Keilis

Playing what you enjoy is always optimal 😄

I suppose my post could use more-explicit context. Mostly I wanted to contradict Bentley Berkeley, but I was also summing up, in response to the original post, my take on how things have changed since blapping was the hot new thing. As a very broad summary, it left things out, since as going for typed Defense instead of positional. It is, of course, totes valid. My post was intended as "here's the deal with blapping", not "here's the one true way to play a Blaster, which I've arrived at with one Blaster built one way". I mentioned just one of my Blasters, my AR/EM, as an example of ranged vs. melee attacks, not Ranged Defense. I chose him because when I think "Blapper", Bonesmasher is the first thing that comes to mind, and following the snipe changes, I recently reflected on how I don't lean on Bonesmasher nearly as much as I did ten years ago. For this particular character, I didn't build for solo survivability. My current-but-not-final planned build doesn't go for significant Defense at all, ending up with 10-20%, but if I were to build for Defense, I think I might go for S/L over Ranged due to not wanting to slot full Thunderstrikes in my attacks. Anyway, options for annihilating Nazis do indeed abound, and I hope this thread helps illustrate the wealth of options available to BlazinBrazen, whether they recreate their Fire/Energy or go with something else.

I don't have a guide, but I do have some advice. The discussion of the non-combo chains is based on my memories from live, and while I think the ideas are still valid, I don't remember the numbers and I haven't explored how the PPM system or ATOs affect them. At low levels, Empower -> PS -> Weaken -> PS is a very comfortable and effective attack chain without any recharge slotting. Once you get to 26, you can start using the Attack Vitals combo, and Empower and Weaken aren't nearly so useful. I suggest a respec at 27 to drop one of your first two attacks and Typhoon's Edge. It's also a convenient time to equip level 30 IOs. At this point, with a little bit of recharge slotting, you can run BF -> AV -> PS. Here's a skeleton of a build, but please note that this is just to see what degree of recharge reduction you need, assuming global bonuses. Here's an example of one way you could go that is both cheap and effective. This build has SS six-slotted at 27 because, when respeccing, you pick your powers by level but you allocate your slots all at once. There is an infinitesimal gap before SS, but seriously, it's less than a twentieth of a second. The smallest possible recharge bonus will make that gap go away, and if the Multistrikes with Recharge are attuned, gaining a level will make the chain gapless, too. 😛 Going forward, it's pretty common to skip One Thousand Cuts, and the Sweep combo isn't a popular one for Scrappers. Instead, as the build matures, you'll be able to shift to BF -> AV. This is more than enough DPS for most players. That said, if you can muster the recharge bonuses for it, there are two even stronger attack chains that eschew combos entirely. The two top-end attack chains are BF -> AS -> SS and BF -> AS -> SS -> AS. It takes a whole lotta recharge to make the second AS worth it, but it does do more single-target DPS. The first attack chain also requires a ton of recharge, but not the ridiculous amount needed for the second. Anyway, BF -> AS -> SS has higher AoE DPS but lower ST DPS, but it responds positively to external buffs, such as Speed Boost, Accelerate Metabolism, Chrono Shift, and a bunch more. I don't know how much recharge it needs to overtake the longer chain in single-target DPS, but there are plenty of those kinds of buffs floating around. That said, the gap which makes it able to benefit from those buffs is also a deal-breaker to some. It just feels too clunky to some. I found that it can be a handy time for using clicky powers, but /WP has little need for that.

A classic Scrapper I always wanted to play but never did was MA/DA. With MA's lack of AoE the damage aura would be especially welcome, Dragon's Tail would help keep Oppressively Gloomed enemies from wandering too far too quickly, and since OG's an aura, you could jump into a spawn and CC a boss in one click with Cobra Strike. Hmm... ya know, maybe I will finally make that.

I combined Stone Melee and Radiation armor as a Tanker, and I'm deeply in love with it. There were two points of frustration, and they were mostly just issues at early levels. One was that, even with aggressive slotting for damage, enemies were usually left up with a sliver of health, but simply being a Brute well help, and being a Brute also means you don't have to consider Bruising, so you're less likely to feel like you should wait for Stone Fist to recharge before attacking an enemy. The other was the lack of AoE, with not having my taunt aura until 12 and no AoE attacks before 20. Those numbers will be flipped for a Brute, but still, aggro was a slippery thing at low levels even with Gauntlet. In any case, once I got to 20, between Fault and slotting my ATOs, I felt like I could handle anything. There'll be a conspicuous lack of AoE, but I think a Rad/Stone Brute can be an extremely satisfying character.

I pretty much only heard "blapper" used as a derogatory term back in the *early* days, like right after ED happened. By Issue 6 or so, blapwhatever was just the term for being in melee as a Blaster, and on those rare times when I heard it used with some resentment, it was from players who disliked the idea of Blasters in melee on sheer principle. These days, blasting from range is stronger than it's been since ED. T1 and T2 blasts are usable while mezzed, so they're much more valuable than before. People are more sensitive to damage per animation second, as opposed to damage per activation, so powers like Total Focus and Thunder Strike aren't quite the darlings they once were. With IOs and serious theorycrafting came a focus on solo survivability (Blasters generally favor Ranged Def for this), so high-risk playstyles like blapping are further disfavored, and then there's Incarnate content, where it's even riskier. Even just this week, the snipe changes have further strengthened our ranged toolkits. That said, while my AR/EM's AR ST performance feels way better now, I'm still gonna Bonesmasher any fool who gets in my face. So, I feel like the good blaps are still good powers, and things like Elec/ and /Fire are still going to play in the melee scrum, but there's a lot of value these days in fighting at range, too.

How hands-off you want this character to be? You can only have one power on auto-fire at a time, so if that's going to be Foot Stomp, Rage and Hasten would have to be clicked, and leaving Hasten out would allow room for Combat Jumping for more passive performance. Maybe one build built around passive performance with cheap IOs, and another that includes Hasten, Laser Eye Beams, and performance-oriented slotting?

BF->AV is all you need, and it's easily had. Before you get that level of recharge (or if you're debuffed), you can use BF->AV->NS/PS, whichever you chose for level 1. Shredmonkey's (was he the one who came up with it?) BF->AS->SS->AS is there for people with absurd levels of recharge, but there *is* another option. In that thread where we were exploring combo-less rotations, SM (I'm pretty sure it was him) came up with the ultra-recharge rotation, and I came up with BF->AS->SS. I don't recall the numbers, but compared to the other chain, it does a bit less ST damage, more AoE, and responds better to recharge buffs. It does have a gap, though, and some object to how that feels. Then again, that gap is why Speed Boost benefits it so much. I'm not sure at what point it pulls ahead of BF->AV, but it's worth considering if your build is going to have more recharge than you need for BF->AV.

That's the one! Thank you very much - I wouldn't be playing Beam Rifle if not for you.

Oi vey, another mistake! Now that I have the Preventive Medicine proc and have read its actual description, I've found that I was mistaken about how it worked. I assumed it had some chance of activating whenever the power it was slotted in was used, but that is not the case. It doesn't matter what power it's in, simply giving you a chance for an Absorb that depends on health. It doesn't change anything about the build, but it's good to have a correction here for those who read this later. From Paragon Wiki: "This enhancement has a chance every 5 seconds to give you an absorption barrier. If your health is between 31% and 75%, this power has a 10% chance of triggering. However, if your health is less than 31% there is a 100% chance of triggering. This effect can only trigger once every 90 seconds."

I made a mistake on that build! Pine's says that the +Regen from Impervious Skin stacks, but it does not. I suggest taking one of them out and replacing the Impervious Skin: Resistance/Endurance (30) with a +3 Ribosome HO. I'd be inclined to do that to Dark Embrace, but I value S/L Resists much higher than exotic Resists. Either way, you get a spare slot out of it! There are a few ways to use it, like putting a Performance Shifter proc in Stamina or a fifth LotG in Weave or Maneuvers for some more S/L Resists. I'd be tempted to add to an attack, and putting a sixth Obliteration in Jacob's Ladder for the Melee Def bonus seems really nice, but the remaining IO in the set is Acc/Rch, neither of which that power really needs. I'd probably wind up putting a ToD proc in Charged Brawl, but I don't feel like one choice is obviously better than the others.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Technology Brute Primary Power Set: Electrical Melee Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery Villain Profile: Level 1: Havoc Punch -- SprUnrFur-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(3), SprUnrFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(3), SprUnrFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(5), SprUnrFur-Rchg/+Regen/+End:50(5) Level 1: Dark Embrace -- ImpSki-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), ImpSki-Status:10(7), ImpArm-ResPsi:15(7), UnbGrd-ResDam:50(9), UnbGrd-Max HP%:20(9), HO:Ribo(11) Level 2: Charged Brawl -- CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), CrsImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(11), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(13), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(15) Level 4: Death Shroud -- Obl-Dmg:50(A), Obl-Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(21), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(23) Level 6: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB:10(A) Level 8: Thunder Strike -- Arm-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(23), Arm-Acc/Rchg:50(25), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx:50(25), Arm-Dam%:50(27) Level 10: Obsidian Shield -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), StdPrt-ResKB:10(27), ImpArm-ResPsi:15(29), HO:Ribo(29) Level 12: Murky Cloud -- ImpSki-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), ImpSki-Status:10(31), ImpArm-ResPsi:15(31), GldArm-End/Res:50(31), GldArm-3defTpProc:10(33) Level 14: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(33), GssSynFr--Build%:21(33) Level 16: Dark Regeneration -- ThfofEss-Acc/Heal:30(A), ThfofEss-+End%:10(34), TchoftheN-Acc/Heal:50(34), Prv-Absorb%:20(34) Level 18: Chain Induction -- CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), CrsImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), CrsImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), CrsImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37) Level 20: Combat Jumping -- Krm-ResKB:10(A), Ksm-ToHit+:10(37), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(37), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:10(39), Rct-ResDam%:20(39) Level 22: Jacobs Ladder -- Obl-Dmg:50(A), Obl-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40), Obl-%Dam:30(40) Level 24: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), LucoftheG-Def:50(42), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(42), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg:50(48) Level 26: Lightning Clap -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(43), Empty(43) Level 28: Kick -- Empty(A) Level 30: Tough -- ResDam-I:50(A), HO:Ribo(43) Level 32: Lightning Rod -- SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprBrtFur-Dmg/Rchg:50(45), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(45), SprBrtFur-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(45), SprBrtFur-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), SprBrtFur-Rech/Fury:50(46) Level 35: Oppressive Gloom -- Acc-I:50(A) Level 38: Superior Conditioning -- PrfShf-End%:21(A) Level 41: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%:21(A) Level 44: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), LucoftheG-Def:50(48), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(48) Level 47: Soul Transfer -- EndMod-I:50(A) Level 49: Cloak of Darkness -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(50), LucoftheG-Def:50(50), LucoftheG-Rchg+:50(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) 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: Fury Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth:15(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I:50(A) Level 2: Health -- RgnTss-Regen+:10(A), Mrc-Rcvry+:20(15), NmnCnv-Heal:50(17), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:30(17), Pnc-Heal/+End:10(19) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(19) Level 0: Marshal Level 0: Born In Battle Level 0: High Pain Threshold Level 0: Invader Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon Level 50: Spectral Partial Radial Conversion Level 50: Melee Partial Radial Graft Level 50: Ageless Radial Epiphany Level 50: Ion Total Radial Judgement Level 50: Polar Lights Total Radial Improved Ally ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1569;744;1488;HEX;| 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Here's my take. It doesn't get all of the goals you want, but maybe you can pull some ideas you like. Please note that the empty slot in Lightning Clap is for a Sudden Acceleration KB to KD proc. More Damage - most notably, Charged Brawl is an attack. Accuracy - hit-capped to +4s. Recharge - this build has slower recharge on some powers, faster on others. The only meaningful difference is DR, ~5 seconds when Hasten's active, though this build has better mitigation in the first place. Endurance Improvements - this has slightly worse net Endurance passively, but cheaper active End use. This build gets less from Superior Conditioning and Physical Perfection, and has better passive Endurance without them. Also, no Hasten crash. Oppressive Gloom over Cloak of Fear - this stacks with Lightning Clap for a T4 Disorient + KD, which feels like much better mitigation than what CoF provides. Resistance and Defense - this has better resists than the other build when Rune of Protection is down, which is most of the time. They're equal-ish when it's up, if you take the scaling Resist IO into account. Defenses are stronger. Status Protection - I don't understand how your build doesn't have enough Status Protection in it, but this one has 12 points of KB Protection instead of 4. Preventive Medicine proc in DR - since it's in DR rather than an auto power, you may get it less, but you'll get it when it's more important. Panacea proc - +HP +End, not accounted for above. AtO sets - this build will function just fine with the non-purple versions of those, or even just the procs. Ageless over Clarion - Not accounted for in the above points, Ageless provides End, at least 10% more Recharge, and Debuff protection. Flight Speed - Mystic Flight and Fly are both capped without any enhancements. I'm pretty sure that MF's Translocation is faster than MF's actual flying. Sadly, it's not directly enhancable, though I imagine +Range set bonuses would help. Sadly again, I think that the only source of those are particular AtOs.

This looks like it should do the trick: Click this DataLink to open the build! Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Level 4: Combat Jumping (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 10 Level 14: Tactics (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff: Level 26 (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 50 (15) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff: Level 26 (17) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 50 (17) To Hit Buff IO: Level 20 | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;633;286;572;HEX;| |78DAF3AD70E159E7DE68CFC0C8EB9C93585C1CEF04244B528B587D13D3339319408| |01D8825A1C2F1418979E9A9297A6E9945A910A56A3099E0D28282FCA212BDA0C494| |CCC492CCFCBC78DFC4BCCC82D21C30878127203F3F47CF2735B120332F9D1FC6494| |92D2ACEC82C8048BA6596E4A516177343383999E9192582AE0599C97ACEF9392940| |D340D6544A005DA30AC4FF41C05C93010AFE434420C26240273333428499FF02294| |E1688041A1006AAE385A863E15DC204F4260B03DF0A206D08A4E741F8028B207C01| |23A03261ECE680813B2898A06E9144B8855820C382EE15459008C475FFB530640D3| |0440C31448C31444C30447C30440258A0D6024518C1229C02C0F08488FC7FCB0594| |6544967D8F21F20E43E403860800E505F848| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|

A few seconds after Beam Rifle's Cutting Beam fires, there's another sound that seems to correspond with a debuff dropping off, and that's what I'd like to silence. I'd greatly appreciate if someone could locate that for me, or better yet, instruct me on how to do it on my own. I tried following svartypops's instructions, but I don't know anything about Python and my best attempt at following the instructions didn't work.