Nemu

My Fire/Elec blaster. She's what I reminisced about as the most fun I've had with the game when CoH sunset. She's the first hero I made when I discovered HC, she's also the only character that I've made on all the shards and plan to play all the way to 50+. So far 3 shards done, two more to go. No other combination comes close in terms of fun, prowess, and playtime.

Yup, while I'm glad FoT is staying as it is minus the sustain, build wise it's still a nerf since I now have to fit in dynamo as well, and I had no room for the damage aura in my current build. Essentially equates to me losing tactics and vengeance. Also don't like the fact that I get FoT at 35, but beggars can't be choosers.

I agree with the assessment on spore cloud. It's a skip at those lower levels, if it animated faster it might be another story but still a questionable early pick. We are playing blasters here, not rad defenders.

Yeah, different build goals, different builds. I'll have to play around with the status proc in something other than my T1/2. My experience is that the proc doesn't grant protection, just resistance, but I could be wrong. With defense softcap there are few mezzes that consistently hit me, so I've always relegated that proc to "nice when it happens but I'm not going to count on it" category. I like exemping down to hang out with lowbie teams, it's part of my "blasters isn't all /ta or /dev" education campaign. My SG is full of casual players that don't even know what pylon times are and they do a lot of non-50 stuff. So, I don't exclusively run high end iTrials and TFs but I have no problems keeping up with the best of them when I do. As such my standard template has ranged softcap and a decent attack chain by level 25-30. That is reflected in the build I posted. I noted your other comments, I don't disagree, and I think your build is something that @beradical can really take advantage of, if he's the same @beradicalin one of my global channels that runs a lot of itrials and high level speed TFs. At that level incarnate powers can fill whatever hole the build has, and it's nice break to not pick clarion as a default on a blaster. PS I don't really like FSC either, the animation is clunky AF because the pause at the end annoys me to no end, just like the pause at the end of fire blast. I took combustion on my elec/fire (gasp!) for the bigger radius. I don't sweat the DPS, I know blasters do enough damage to get the job done.

I'd love it if burn and ice patch drop where you click the power instead of where you land. Imagine my chagrin when I jousted burn the first time only to find out the patch is created where I land, saaaaad panda. If you are well versed in melee blasting and hopping in and out of combat take burn. But as you see in game and on the forums plenty of ranged only blasters make do without.

Yeah it took some getting used to. My comments about nature stem from the early levels when regrowth was the only spammable power in the toolkit. Of course at higher levels as your kit expands it may not be as big a deal depending on playstyle. I'm just glad the "gather for RA" crowd haven't caught on to nature. Can you imagine? "Gather for LGS!", "Gather for WB!" "GATHER for WG!" "GATHER FOR OG!" 😆 I present Nature the gatherer's choice award.

Why not take another travel power to reflect how you've mastered all terrain then? I will say this, I see quite a few people trying to force the game to work with their concept instead of improvising with what the game gives them. A little imagination goes a long way. I see a lot of the hardliner RP people that don't budge from concept having less fun with the game because they impose a lot of restrictions on themselves, a lot of which can be worked around by having just a tiny bit of improvisation to the character story/background. You could justify leviathan through a backstory where your hero was tracking a villain indiana jones style and during the process inherited the power of the leviathan or some such, for example. But, fun is subjective and if it works for you then more power to you. If you ever get stuck in a rut though, maybe you'll come back to this idea of being a bit more flexible.

Truth! This is a kneejerk carryover state of mind from the anti-healzors rants from 10 years ago. Any rational person will see that healing has a place. When my softcapped incarnate buffed xyz destiny uber defense uber resist blaster dips red in health I'm not going to turn down heals from an empath lol. Hating on the mechanic of healing and the viability of healing is silly. For me the negative unconscious bias stem from the quality of players that play empathy. I've only met a handful of empaths that I consider good at playing the set, and magnitudes more that have (lots of) room for improvement. People remember the bad ones more than the good ones and get jaded when that constitutes their perspective. But even those bad emp players are welcome on certain content like hami raids or MoM, rock that aura, I don't really care, you are doing your job in that case and helping me get my hami-O/endgame loot. If those healers want to learn something about the game and get good then great, if not it doesn't impact my softcapped god mode of whatever I'm playing one bit. The cone on the heal in nature makes it a hard sell for me. In really frantic situations I'd rather have a pbaoe heal centered around myself than a cone that requires that I find my target, then line up behind them and face a certain way. With certain mobile playstyles the cone is just a terrible fit especially when you try to que it up and your previous power has you facing a different direction than how you want to fire your cone. I don't think Nature is any better or worse than Empathy. One has resists/hold/debuffs, the other has defense and anti-mez and I consider the anti-mez pretty important for traditional pre-incarnate teaming. I do know that the nature heal doesn't jive with my playstyle where I'm constantly hopping in and out of combat and repositioning myself.

You don't really need a specific build for weakend hami running at +0 difficulty. Get a few essence of the earth and pop those and you'll be golden. During the mito kill phase there's no need to taunt hamidon and keep it's attention as long as the team doesn't aggro it. My melee blaster usually kills all the yellow mitos during the pylon phase by popping an EoE and a break free and punching all the yellow mitos during that period, it gets harder if you ramp up difficulty to +4 but it's just a matter of carrying more EoEs really. Having said that any build that has a self heal and end recovery will work fine for hami and the mitos. Scrapper ninjitsu is really good, it's heal and end recovery power is unresistable so the mito debuffs can't neuter them.

You can go rogue/villain and unlock villain epics and then switch back to hero very quickly thru null the gull at pocket D. Just because patron powers require villain side unlocks doesn't mean you can't roleplay them with a heroic background/theme. I'm thinking leviathan, there's mythos associated with exploration from that pool and you get to throw sharks. SHARKS!

I am going to talk about skill level, something you may not like to hear. Empathy has a fairly high skill ceiling. Most people that gravitate to the pure support playstyle play at the very baseline because they believe that they can be god's gift to teams just by watching the green bar and shout "gather for RA" every couple of minutes. The reason I say Empathy requires a bit of skill is because a good empath needs to understand team composition, AT strengths/weaknesses, mob factions, and generally be observant about their teammates capabilities and skill level and the foes they face. Most people that play pure empaths lack that level of understanding and awareness. Here are a few examples: -Clear mind the whole team when facing arachnos because they blind -Adrenaline Boost the not fully IOed dominator so they can get perma-dom easier -Clear mind the blasters and the controllers and the other squishies that lack mez protection PROACTIVELY, especially the ones that go into melee range a lot. -Fortitude the teammates that seem to get hurt a lot. Here are a few examples of what I see bad/average empaths do that good ones don't: -Throw all the buffs on the tank/brute including clear mind meanwhile ignoring all the other squishies that could use those buffs. - Tanks/brutes and all melee ATs have mez protection so unless they are fighting mobs that blind, fear or confuse, clear mind is not needed. If a tank/brute is surviving just fine but another teammate is not then fortitude and other buffs are better suited for that teammate. Empaths that play like this still harbor the holy trinity mindset, a mindset that does not fit this game. -Shout "gather for RA" every couple of minutes. Good ones don't expect the team to break up their flow just for RA, they find a spot where they can tag the most teammates and fire it off. Bonus points if you joust it in the heat of battle. -Being "fair" with the buffs. Sounds all warm and fuzzy right? I'm spreading the love around and everyone will love me! This might sound harsh but give buffs to the people that need it first, and then spread it around. -Being lazy with Clear Mind. If you play pure support you have plenty of time to apply clear mind to the ATs that lack mez protection proactively. Blasters will love you for it, so will other defenders/trollers with toggle debuffs. Back on live the lazy emps used to shout "type zzz if you are mezzed." and the blasters are like "yeah like I have time to type that before I get 2 shot" Nowadays I don't even see that anymore. The sad truth is that most people are used to not counting on empaths or any other support set that have an anti-mez to be used proactively on them. But that doesn't mean you can't break the current status quo and do exactly that. Ill/emp is a great support combo, you help control the flow of battle and you get to throw buffs/heals out. I had one on live and it worked out very well.

Some of the changes on beta will be a boon for melee blasters. /ice in particular will be a monster secondary with frozen aura doing damage now. /ninja is in a great place with the melee power damage buffed to blaster scales, the crit mechanic is unique among blaster secondaries and it just feels cool to see that text floating overhead. /sonic manipulation is decent, the hold gimmick is not super reliable but it'll do in the age of top end IO softcap builds. I'd skip sound cannon because it's a cone and doesn't jive with your typical melee blaster setup. Cool name though, but that's about it. Pair sound manipulation with a primary that doesn't have many cones and you have a decent melee blaster. Sound blast/energy is a bit too ST focused. You can set yourself up for some bigger melee hits with the -res but damage and speed wise it will feel slow. I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning to build something that does decent ST and AoE. If you are set on sonic blast then pair it with something that has a bit more AoE as a secondary, it might work well with /mental manipulation.

Any secondary with high DPA melee attacks will do. Seeing as the only thing you took out of /fire is burn for the AoE I'd say that Fire blast for the most part has enough AoE to cover your basic needs. Charged brawl, energy punch, bonesmasher and the like are all attacks you can include in your ST chain and ST DPS is what really matters. Any AoE you can get from the secondary is gravy. When the beta changes go live there will be quite a few secondaries that will work well. /ice and /ninja will have the biggest buffs imo.

If we are talking about IOed 50s then RoP is simply not necessary and not as effective for lower level exemped content when the alternative is to be able to achieve softcap or very close to softcap ranged defense and around 30% s/l/melee defense by level 25. Getting mezzed at that point is a minor nuisance and hardly life threatening. Occasionally RNG will fail and you will get hurt/die but that's no more inconsistent than RoP being up 2/3 of the time. Speeding Citadel/Hess/Yin is a thing and I see the above build having a harder time keeping up. Skill definitely compensates for whatever the build is lacking though. However I will say that RoP is much more useful at higher levels. Say what you want about Scorpion Shield lending to squishier blasters and all, I don't disagree. However I can tell you from observation that most blasters die because they don't move or know how and when to move. RoP is a nice safety net. Against nasty factions like IDF I can definitely see RoP + Charged Armor + ranged softcap doing well, but that means sacrifices in recharge bonuses/power picks among other things. My standard template for melee blasters includes S/L/R/E/N softcap and >50% slow resist. I've dabbled with leviathan for KO blow and a resist shield combined with ranged softcap and I've found that + around 25-30%ish s/l defense is enough for melee blasters when your playstyle involves jousting in and out of combat. I think Leviathan with ranged softcap can be a fun pairing for fire/fire, KO blow hits hard, insta holds bosses with the blistering cold proc, and is a FF mule to make up somewhat for lost recharge building that way. There are better secondaries than Fire manipulation if you really want a top end blaster but let's work with what you've got. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Flares -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(17) Level 1: Ring of Fire -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36) Level 2: Fire Ball -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(3), Artl-Dam/Rech(3), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(5), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(5), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(7) Level 4: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(37) Level 6: Rain of Fire -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(7), Artl-Dam/Rech(9), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(11), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(11), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(13) Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(9) Level 10: Fire Sword Circle -- Erd-Dmg(A), FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(29), Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(50), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50) Level 12: Aim -- RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg(A), GssSynFr--Build%(34), RctRtc-Pcptn(37) Level 14: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(33), Rct-Def/EndRdx(33), Rct-ResDam%(46) Level 16: Build Up -- RctRtc-ToHit/Rchg(A), RctRtc-ToHit(36) Level 18: Blaze -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(25), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(33) Level 20: Cauterizing Aura -- PreOptmz-Acc/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(21), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(21), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(23), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(23), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(25) Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29) Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 26: Blazing Bolt -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(27), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(27), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), StnoftheM-Dam%(31) Level 28: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(31), ShlWal-Def(34), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(34) Level 32: Inferno -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(37), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(40), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Obl-%Dam(45) Level 35: School of Sharks -- Acc-I(A) Level 38: Burn -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(40) Level 41: Knockout Blow -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43), FrcFdb-Rechg%(43) Level 44: Shark Skin -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), HO:Ribo(46), ResDam-I(46) Level 47: Hot Feet -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(48), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(50) Level 49: Super Jump -- WntGif-ResSlow(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Quick Form 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 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon ------------

Well, if people are gonna shelve their /TA blasters then... I would be perfectly happy to rework tactical arrow into Tactical Fist!(with the exclamation mark), and can we do something about devices while we are at it? Make trip mine Trip Fist and time bomb Time fist? None of that wait and interrupt time, just fist, all fist, and nothing but fist...

From a damage perspective, you are going to be disappointed with scrappers or any other melee AT when you compare them to your blaster. When you have survival figured out as you did with your fire/fire, blasters are just much more consistent in being able to deal ST and AoE damage from anywhere. There is no doubt that melee ATs are intrinsically tougher but as you noted, kill speed also creates safety and blasters do it well enough to trigger mob fear AI which is yet another under-appreciated form of mitigation. Battle Maiden in Apex is just one of many examples of where melee ATs will have challenges dealing consistent damage. If you want a more mundane example, then just the simple act of chasing runners. Once you learn to play a melee blaster there is nothing else that can compare to the havoc that a well built, well piloted melee blaster can wreak. You can PL any of these suggestions here and IO them out and give them a run and they'll be fun for sure, but will they stack up to your Fire/Fire? My bet is no.

I have a pretty standard approach to building my blasters - Scorpion Shield and softcapped S/L/R with a health dose of slow resist. But I've always been drawn to KO blow, and the thought of pairing that with any of the heavy hitter T9s makes me giddy. But scorpion shield have always stood in the way. I decided to try something different from my standard formula and do what I always wanted to do, and the result is super fun! Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Moira Curie: Level 50 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Atomic Manipulation Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Concealment Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Gloom -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(7) Level 1: Electron Shackles -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Negatron Slam -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(13), HO:Nucle(15), HO:Nucle(17) Level 4: Umbral Torrent -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(7), Ann-ResDeb%(9), HO:Nucle(15), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(19) Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(19), WntGif-ResSlow(21) Level 8: Moonbeam -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(9), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(11), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), StnoftheM-Dam%(13) Level 10: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 12: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 14: Ionize -- HO:Membr(A) Level 16: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 18: Abyssal Gaze -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(23), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(27), Apc-Dmg(43), Apc-Dam%(45) Level 20: Metabolic Acceleration -- PreOptmz-Acc/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(21), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(46), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(48), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(50), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(50) Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(25), ShlWal-Def(25), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27) Level 26: Life Drain -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(46), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(46) Level 28: Atom Smasher -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(29), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(40) Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(31), Rct-Def/EndRdx(31), Rct-ResDam%(31) Level 32: Blackstar -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(34) Level 35: Bile Spray -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(36), Artl-Dam/Rech(36), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(36), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(37), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(37) Level 38: Positronic Fist -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mk'Bit-Dam%(40) Level 41: Knockout Blow -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(43), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43) Level 44: Shark Skin -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), HO:Ribo(48), ResDam-I(48) Level 47: Beta Decay -- HO:Enzym(A) Level 49: Super Jump -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Quick Form 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 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon ------------ Ranged defense > S/L or melee defense if you know what you are doing even for builds like this which has a fair emphasis on melee attacks. I was concerned about not hitting the S/L softcap as I normally do with Scorpion shield but when one's used to jousting in and out of combat it did not feel like a huge loss. Umbral torrent is very reliable KD and buys me breathing room, combined with a healthy amount of S/L resist, the -to hit effect, and life drain, this build is plenty survivable. Finally, using KO blow and then follow it up with a Posi Fist just feels awesome! The 80" cone on umbral torrent is the only thing that I wish could be different. I often find myself tagging the next group when I joust in and out of combat and use that power, so for tricky mob placement one has to be very strategic about where to position that power. Otherwise a very fun and satisfying build. And if you want to break your love affair with Scorpion Shield give this a shot!

The thing that grinds my gears is that the one unslotted attack empath approach has largely been voted off the island, same with the one attack tank taunt bot. You go onto those respective forums and start talking about being pure and you'll get a barrage of "this is not how you play this game." Take your secondaries, slot them, that's how you are really supposed to play those ATs. Blasters is the only AT left where secondary neglect is tolerated and based on more than a few voices here, even encouraged. And I am certain some of those same voices are quick to jump on the "take and use your secondary" bandwagon when it comes to defenders and tanks.

I just call it blasting. Why give a special term to a playstyle that is intended for the AT like it's an abnormal thing? I hate the word "blapping" I'd rather call the rangers "sentineling"

Because most people that play blasters should be playing sentinels instead. You've never lived as a blaster till you KO blow something and follow it up with a total focus or positronic fist.

The ideal treatment for FOT for me would be to make FOT a toggle sustain with the KB component as a click on a 30 second timer, similar to speed of sound/jaunt or mystic flight/translocation. But I can understand the argument that now you have to split slotting priorities in that power so it's not a game breaking change to have Dynamo in it's place as the new sustain. I'm very happy to see FOT reverted to it's former glory, even if it is a late game pick now. I would love to switch that with power sink in the order sequence, since most blaster builds won't really need an extra endurance recovery tool early game, but I'll take what I can get. Regarding the blaster AoE holds on the 180 second timer, I'm glad to see those recharge times tuned back down to 90 seconds. That will make them more appealing for players and not just as set mules. Thank you for taking in the feedback! 👍👍👍

No no, he has a point. blasters are so weak. Buff blasters and make them punch harder. I fully endorse this movement.

Think about LGTF, having a ranged hold is a good thing, and you can use ranged holds in melee too. A little less damage is a fair trade off for that bit of versatility. Get enough recharge on this so that it recharges fast enough into your attack rotation and then tell me if you feel the DOT takes too long. The DOT takes effect over 5 seconds and you can get the power to recharge well under 5.

But you have to admit, hovering at 80 feet is way more tactical than hovering at 50 feet and opens up more lines of TACTICAL play. For example

When you learn to play melee blasters you will want to play nothing else.