Nemu

Are judgements allowed?

That's exactly the trap that novice melee blasters fall into. Melee blasting isn't being derpy like a broote and standing in one spot in melee range all the time. Even if you are in melee range micro movements in between attacks means at most you have 2-3 enemies that can actually use melee attacks against you, the rest are either shooting you or chasing you. The majority of the threat coming at you is still ranged damage. Jousting pbaoes and melee attacks alike also minimize your exposure to melee retaliation. In addition, being 50 exemped down means I have the luxury of those extra insp slots to patch up any momentary weaknesses during game play. Range defense is just as important for melee blasters as it is for pure rangers. The difference is that melee blasters have additional damage options to kill stuff quicker. I'll raise that flash arrow with charged brawl or thunderstrike that can actually kill something.

Only for those people that think blapper means building for S/L or melee defense only. You can have 40+% range defense and mid 20% S/L defense on a melee blaster build by level 25-30 without compromising offense. That kind of build carries teams when piloted by someone who understands the dynamics of melee blasting.

Good for you! I don't care.

Knock yourself out, I have no doubt they can work. You can even compare your fire/dark against the sonic/ta and I'm sure you'll notice disparities. Take shout, use it, and know true suffering 😆

Be a man, roll ice/poison. Play the walking simulator you've always wanted out of CoH This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Vivacious Viv: Level 50 Science Controller Primary Power Set: Ice Control Secondary Power Set: Poison Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Block of Ice -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(19), Lck-Rchg/Hold(19), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(21), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(21), Lck-%Hold(23) Level 1: Alkaloid -- HO:Golgi(A) Level 2: Envenom -- ShlBrk-DefDeb(A), ShlBrk-Acc/DefDeb(3), ShlBrk-Acc/Rchg(3), ShlBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(5), ShlBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), ShlBrk-%Dam(7) Level 4: Weaken -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(7), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(9), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(9), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11), CldSns-%Dam(11) Level 6: Arctic Air -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(13), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(13), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(15), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(17), CrcPrs-Conf%(17) Level 8: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(50) Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(50) Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15) Level 16: Elixir of Life -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 18: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 20: Antidote -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 22: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-Max HP%(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(40), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(40) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(25), LucoftheG-Def(25) Level 26: Glacier -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(27), Lck-Rchg/Hold(27), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lck-%Hold(31) Level 28: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29), LucoftheG-Def(29) Level 30: Frostbite -- SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(33), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(33), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(34) Level 32: Jack Frost -- BldMnd-Acc/Dmg(A), BldMnd-Dmg/EndRdx(34), BldMnd-Acc/EndRdx(36), BldMnd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), BldMnd-Acc(36), BldMnd-Dmg(37) Level 35: Poison Trap -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(39) Level 38: Indomitable Will -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(43), RechRdx-I(43) Level 41: Mind Over Body -- Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(42), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Ags-ResDam(42), Ags-Psi/Status(43) Level 44: Psionic Tornado -- SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(A), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(45), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(46) Level 47: Venomous Gas -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(48), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(48), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(48) Level 49: World of Confusion -- HO:Endo(A) Level 1: Containment Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(50) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(40), PrfShf-End%(46) Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Support Core Embodiment Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Portal Jockey Level 50: Task Force Commander Level 50: The Atlas Medallion ------------

Of course! Anything Sonic/. Shout ages me by 3 years every time I use it, the nuke is the only redeeming thing about the set as a blaster primary. I'd wish sonic blast onto my worst enemies if I want them to suffer. I have a lot of disdain for the "blasters is for ranged" crowd so I'm gonna go with anything /Dev as well. /TA gets a nod too, OSA saved it a little. Prior to the patch /TA would have been a hard no-go for me (Puts on flameproof suit)😁 Following that line of thought, any build that takes a secondary and skips all the melee damage options. Come to think of it, anything that's not a melee blaster, a panda or Fire/Elec is a no go for me.😆 In all seriousness I'm not going to take that comment from the OP quite so literally. I think a reasonable interpretation is "are any combos so under-performing that I'm going to regret picking them later on as I progress." In that context, any low damage primary paired with a low damage secondary goes against the blaster mantra of "kill or be killed." For that reason I'd rank the likes of sonic/dev and elec/dev bottom of the barrel especially if the player avoids melee range like a plague. /Dev is especially suck-tastic because of the setup time. You can replicate all the quality of life benefits of those utility toggles - stealth, endurance, +to hit, and defense - through IO sets. You can not, however, replicate the likes of bonesmasher or thunderstrike through IO sets and that's where devices really falls short. Of course I anticipate people saying solo with the proper setup you can get insane damage with /dev, but that's a luxury that players don't have most of the time, especially on teams. I have an AR/TA, doesn't mean I'm a fan of /TA. It suffers much of the same negatives as /Dev. Too much utility that can be replicated elsewhere, and not enough instant gratification damage. However the silver lining is that all the baked in utility in /Dev and /TA allows more wiggle room for procs. Following that line of thought, people can intentionally limit themselves taking a non-dev/ta secondary and skipping all the melee stuff. I find that even worse than just going with /Dev and /TA. When they go that route the performance of the choice of primary matters more, and the shortcomings of the under-performing primaries are even more visible. I enjoy my AR/TA for theme though, a Rambo panda with full auto and LRM is a panda you don't wanna mess with.

There is a difference between being proud of what you play and making the most of it and judging powersets on performance. Yes all combination can work but they are not all equal. I can have fun with my AR/TA and I really enjoy the build, but I have no illusions about it's performance when I stack it against my Fire/Elec. There maybe very niche situations where the AR/TA will perform better, but overall the Fire/Elec will outperform, play more aggressively and kill faster. Let's not pretend that dark blast slotted with pure to-hit debuff enhancements or electric blast slotted purely with end mods is anything more than a cute experiment. Will they work? Sure. Do some people think they are unique doing it that way and enjoy it? Absolutely. Do they stack in performance against other more cookie cutter ways to build such powersets? No, they won't. Let's not get "it can work" and "it's powerful combo" mixed up.

Ice/poison for the ultimate walking simulator. It's a build for the truly macho.

Just like in real life you have different circles of friends. I imagine you'd want to hang with these "top shelf" players for speed apex/tin whatever because they are efficient, but leave them out of your social gatherings. Real "top shelf" players can carry the team and pay attention to team chat/dynamics and adjust accordingly. Any idiot with a copied build can speed. Bragging about that shit is like bragging that you brush your teeth.

Staff/Fire. /Fire doesn't get enough recognition on the stalker forums. As you noted with Staff/Elec, staff will benefit resistance based armors. /Fire has decent resist numbers, a faster recharging heal than /elec, and burn. Burn can crit. With the right pairings or investment, it's not as bad a secondary as people discredit it for. Step off the beaten path and give /fire a try.

You got the defenses in that build. But power picks/priorities needs refinement. Dynamo is your sustain, take at level 20 to mitigate your end issues. Some people slot it for heal, if you feel an extra 9hp per second is going to help you against a +4 freak boss then go nuts with the heal slotting. Otherwise my goto is 6 piece premptive to max out your end recover enhancement values and to get some ranged def bonuses. Force of thunder and Thunderstrike form the cornerstone of your survival, both needs the KB->KD IO. If you do nothing else with build take those two and make that slotting change. This will allow you to cycle the two and keep mobs around you flopping. I'd fit in charged brawl for a high dpa punch. I'd personally drop steam spray. I know it does good damage, but it's a cone, and I don't like positioning. See my i27 fire/elec thread for how I built mine.

Aura builds - think path of exile righteous fire, your damage aura does all the killing and the other powers supplement it, change it's effects, etc... Aura bots - for those people that don't want to do damage but provide as much team support as possible, have at it! Channel builds - charge and hold down an attack to keep attacking and drain resources while doing so, would love to have full auto be something like this.

Are you trying to play from range or are you serious about punching face in melee?

When you hit vet level 9999 you turn into a gull. The most powerful being in the whole CoX Universe!

It gets you there faster than non-power boosted short circuit. It's not all that useful against minions because you'd most likely kill them before the drain has any noticeable effect, but try face tanking a few rikti magus + bosses on an MSR, the accelerated end drain matters. That + defense softcap allows you to stand toe to toe with hard targets. As a blaster def softcap isn't enough, you need other forms of mitigation and AoE draining targets is as good a sustainable mitigation tool as cycling AoE KD, it just takes a little longer to get there.

They can just click on your name in the chatbox, since you sent them tells and have broadcasted in zone, and invite you from the menu that pops up. Searching for your name and then trying to invite you when you already sent tells is like taking off your pants to fart....😆

There are a few posts on DB. DB/EA>DB/SR. EA has all the tools that allow you to free up slotting options in DB to make room for more procs.

Not really, most standard mobs don't have KB protection, and they don't gain immunity even if they con higher. Higher cons just turn some KB into KD because they decrease the KB magnitude. Anything with a kb magnitude 1 or more does knockback, anything less does knock down, but even if a power does 0.1 mag kb it will still knock down mobs. AoE KB/KD are typically more consistent and dependable means of crowd control compared to holds/stuns and other hard controls because they tend to recharge faster. Not too many standard mobs have KB/KD immunity. Rularuu brutes are the only ones that come to mind, Flyers and arachnos tarantulas recover from KD quickly or at least seems that way. It doesn't work against a lot of AV/GMs but then again neither does hard controls unless you stack enough mags. Not all powers that KB/KD has 100% chance to do so but if you can cycle powers that do, such as force of thunder and thunderstrike, you can chain KD mobs consistently.

You have PVP mode turned on.

Oh I'm not that selfish, it's not MY strongest. It's the people's champion, it is THE strongest.

Musculature Radial Paragon for the dam and end mod

Yup, KD is very underrated, just like slow auras. But KD is magnitudes more FUN and build enabling (FF procs), plus knocking everything around you down FEELS super. I will say that /Elec is a different beast without IOs, and for the worse. I ran an SO only no incarnate MLTF/LRSF combo and had to rebuild Jezebel completely for that purpose. Without the KB->KD in Thunder Strike and FOT the build is significantly less impressive. TL;DR The kb->kd IOs in FOT and Thunderstrike are game changers.

Build doesn't load correctly in the new mids but here are some comments based on what I am able to see No steadfast 3% IO. Sup Vig Assault is better broken into 2 sets of 3 for that 10% global recharge bonus, rather than 3 sets of 2. Leave procs out of pistols at the very least and make that a set bonus mule. I'd do the same for empty clips because cones don't jive with times juncture and empty clips is a crappy cone at that. I also don't see the other defender ATO. Time crawl makes Time Stop Mag 4. You can hold bosses with that combo, and both provides -regen. I wouldn't skip those 2. No slow resist, for a build that depends on Far Sight to keep you softcapped recharge debuffs could potentially ruin your day. I'd try to fit in the gift of winter 20% slow resist unique in there at the very least. I don't like depending on incarnates for survival but if I were to take a stab at an end game exclusive build this is what I'd do This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7 https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Defender Primary Power Set: Time Manipulation Secondary Power Set: Dual Pistols Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Dark Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Time Crawl -- TmpRdn-Acc/EndRdx(A) Level 1: Pistols -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(3), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3) Level 2: Temporal Mending -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-Heal(5), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(5), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(7), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(9) Level 4: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), WntGif-ResSlow(9) Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(43) Level 8: Distortion Field -- NrnSht-Dam%(A), ImpSwf-Dam%(11), Lck-%Hold(11), GldNet-Dam%(13), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(13), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(15) Level 10: Swap Ammo Level 12: Time's Juncture -- HO:Enzym(A) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15) Level 16: Bullet Rain -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(17), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Ann-ResDeb%(29), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(31) Level 18: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(19), HO:Membr(19) Level 20: Suppressive Fire -- Apc-Dam%(A), GldJvl-Dam%(21), Dcm-Build%(21), UnbCns-Dam%(25), NrnSht-Dam%(27), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(27) Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(23), ShlWal-Def(23), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(25) Level 24: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 26: Slowed Response -- ShlBrk-%Dam(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(34), TchofLadG-%Dam(34), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(48) Level 28: Executioner's Shot -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(31), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(33) Level 30: Time Stop -- SprEnt-Acc/Hold(A), SprEnt-Acc/Hold/End(36), SprEnt-Acc/Hold/End/Rchg(36), NrnSht-Dam%(37), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(37), GldNet-Dam%(37) Level 32: Chrono Shift -- PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(34), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(36), RechRdx-I(48) Level 35: Dark Consumption -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Rchg(45), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(45) Level 38: Hail of Bullets -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), Arm-Dam%(39), Erd-%Dam(39), Obl-%Dam(39), ScrDrv-Dam%(40), Dmg-I(40) Level 41: Dark Embrace -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(42), HO:Ribo(42), UnbGrd-ResDam(42), UnbGrd-Max HP%(43) Level 44: Soul Drain -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), GssSynFr--Build%(45), Erd-%Dam(46), FuroftheG-Dam/End/Rech(46), Mlt-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), RechRdx-I(48) Level 47: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A) Level 49: Rune of Protection -- Ags-ResDam/Rchg(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(50), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A) Level 1: Vigilance Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(7) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(50) Level 10: Chemical Ammunition Level 10: Cryo Ammunition Level 10: Incendiary Ammunition Level 50: Clarion Radial Epiphany Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 50: Portal Jockey Level 50: Task Force Commander Level 50: The Atlas Medallion ------------

If you happen to read my other posts (I post a lot in the blaster forum 😁) you'll find out I'm a huge proponent of melee blasting. This build is designed to hold it's own in melee range by cycling force of thunder and thunderstrike to keep mobs consistently knocked down. Because of the active mitigation I can skim a little bit from S/L defense which is meant to cover most melee range attacks. Range defense covers everything else you can't directly interact with via force of thunder/thunderstrike. It is even more important because those things you can't interact with are more likely to land debuffs/mezzes on you from range. The ones in melee range you can keep knocked down/kill. Melee blasting isn't the same as being a derpy melee AT, standing in one spot and trying to dps a pylon down. We are smarter than that. You have to understand when to be in melee range and when not to be. /Elec can create opportunities for you to stay in melee range longer through all the knockdowns but that doesn't mean you should stand still under those incarnate banished pantheon/Talon damage patches or under longbow sonic debuffs. Movement is key here and that ties into your inferno question (although you have enough defenses to inferno the dumb way which is to run in, look constipated for 4 seconds right smack in the middle of things that notice you and start smacking you). Learn to hop in, hop out with your attack animations queued and animating where you land. This is called Jousting. Master movement, understand when you should and should not be in melee, inspiration use, and finally the build. These are the keys to success.