportunity to attack.

Maybe because... I don't want to use one of the standard number keys for the two shields?

Numbers 1-5 are for things I need to use regularly and often - generally, Attacks. I don't want to have to use them for the shields, and end up having to reach for awkward buttons for my 'attack chain.' (I am well aware that certain debuffs may be part of that chain, I still call it an Attack Chain.)

But by the same token, I still need to be able to reaply the shields in rapid order, even in the midst of combat. Thus the reason I am looking into binds and such. To come up with an alternative.

The issue is two fold.

First, you are essentially correct. Anything past right of the G on the keyboard is out of easy reach, and it would take too long for me to find it to be feasible. As to why this is, my keyboard is on its own tray, but there isn't room to put the mouse by it as well. End result is that the Keypad, arrow keys, etc., are just not in a position I can use.

The second issue is my tenuous understanding of binds and macros. I managed to create one to say "Gratz!" once. If I needed to again, I would be lost.

Trying to craft something that would let me cycle through my teammates, and to apply the sheilds, and is still within easy access? I wouldn't even know where to start.

And for the record, I did consider both Trick Arrow and Traps. I've never gotten into Trick Arrow, personally. I might try Traps in the future... along side Dual Pisols.

Nope, only a 3 button...

...

Hmm... maybe I should look into a 5 button though...

It has been stated many times that a 'reverse repel' would be impossible.

Think about it... how would this power work in the terms of game mechanics? The only way I could see it working is by setting up a pet, that spawns another pet by every enemy in its range, that exist only to try and apply a high magnitude Knock Back, aimed toward the original pet. Even that would have issues with placement, and enemies flying too far. Not to mention the whole bit of generating and clearing the sub-pets. You think Oil Slick Arrow or Carrion Crawlers had pet issues... they'd be nothing compared to your proposed power.

...

Oh, and Dark Miasma already has a power called Black Hole. Incidentally, it is the OTHER AoE Phase Shift power in the game. But being in Dark Miasma, with so many good powers, makes its flaws stand out far less.

The AoE Phase powers (Dimension Shift and Black Hole) can take Intangibility Enhancements, to increase their Magnitude. Not that doing so actually matters any (see Ketch's post.)

The single target Phase powers (Sonic Cage and Detention Field) can't take Intangibility enhancements. They have inherently much higher values, but (thematically) aren't 'actually' phase powers. They're supposed to represent temporarily capturing an enemy, not phasing them out of the world. While still situational, the single target nature of these powers makes it much more useful than the previous powers. (And much less likely to have your Team mates calling for your head on a stick.)

There is only one way to increase the Magnitude of the single target Phase abilities - an Endoplasm Exposure Hami-O.

Ultimately… yes, you are correct. Intangibility Enhancements really do serve no purpose.

I am willing to sacrifice some defense. Everything over 35% is gravy.

However, is dropping the Nuke wise? I can't recall seeing any advice for any blaster to drop the nuke...

Also, is Breath of Fire really superior to Rain of Fire? Of course, there, I've seen that advise before...

Hmmm... I'll play around with a nuke-less build, see what I can do...

Give it a week for the novelty to wear off.

And, to be honest - if you think this is bad, just think back a few months. Remember Atlas Park after MA was released? Even low population servers where choking on the Atlas traffic then. This booster is nothing compared to that!

Heh... How about a Dead Man's Switch power. You die when the power's active, big boom!

Sadly... I think that would be more useful than Time Bomb...