beradical

Also, unrelated, I just learned that "blapping" means melee. I thought it was a term for blasters because they talk so much sh*t in pvp lmao. It's why I originally came to hate the AT back on live.

Does anyone have a build they'd be willing to share for my first blapper? My style is fast and aggressive, mostly in melee. My goal for this toon is max dps, both AoE for the mobs and ST for the AVs. Only enough ranged for the runners. I'm assuming soft-cap S/L/R or M/R would be the best course? I don't know the powers or pools that well, except the shared ones from my fire corruptor and defender. Money is no object, have plenty of infamy and reward merits, so hit me with a min/max build if you have one,. Thnx 😃 feel free to pm me if you'd prefer to not post publicly. *Edit: Still no advice, but through trial and error I settled on this top Fire/Fire/Mace build but with Ageless instead of Clarion, using BFs as needed. Alternatively I can swap Leaping for Sorcery, taking Rune of Prot, losing Consume (never used) & Combat Jumping (LotG 7.5% recharge & 2% def), but gaining a break-free and +22% res for 90s. More hits will get through losing soft-cap, but I have RoP and Demonic Aura as needed, and any team buff quickly soft-caps me. Build with Leaping: Build w Sorcery instead of Leaping:

I'm just starting my first blaster, but I'm confused why so many don't want to park in melee? Are they that squishy, or is it the mad aggro? Because non of my fenders, trollers or corrs have any issues in melee, that's where all the good stuff is happening (Fulcrum shift, accelerate metabolism, heals, tank aggro, leadership, etc). If you are pulling mad aggro, isn't being ranged awful? You are moving the mobs away from where you want them. Just had an awful Magi run where a ranged blaster had aggro and kept Tyrant running around making him very tough to kill. What am I missing? Seems like aggressively blapping would be the best team-based style, and killing mobs faster is the ultimate mitigation.

Ok, sounds like once again the correct answer is Fire. TY!

I was thinking of rolling my first blaster, assuming Fire/Fire would be highest dmg like all ATs. Friend suggested I look at Beam/Devices, and it looks awesome, but he warned you can't take all of the best powers and slotting it is hell. But it looks like the pair would be monster PBAoE & ST, vs /Fire which seems to have more weaker AoEs. So can anyone give me an overview of the 2 sets? I would prefer to be in melee but with enough ranged for runners, high AoE & ST dmg for both groups of mobs and AVs. Would one of these sets be better? Or another?

Oh, this is a game changer. Ok, Speed Boost is back on the docket, I'll work on building it into my habits. TYVM @Doomguide2005 and @Darkir Edit: It appears I can also target friend through a mob! So I don't even have to change target to drop SB. Open fight with FS, end fight with SB, nuke in the middle.

You were all very right, and I thank you all immensely. Super solid, great damage, but the real icing is the super fast cast times, which is awesome for all of the various "traps" like pink dots, blue cracks, tyrant crackles, and other things which would quickly kill this toon if locked in a long animation. And @Darkir, your build is awesome. I like Sorcery for Rune of Protection - it's not as solid as Clarion, but suffices, letting me keep Ageless instead. That really makes this toon shine. And the soft/capped S/L/R works really well, except for defense debuff, but we all have our limitations. I rarely use most of the powers, but I'm trying to find the balance between buffing/debuffing and attacking, since the ultimate goal is damage, and I think this toon's primary role is damage, including damage buff via Fulcrum Shift. Transfusion and Transference are nice when you (rarely) need them, I've been playing with dropping the heal solely for the -50% regen on AVs, but it's hard to tell if that does much. Speed Boost is a massive pain to cast on each teammate, so I only ever use it if we have a stoner or if asked to. I tried some binds to select next teammate AND cast it, but it didn't work consistently, even if it did it would still be a massive pain. It's already such a busy set, which prefers me to keep Hasten, Ageless and Siphon Speed up at all times. I'd honestly be ok dropping it entirely, how awful of a Kin does that make me? But what would I take instead? Aim isn't an awful choice for the AV fights where FS hits 1 target. A proc'd out Web Cocoon would add another slow, but still only 3rd best ST attack and loses ranged def + rech. So for now I'll keep SB as a set mule, maybe eventually start using it... Rain of Fire + Siphon Speed is a great duo, I have more luck slowing AVs than I did holding them with my troller (now collecting dust). And both have other benefits (dmg & buff). This toon is best fast and aggressive. You have to get to the next group and pop Fulcrum Shift before the team nukes em to hell, but this also means most of the team isn't in range for the buff. So I find the fastest players, keep up with them, open with FS while they nuke, and then I drop my AoEs for scourgy sloppy seconds. It's just constant beast mode. It's virtually impossible to buff an entire team let alone league most of the time, players really tend to split up so much. The only time they tend to group is for the big AV fight, where FS does the least good with just 1 mob. If you don't play that way, if you stay with the larger pack of slower toons, your damage is buffing the wrong players, and you are now a poor defender. And if I run off on my own, which I very much can, then alpha players are not hitting their damage caps, and it slows down the entire trial/TF.

Thank you all for the input. I'm going to roll a Fire/Kin and leave the Radiation primary for a Rad/Bio Scrapper I've been chewing on. And just to make sure, Corruptor is a good AT for Fire/Kin?

Ok, but the other 2 AoEs, being slower, will make them more proccable? I know you are good with procs so a good person to ask.

Or will I regret just not rolling a Fire/Kin like everyone else? I know Fire is a less resisted dmg type, and the damage king, but I like radiation and figure energy should still be decent. But is Rad a Tier 2 or even 3 on a Corr, or a solid competitive choice? I like the mix of ST & AoE, looks like it would add solid damage cleaning up mobs and against the AV. Really my priorities are damage and speed, I want to run from group to group doing as much damage as fast as possible. I don't mind rerolling if there is something else that will provide noticeably more damage and value to teams/leagues. And not be slow.

Edit - I forgot I had World of Confusion minor DoT =/ I also respec'd adding a minimal 2% dmg & 3.75% rech. Tightened up attack chain, used Rad Inf this time (to minimize hits/KBs = delays), and eek out some big gains, finally breaking the 4 min mark (still no Hybrid, Lore, temps, insp): 4:09 - 4:04 - 3:43 - 3:37 = average 233.25s for 292.22 DPS Yeah, I'm super happy 😃 Keep in mind my first post was needing more damage, frustrated with my 10 min times on Pylons.

And ty for all of your help - this wouldn't have been possible without you showing me the proc potential. I really like procs - they can add so much damage, but sacrifice so much as well. They feel very balanced and fair.

Rad/Son Defender Here are my pylon times: Rd 1 4:31 (w/Degenerative Core) Rd 2 4:19 (w/Degenerative Core) Rd 3 4:29 Rd 4 4:01 Average time 4:20 = 275.31 DPS T4 Reactive Radial - T4 Musc Core - T4 Pyronic Core - T4 Ageless Core - T4 Assault Radial (Not used) -- No temps, lore, inspirations. Proc heavy build, attack chain Shout > Shriek > Dominate, popping Dreadful Wail & Judgement when up. Perma LR & EF toggled. Nothing awesome, but impressive for a Sonic Defender. There was some lag, could improve times a bit more on a better day, but a solid representation of what the Radsonder can do. Edit - I forgot I had World of Confusion toggle DoT =/ I also respec'd adding 2% dmg & 3.75% rech (replaced old build below). Tightened up attack chain, used Rad Inf this time (to minimize hits/KBs = delays), and eek out some big gains, finally breaking the 4 min mark: 4:09 - 4:04 - 3:43 - 3:37 = average 233.25s for 292.22 DPS

Here are my pylon times: Rd 1 4:31 Degenerative Core Rd 2 4:19 Degenerative Core Rd 3 4:29 Reactive Radial Rd 4 4:01 Reactive Radial T4 Musc Core T4 Pyronic Core T4 Ageless Core T4 Assault Radial (Not used) No temps, lore, inspirations. Average time 4:20 = 275.31 DPS

Yeah, you're right, on another thread people are saying Reactive better for most mobs, Degen just barely edges out on pylons, so the general recommendation is still that Reactive is better overall, Degen slightly better for AV/GM. I assume the -res stacks well with son debuffs, which also gives Dom a chance to stack a -res as well?

Can you help clarify: In-game (right clicking on Judgements and looking at details) shows Ion Core at 2302 dmg vs Pyronic Core's 491. Can that really be right?? Like those aren't even comparable, despite Ion's long cast time. Is Ion just 4x better than the rest? Is the 2302 only the first target? Is 2302 calculating multiple targets? Is it just wrong?

Couple more incarnate questions: Traditional logic says Degenerative Core is better for AV/GM fights, but does the -Max HP eventually wear off? Since I've already nuked their regen, wouldn't straight up damage be better? Plus Fire is one of the least resisted damage types, so it seems like Reactive would be a slight advantage. Also, everyone says Ion is superior to Pyronic, despite Pyronic's higher chance for additional damage. In game shows Ion at 2302 dmg vs Pyronic's 491. Can that really be right?? Like those aren't even comparable, despite Ion's long cast time.

Shout is 2.67s, same as Shriek + Scream. Do you think that extra 20% -res offsets Shout's extra 134.65 dmg? Shout's 10s debuff time means it will stack on itself by the time it gets back in rotation. so I'd still suspect Dom > Shout > Shriek or Dom > Shriek > Shout > Shriek would be best. I can do both attack chains with Ageless I can play around with a pylon and see what the end results are, it's just hard with proc-based attacks being random and unpredictable. I'll have to kill a few and average the times for a reliable dps. I wish they still had the test dummys you could damage to see your dps in action live.

My numbers do not account for stacking resist debuffs at all! I don't know how to calculate, how many can stack, diminishing returns, how long they last, etc. I actually dropped Howl and Scream and took Screech instead, with the ATO set in it. I can open with DW and drop Screech on the Boss to stack disorient, then switch to my ST chain. If I'm not worried about incoming dmg then I can just drop DW and roll into ST chain. Never hurts having another mez as opposed to Scream and Screech which never got used and were solely there to mule the set. Also, can you boost Hami's?

Well, let's see which attacks have the highest DPA, then we can figure out the best possible chain for max DPS. Traditional Radsender logic always said the best dps is using Shriek & Scream + Howl for some AoE, and that Shout actually hurts your dps. But this is outdated info from pre-proc days. @Onlyasandwichshowed dmg in /son comes from procs, the best attack isn't even Sonic (lol), and the worst 3 are Shriek, Scream and Howl because they can't be proc'd (effectively). Let's look at the numbers for each attack with it's ideal 6 slotting (w/AM, Assault, Musc Core + Vig): Dominate 451 dmg @ 1.1s ct = 410 dpa (5 procs) Dreadful Wall 698.1 dmg @ 1.97s ct = 354.36 dpa (4 procs) Shout 394.2 dmg @ 2.67s ct = 147.64 dpa (2 procs & no rech) Screech 184 @ 1.5s ct = 122.66 dpa (2 procs & no rech) Shriek 99.35 dmg @ 1s ct = 99.35 dpa (6 ato) Scream 160.2 @ 1.67s ct = 95.92 dpa (5 apocalypse + 1 dmg) Howl 95.8 @ 2.33s ct = 41.11 dpa (x#mobs hit) You can't pick both Shout & Screech, they req the same Apoc proc. Shout has better dpa & rech, so fits in chains better imo: Dom > Shr > Sho > Shr --> 1,043.9 dmg over 5.77s = 180.91 dps w/more rech you can even drop x2 Shr: Dom > Sho > Shr --> 944.55 dmg over 4.77s = 198 dps Screech's long rech means it requires a 4th attack or a gap:, but this also means your 2 best DPA attacks are also mag 3 mezzes, each stacking with either DW or EMP. Screech > Scream > Shr > Dom > Shr --> 993.9 dmg over 6.27s = 158.51 w/more rech you can even drop Scream: Screech > Shr > Dom > Shr --> 833.7 dmg over 4.6s = 181.23 Shriek & Scream have just under 100 dpa so can never get over 100 dps. Throw in Judgement + Dreadful Wail whenever they're up and you can easily get over 200 dps, double the dps of the traditional Shriek+Scream+Howl approach. I realize that 200+ dps is not very impressive, but add Hybrid Assault + Lore and GMs really do melt under the weight of your debuffs. This proc heavy approach has limitations -- I'm not sure how dmg buffs affect them, I'm assuming +dmg and Hybrid double dmg do not affect the proc dmg, just the powers base dmg, so the various buffs may not be super effective on Dominate, but should still add up for Shriek, Shout & DW. Max ST dps w/ high survivability, sacrificing healing & Rad Inf -- if you want RI, drop Scream & 5-slot Boxing/Kick w/Hecatomb (+Acc not +Dmg though). Swapped Clarion for Ageless for max rech - I should drop End Red enh now. Dropped Hybrid Support for Assault, but big Psi res + Demonic Aura are awesome godmode. Also trying Reactive for extra Fire dmg + -res, fits this AT well - not sure how compares to -Max health in actual fights.

Oh, good call. The hold is the keystone of the whole attack chain. Thanks for pointing that out. Kills that epic.

And I just dropped Scrappy in under a minute, using Hybrid Support & Lore. This build is awesome. Ran the trials and my ST burst damage was much improved, I was hitting mobs noticeably harder and felt like I was finally contributing to damage. BTW, the Rogue Temp power Duplicity totally stacks with the toggle, both being Mag 2, and I was able to even confuse some boss adds during BAF lol. Too bad wiki says it goes away after 7 days. It's really good right now, but not perfect. I'll keep tweaking and see if I can't squeeze just a bit more DPS out of this toon, I'm confident I can easily drop some AoE for Melee defense and add some more recharge using Darkir's trick to split up the ATO for double +10% recharge. Then I'll try Assault Radial Hybrid and see if I can't get my pylon time down closer to 4 mins w/o Lore. And I have to admit, the Soul mastery looks super intriguing. I might play with it on Beta. Having a Soul Mistress I can buff and heal, along with Lore, would definitely add to the dmg. Similar powers to Dark pool, so I'll tweak Darkir's build.

Thank you for the explanation, I get it now. I'll keep working on the solo build to see if I can replace AoE with Melee. For team build I'm just going with yours. Personally I dislike Fly & Hover, always preferred SJ as travel because its fun, and CJ is superior to hover. Fly & Hover are both too slow and inactive for my manic high energy personality. But Afterburner gives that nice LotG slot, and GM fighting Hover is really important to minimize kiting for such a long fight. But I'm totally open to dropping them for my team build. Lastly, just dropped a pylon in 5:03, essentially doubling my ST damage. And I can improve, as halfway through I figured out the ideal attack chain: Dominate > Shriek > Shout > Shriek > rinse repeat, dropping DW and Judgement as soon as they're up, and rotating in AM, Haste & LR for one of the Shrieks. You people are seriously so awesome, it means a lot to me that you all took the time to help me out. This toon just got a ton more valuable to me. It was my main back on live, a long time ago, and I'm really pleased I could revive it and make it relevant.

Once again something I just would never have thought of. Pretty clever idea.

DW is disorient, which is why screech is so popular to stack, and that's where Dark shines with it's disorient toggle. I'll go this route for team build. Toggle+AoE would be awesome, but there's not great AoE mez options. Psychic has some but not good for stacking because no other confuse to stack w/WoC and Telekensis is super endurance expensive to run along with CC. Never used WoC before, not sure if Mag 2 will land on LTs or bosses, and mids says the duration is only a few seconds, much shorter than CC, but even hitting minions will add some control + DoT + damage as they attack each other. Got my new IOs, will respec this afternoon and see if I can beat my best pylon time of 10:02 (averaging 10:20). Then try some GMs and see if I can get under 15 min on them.