Flat Line

Also, if you’re slotting Energy Blasts single targets with a proc, consider slotting the +100 recharge proc. With those procs slotted, you can have your Nova up sub 30 seconds. Then you’re doing Nova Damage in the 1200 Range twice as often as other sets even with the KB to KD in Nova. There is a lot you can do with pretty much all the sets in this game. Energy isn’t the flavour of the month right now. But you can build it to be better than most if you put in the time.

Not necessarily. There is a cap on damage enhancements, and it’s not hard to hit it. Many sets have a utility proc somewhere. In the case of energy, I have a KB to KD proc in the two AoEs (not Energy Torrent, because it’s awesome without it). The only ‘tax’ I can see is that you could be slotting a damage proc instead. That would give a bump in damage when it procs. If you didn’t take Energy Blast, you could also slot Overwhelming Force to an AoE power. You’d end up with the same thing: a proc that will give KD to a power that didn’t have it.

This is exactly what I do! I really like to focus on one character and minimize alt-itis. So dumping a lot of influence into three builds is no big deal. I usually make one Ranged Blaster and have him Exemplar friendly. Then a melee Blapper. And a PvP build. Though I may drop the PvP build because I haven’t PvP’d in many years. Also, you can macro the build swap. Just make sure to turn your toggles back on! /macro B1 select_build 1

Yeah, this game isn’t that hard. with enough effort you could make just about any combination able to solo the game. Some will just do it faster than others. So make something that you’ll enjoy the ride with. Personally, after trying A LOT of different combinations since the game first launched, I’ve settled on an Eng/Eng blaster as my main. I sometimes still think about a Dominator or Controller, but always come back to my Eng/Eng blaster. With it, I can solo the game. And I add a ton of damage to teams, can pull mobs, I can even sort of tank in a pinch. And I offer a lot of control/damage mitigation with KB and KD. With an alternate build, I can even go full Blapper and add stuns to the mix. But to each their own. In a way, I like that there aren’t that many Energy blasters around. It lets me shine that much more 🙂

Personally my 4th level pick is almost always Super Speed. If you can afford it, add the Celerity Stealth IO. Then you have perfect invisibility and can stealth many missions already at level 4! As a travel power, I generally prefer Flight and take Hover, Fly and Afterburner (now called something else) soon after. To answer your other question flight on follow just pulls you on a straight line to your target. If your in a melee mob you tend to get pushed up over top of your target (not a bad thing!)

Completely agree! Knockback is very miss understood. Anyone who’s actually spent time leveling and playing and Energy/Energy blaster knows that when you get Energy Torrent your survivability goes way up! Personally I slot Nova and Explosive Blast with KB to KD. These are the only two powers that can scatter and be hard to control. Otherwise you kill single targets so fast it isn’t an issue. And Energy Torrent is very easy to control. KB is KD when you are hovering above targets too. Energize also pretty much means you never need to look and your endurance bar. Run as many toggles or endurance heavy powers as you want. Put this power on auto and never think about it. AND it gives you very good healing on top. Worry about getting ranged defence to 45% and you’re very hard to kill. Boot range let’s you be the best puller on the team. You can also breeze through some content by being able to hit and not get hit back. On top of all this, you can slot the excellent recharge proc that gives +100 recharge. Personally, I don’t like having to click hasten. And this means I don’t need hasten at all. Or you could taken hasten on top and have the most ridiculous recharge in the game. Another great benefit of KB on teams is you can KB stragglers back in to your teams or kill zones too.

Going for positional defence IOs is an easy one. I personally went for ranged. But Smashing/Lethal might work better for your build/play style. I personally also like using a Smashing/Lethal resistance shield from the epics for the few attacks that hit. A lot of people prefer Scorpion Shield if they are going for Smashing/Lethal defence. As for standard defence powers that I try to fit into every build: Hover and or Combat Jumping If you go flight, afterburner is a good panic button. Tough and Weave And Maneuvers.

I know this type of build usually gets a lot of ‘pushback’.... But it can be a viable way to control. I mostly play an Energy/Energy Blaster, and I find smart knockback with Energy Torrent, Power Push, and (drawing a blank... tier 1 punch) very effective at damage mitigation and control. I slot the Nova and Energy Blast with KB to KD, they are otherwise a little hard to control. But they still offer a lot with KD. The trick is to be careful. If you don’t control it, you’re just slowing things down. Or trolling the melee ATs. Or worst case, pushing anchors around. Done right it’s fun, and looks awesome!

I haven’t tried repulsion bomb. Repulsion field felt pretty underwhelming. Maybe I didn’t slot it enough, but it rarely seemed to hit...

I went with Force Mastery. I like Personal Force field as an ‘oh shit’ power. It makes hospital visits a very rare thing. It can also be used to ‘stealth’ missions without actually stealthing. You’re just about untouchable with it, and can still click on glowies. It’s also a luck of the gambler slot. Lots to like. Worth noting that Afterburner can also do all of the above on a high defence build in a pinch. But Personal Force field is very reliable. The shield in the set is also costume friendly. I do really like the versatility of Fire Mastery though. My third build slot is a PvP build I never use... Might just put a Fire Mastery build in there : )

I had the same idea to boost AoE damage. And using Bonfire, Torrent, Explosive Blast, Nova. All with KB to KD. I ended up respecing out of fire mastery. Not because Bonfire isn’t good. It worked great! I just really didn’t like the look of fire shield. Bonfire does definitely add more control and damage though. Char is also a nice power too... Maybe I’ll add it back for a third build... I also removed the KB to KD from Energy Torrent. The Knockback is just a great control on it. I took it early and it adds a lot of survivability during your first 25 levels before your defence really kicks in. The shorter range on Energy Torrent can also be a good thing because when it knocks guys back, they are still in range of your other attacks.

The hate on Energy is overblown. Personally, I only use KB to KD on Explosive Blast and Nova. Everything else is easy to control either with hover blasting and knocking them into the ground or using walls as backstops. There are also a lot if situations where I want to knock back. Energy Torrent or Power Push are great for that. I find it’s a fun power set that looks great. And it keeps you thinking on how to use your knock back instead or to pushing buttons (which gets pretty boring IMHO).

Personally, I think hasten on most builds is overrated. I try and avoid it unless I don’t have something else to put my auto-click on. Mostly playing Energy/Energy nowadays, so it goes on Energize. To the original post: I think it’s a great way to go! Just focusing on damage can get boring after a while. It’s nice to build for more tools in the toolbox!

Just a thought for maxing burst damage (I don’t know if/how well it works). Could you put the ‘chance for build up’ proc in Tactics, then use Aim + Build up, and Assault? With enough recharge this could be up very often.

One more thing to add: You can quickly change builds with this bind: /macro B1 “select_build 1” You can use the macro for each build and change on the fly. Just remember to turn your toggles back on!

I mainly played Eng/Eng on live and now on Homecoming. So hopefully I can help a little. Personally, I like keeping Attuned sets. I sometimes exemplar and play Ouroboros missions. But you have three build slots. So you could always make another build for maximizing level 50 content. Seems like everyone uses Scorpion Shield... It’s ok I guess. It only adds to Smashing/Lethal defence. Personally, I built for Ranged defence and used the electric shield to get my Resistance capped. I’m at over 45 ranged defence and 75 Smashing/Lethal resistance. It’s nice to have a high resistance when playing against AVs or Elite Bosses that can strip your defence. I like Afterburner a lot. It’s nice to be fast, and it slots a Luck of the Gambler. But even better if you’re building for Ranged Defence, it puts you way over the top. You can use it as an “Oh Sh@t button”. You can also use it to “stealth” missions. You can’t attack while it’s on, But you CAN click glowies! There are a lot of ways you can build. I usually end up using all three slots for alt builds.

Something to consider is Kinetics has a lot more powers you need to individually target and Time has more PBAoE. Depending how you like to play, that might be a factor.

I used to use this bind way back in the early days on live: /bind enter "beginchat <color gold> <bgcolor black> <bordercolor gold>$$afk 1 sec I'm typing" Doesn't work anymore though, so something changed...

I personally went Energy/Energy. It does very well as a ranged only blaster. You can also have a secondary build that does melee very well too. Though, I think if I were to build him again I’d go devices. I prefer toggles to clicks and devices adds a lot of variety.

Looks great #Nic Mercy! Thanks!

Any chance we can see your build? I’ve been trying to work out a character that can do it all (DPS, Solo, Team, Buff, DeBuff). While keeping it at ranged, because I’m not a fan of melee in teams. Leaning towards Time/Fire as being the answer (Maybe Time/Ice?). I was also leaning towards Corruptor because more damage is more fun (for me anyways 😛 ). But I haven’t tried a Defender since I had a Empathy/Energy in the days before we had capes... I hear they got a lot better.

Depends a lot on your build. I personally went for damage because defence and endurance were already covered.

I’m in the same boat as you. I was thinking sentinel too. Both because melee in this game can be frustrating and the simple defence from SR or INV. I don’t think the primary matters at all. So whatever looks best for them.

Thinking about it, going energy with Force Feedback recharge procs could also mean dropping hasten (and one more annoying click)!

Could be right! I’ve always enjoyed energy. But I thought it was only fun when the damage was still high on a Blaster. If procs can make it have comparable damage on a Corruptor/Defender, we may have a winner! I was thinking Ice/Time or Fire/Time, but this definitely adds another dimension...