Frozen Burn

Yes, the number crunchers in the community have done all this as shown in Luminara's post. As to answer your question in the Thread title: How much does damage type affect MY decision in power choices? ....not one damn bit. I play to play the character, the concept, and for the fun of it. While I will min/max my build and whatever power choices I made, I do not pick or choose powers to min/max the gameplay.

Ill/Storm is a great combo - Controlled Chaos FTW! However, I went Psy epic instead for the mez protection and Psi Tornado. Teammates will hate you if you go all out with your powers and the KB. At least put a KB>KD proc in Tornado - it will make it more apt to grind on the target instead of knock it back and move onto the next target. Perma PA and good end management is possible with sets prior to incarnates. Incarnates - I went with: Alpha = Agility Core for +End, +Rech, and +Def Judgement = Ion Core (obvious choice) 🙂 Interface = Cognitive Radial (toon concept - he's a mentalist) and i'm surprised how often the confuse proc hits. But there are probably others you would want instead. Lore = Phantoms (another obvious choice) Destiny = Barrier mostly, but I have all (except Clarion since I have mez prot from epic) and I swap out depending on situation. Hybrid = Support Core, but Assault or Control could be useful too.

Hmmm.... tricky one. You can't have your NPC hang out there, interact with them, then have something else happen to them to interact with them again. But you can have them spawn, get rid of them, then have them spawn again. So, perhaps you can try something like this.... Set up your heroes in front and middle to meet them (essentially rescues without a mob around them) - these would have to be required objectives (meet hero 1, meet hero 2, meet hero 3, etc), but have them run to nearest door after greeting them. Then have objective to meet Citadel in back - base gets invaded and new spawns of captured heroes with mobs around them spawn in the front and middle that player and Citadel have to rescue. The rescued hero can then be set follow, run away, stay still, fight/not fight, etc. Hopefully, something like that will work? Thinking through this more.... You can also keep what you're doing by having the allies follow you to Citadel, but don't have any of the enemies spawn until you meet Citadel in the back. This can be set up by making each spawn a boss spawn, patrol, etc that you can then code to activate upon completion of Citadel - just look at the map specs to see how many of those spawn types are allowed in each area and put that # of boss spawns there. The base will be empty except for your allies and Citadel - and once you talk to Cit, all the enemies will spawn.

@Story Archer, if you, as a Tanker are at/near the defense soft cap - you're fine. You have other layers of defenses to compensate. Don't forget, you have inspirations you can take to fill in the occasional gap when needed. Just one small purple insp can carry you far for the time you need. So, I would opt for your other set bonuses and take the benefits you'd rather have.

This is not entirely true. I know for certain you do not have to do 3 things for the badge, at least if you are running the arcs through DA. Maybe it is if running them through Ouro - is that what you meant? I know that running through DA, you only have to 1) rescue the Detective at least once prior to Dream Doctor's arc, and 2) rescue him again in the Dream Doctor's arc. The same with Madame Bellerose for the Incarnate Rival badge. While Heather Townsend offers both NPCs once and then so does Praetor Duncan, only one rescue is needed prior to Dream Doc. And I'm not even sure if the rescues from Praetor Duncan count at all as I've always found them in Heather's arc, and sometimes not in Duncan's and I still get the badge from the Dream Doc. Plus, the Wiki says it must be Heather's arc first and doesn't even mention rescuing from Duncan's arc. But my badge tracker from Kitsune says to rescue them "at least once" prior to Dream Doc - so, perhaps it would be good to test skipping the rescue in Heather's arc, then rescue them in Duncan's arc, and see if they still show up in the Dream Doc arc. @Fireknight013, I know you can still get the badges (Buddy Cop and Incarnate Rival) through Ouro, even if you didn't rescue them during the "present" as I've done it before all through Ouro. I can't remember exactly how, but I do remember having issues and running the arcs multiple times - maybe I ended up running all of them to ensure I got it. But perhaps through Ouro, you have to do at least Heather's, Duncan's, and Dream Doc's arcs as @lemming might be suggesting.

I also love Dual Pistols. I have quite a few toons with it. I generally use Incendiary rounds, but will switch to Cryo for mobs weak to it. I rarely use Chem rounds. Suppressive Fire is situational for me but is really useful when you have another hold in your secondary or epic pool to stack with it. But sometimes, I outright skip it, depending on the build.

You will ALWAYS enter facing south. No way to change that.

Empathy is still viable and a strong set for any AT that uses it. And it pairs with anything. Even steamrolling teams can use an Emp's buffs. ...and it's "Fortitude" - not "Forge." Forge is Thermal's version of the power. 🙂 And yes, with enough global recharge, you could perma AB 1 pet and rotate 4 Fortitudes on others. With Maneuvers and the pet +Def procs, you could have some fairly untouchable pets. Pick whatever MM pet set you want and go for it!

AR lends itself to stay at range because of all the cones, while /Martial and /Ninja lend themselves to be better in melee range. DP also lends itself to function well in melee range and has better synergy with /Martial and /Ninja than AR.

Your secondary power pick is what determines your "blap-worthiness" or not. So, look for secondaries that have the melee powers you want. Most will have a non-nuke PBAOE... do not poo-poo them - they are generally quite good and worth taking and slotting. Don't shy away from your crowd control powers either - they help with survivability. Some of the better sets for blapping are: /EM, /Fire, /Martial, /Ninja, /Earth, /Atomic, /Temporal, /Elec. Avoid: /Tactical Arrow and /Devices.

The beauty of this game is that it broke the mold of the Holy Trinity. Every other game was, and most still are, based on the Holy Trinity. In the early days of COH, the Holy Trinity was king and while there were these other awesome ATs and powersets, they weren't as effective as the Trinity and people who wanted to play them, struggled - not just in being effective, but in getting teams unless they were just tacked onto a Trinity team. The changes made over time to balance the game, ATs, and powers was needed, and was useful, and is as it should have been, imo. Again, COH broke the mold that other games just can't seem to get away from - and that's why I love COH so much.

Neither and both. They both have pros and cons. I would say, since you are familiar with /Ice already.... try something new and play /Atomic. It's a solid set and cant' really go wrong with it.

Just wanna say this right here for anyone interested in blasting.... This is the key to being a successful blaster. Well said, @Nemu. Be adaptive, and play/build to your style, not to a specific given build. Knowing the game and how mechanics work - this includes other ATs - is how you will survive as a blaster - especially a glass cannon. Many will pick a powerset combo and someone's build, and then fight the mechanics of the powers that they have available and not know how to play the game, the powers, or even live to their potential - and thusly die a lot or deal so little DPS they say it's a crap build. Every blaster plays different. ...which is why i love them so. Not saying you're doing/thinking this @Resjr, just wanting to highlight some sage words from @Nemu for anyone. However, @Resjr, be ready to steal aggro from your tanker and be ready to hit your inspirations and anything you have to stay alive. I love Fire/Fire/Fire blasting. (I love Ice/Fire/Fire even more, tough 😛) Glass cannons are just that - hard hitters that will steal aggro and then die, if not careful. Good luck and have fun!

Great movie! Been a long time since i've seen it - i'll have to rewatch. DP/Psy is a great combo and can be a PBAOE beast. It's one of my favorite blasters. I went an original concept instead of an homage. But again, the combo is really awesome and fun to play. Kiska Nikolaevna Yekaterina Nikolaevna Pushkareva (aka Kiska) was born in a small Russian town and showed great mental abilities as a child. The FSB took Kiska and put her in an old KGB program named “Psy-Knife,” which develops assets for espionage, counterintelligence, and military applications. Russia now secretly uses the program to also combat threats of meta-humans, aliens, and the paranormal. Psy-Kife subjected Kiska to extreme conditions to grow her psychic and parapsychological abilities and rigorously trained her in martial arts, all manner of weapons, and espionage. She was a top pupil, but secretly hated her government for ripping her away from her family and vowed vengeance. At age 16 on her first mission, Kiska glimpsed into the near future and found her opening to escape. With the enraged FSB constantly on her trail, she eventually became a mercenary for hire, but only taking jobs against those who threaten innocents. The Knives of Artemis even tried to have Kiska join their ranks, but Kiska refused and they have taken the contract to eliminate her instead. Still on the run and using her psychic abilities to stay steps ahead of her pursuers, Kiska enacts revenge on her Russian captors while dealing her own sense of justice to anyone who oppresses others.

I quite often get 2-3 foes in one hit. I love it! It takes practice to line them up in the narrow cone, but when you get your rhythm, it's great! I think the power is fine the way it is and should definitely not be changed.

The ambushes spawn from defeating the patrol and rescuing the hostage up top. If you go too fast, you'll trigger both at same time. Also, sometimes, the hostage will spawn up front near the mob in the upper room, so it can be difficult to not engage them all at once. As for Doc Buzzsaw, all you need is her entire spawn. The problem can be when she spawns on the second or top level, then part of her spawn will also be split between the levels. Sometimes, a zombie or two will hide behind the stairs and since they're vahz, they can be dumb and not aggro and you not know they're there. So, just check around. Also, Vahz like to wander, so be careful to not let any wander out the room as that can definitely be a pain in the butt to track down a lumbering zombie.

All Hail Necromancy!! Raising a dead thread from 4 years ago! 💀 ☠️

That is total BS - Ice Armor is a great set and there isn't any content I haven't been able to succeed at with it just as well as my other tankers. In fact, I prefer my ice tanker over others! So, PBBBLT! 😛 to the others. 😄

I would not suggest any of those for AR as they aren't very synergetic - all 3 of those lend you to be in melee range for the PBAOES, which is counter-intuitive for AR's cones. But I certainly would do any of these if it was for a specific concept you were going for. Range support secondaries are best with AR: Energy (especially with boost range to ensure getting more in your cones), Devices, and Trick Arrow are your top choices, imo.

Back on live, you could buy more slots through the Paragon Market - the market that uses real money to buy points so you could purchase unlocks in the game (like things at the P2W vendor). If you were a subscriber, you got X amount of points per month that would add up and one of the things you could get were more AE slots, Now, just send an in-game petition/support ticket and a GM will award you 3 more slots. You can get as many as you want.

@Tobogon Doing the Shard TFs is like opening up a time capsule - you're seeing/experiencing the history of the game. The Shard TFs/Zones are the original game's endgame content. Additionally, back in the early issues, the XP curve was also set very high in that it was damn difficult to get to 50 and the shard TFs were there to help - and to give a little story to the unique zones. Many people would run out of content in PI and still not be lvl 50. (That's why there was also a lot of PL farms too.) Being "endgame content," it was also supposed to take multiple sessions or one lengthy one - as others have stated above. Now, the XP curve was fixed, we have new endgame content, so the TF does seem outdated. But also with the new travel system and being able to port from zone to zone without manually going there, the TF can be done in under 2 hours - even solo. My best time solo is 1:37 on my blaster. I love when Dr. Q is the WST because I can solo it and rake in the merits for roughly 1:45 of time and not need a team, unlike most other TFs for the WST.

Yes, and the tongue out emoji ( 😛 ) I gave at end of mine means I caught your facetious tone - but your "Seriously though" comment echoed your joke, which also meant you weren't kidding. so again... 😛 🙂 And, I do play tanks a lot. (And Scrappers, and Brutes, and all the other ATs too (except Sentinels - the filthy buggars, but I still have one)). As a tank, I have no issues with others being in melee - including an entire team or league, even if they push or shove me around. My movement keys work just fine and Taunt is a wonderful ranged power. Moving and adjusting to foes and teammates is part of the game and frankly, keeps it from being monotonous by just standing still all the time. I actually welcome the chaos - bring on the knock back too! But thinking a blaster is only a ranged AT is pure naivety when most of the secondaries have many powers that require you to be in melee range. Since day 1 of the Live game, the Devs gave Blasters ST melee and PBAOE powers - so it is intended for them to be in melee range. Additionally, Blasters have been doing top damage out of all the ATs for a long time, well before the game shut down. The AT isn't broken, they're just naked offensive juggernauts with no shield secondaries - their offense IS their defense and being coupled with many melee powers in their secondaries, that's why they get the highest modifier. Again, not broken, just balanced with the other ATs. High risk = high reward. That's why Sentinels get a much lower modifier: all ranged and a shield set. (With scrappers and brutes are in between.) You may not like any of this - blasters being in melee range or that they do top damage - but that's okay and is your opinion. And I respect that. 👍 But it isn't a flaw in the design of the AT. The Devs made Blasters to be this way - they are as intended. And many of us like playing them to their full potential. 🙂

I should also state.... "Once you Blap, you'll never go back!" 😄

Not sure sure if you were going for it or not, but.... Very Voltron-esque! I like!

Blappers Always & Forever! Blasters have higher damage scale. They don't have to chase down foes as they try to run (if they survived) - just shoot them! Not having a shield set makes it more fun and challenging - best defense is a strong offense! ....and other Rah Rah Rah! Yippees! and Banner waving! 😄