QuiJon

Ah good to know I didn't know they separated the sets like that. I always kind of figured that Grav didn't allow for the protection because it would be messing with the intended consequences of using wormhole. Like they didn't want you immbl a mob and then wormholing them into a night tight group avoiding the way they spit out the other side all over the place.

Well like everything keep in mind this is likely all a numbers game. The idea behind all of this was that power sets that had powers like ice slick or earth quake those powers were kind of rendered useless because an immbl to keep mobs on the target of effects also provided them with a certain level of knockback/down protection. So it is likely what they did was to take the mag resistance out of the immbl so that it still had the possibility to knocking down an enemy when holding them in place, but increase the knocback resistance to limit the ability of that mob to fly backward out of the target area of the aoe. That number represents a percentage just like a damage resistance would. But there are knockback effects that have very very high chance of knocking back, like Ki Push or your power push you mentioned because it is all those powers do. It is likely that the resistance that the Immbl gives is just not enough to compensate for everything like very strong powers and procs that are intended to go off and be unable to resist accept by the highest of resistant foes. Also keep in mind you quoted this yourself The changes you are talking about are not intended to negate a heavy knockback power like power push, a knockback proc or even probably the knockback built into the single target and cone attacks in energy. It was intended to make sure that weaker effects like an AOE immobilize didn't overcome the benefit of dropping an earthquake and making the mobs flop around and stop attacking you. Which is essentially what was happening. My stone cages would provide enough protection that mobs would stand in earthquake and continue to attack rather then be flopping helplessly on the ground like they should have.

Here is what I came up with for my fire/time/fire build. I concentrate mostly on bonuses for defense and resistances. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Flame du Tempo: Level 50 Mutation Blaster Primary Power Set: Fire Blast Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Fire Blast -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7) Level 1: Time Wall -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Fire Ball -- SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(A), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(17), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(17) Level 4: Time Stop -- Hold-I(A), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(9), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(11), UnbCns-Hold(11) Level 6: Fly -- Flight-I(A) Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9) Level 10: Rain of Fire -- Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Rgn-Dmg(13), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(42), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(42) Level 12: Chronos -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 14: Fire Breath -- Ann-ResDeb%(A), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Ann-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Ann-Dmg/Rchg(40), Ann-Acc/Dmg(43) Level 16: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 18: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 20: Temporal Healing -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal(21), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(21), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(33), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(33), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(33) Level 22: Blaze -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(25), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Thn-Acc/Dmg(27) Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(27), Ags-ResDam(29), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(31), Ags-EndRdx/Rchg(37), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37) Level 26: Weave -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 28: Blazing Bolt -- ExcCnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExcCnt-Dmg/EndRdx(46), ExcCnt-Dmg/ActRdx(48), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rng(48), ExcCnt-Stun%(48), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rchg(50) Level 30: Maneuvers -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(39), EndRdx-I(50) Level 32: Inferno -- SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(43) Level 35: Time Shift -- RzzDzz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzzDzz-EndRdx/Stun(36), RzzDzz-Acc/EndRdx(36), RzzDzz-Stun/Rng(37), RzzDzz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(39), RzzDzz-Immob%(40) Level 38: Time Lord -- StdPrt-ResKB(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(39) Level 41: Bonfire -- RechRdx-I(A), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50) Level 44: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(45), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(45), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(45), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), UnbGrd-Max HP%(46) Level 47: Hover -- DefBuff-I(A) Level 49: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance 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 -- Heal-I(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(7), EndMod-I(43) ------------

Ok so I make so apologies to those that do, but I really don't like sentinels. That doesn't mean I wont team with them or think others should not play them I just don't get the appeal of playing a AT that can stand in melee range with the brutes and scrapper but do defender level damage.(Or what feels like it to this old blaster) So I got to thinking why is it ok for a scrapper to do this outstanding damage in melee range but a sentinel because they have ranged powers are limited to crap damage in comparison in both melee and ranged play? Which then made me think of something else I said to a friend when trying sentinels was "I really miss the ability to smack a bone crusher on these dude when they all come running up to me" So that made me think why can sentinels not have some stronger melee attacks? Would that break the AT? I mean it doesn't break dominators to have a set that mixes range and melee with the melee attacks doing more damage. So I had this idea for a sentinel set that had tiered power selections. If you look at most damage dealing power sets they kind of follow a pattern. The first power is a weak but fast attack, the second a stronger but slower attack, third a lot of times a AOE etc. So working on that basic power set design why not give each tier a one time choice between taking a weaker (sentinel current power level) ranged attack and a similarly themed (ice energy etc) scrapper level melee attack. You could only select one of the two choices to prevent from being able to take mostly upper level attacks but it would allow you to build a character that has some melee capabilities when in melee range and the normal current sentinel ranged capabilities. Kind of like ending up with something more like the dominator assault sets, accept you actually get to pick between the power choices all along the leveling path. Sentinels IMO (and I am sorry if you disagree) are a solo class AT, they really hold no special place in team mechanics. Every AT does what they can do better then they can. Blasters do better damage, brutes and scrapper also do better damage, Khelds can be tanks or better blasters etc. I personally think sentinels "niche" should be the outright best AT to solo with. And with their current level of defenses, if you gave them choices that allow them to mix the stronger melee attacks with the weaker ranged and ranged AOEs of blaster I think they would finally fit into that slot without breaking anything when they are teamed. They would be doing less damage at range then blasters like now, and do no more then equal base damage in melee then a scrapper which they have mostly equal defenses with. If not a pick your own system, just to rework the basic sets into similar assault sets like dominators have would prob be nice also.

I am not sure I am 100 percent with this 10 second mechanic. Or with the idea that the snipes are having damage reduced. I do like the insta snipe mechanic and I do like the idea of being able to pull off a snipe more at will during combat without having to stack to hit into my build. But I just think that perhaps there was a better way to go about it. I think of many of our other newer sets like savage melee and water blast that have some kind of build up or stacking mechanic to them where attacking with normal attacks builds up a power that then is released with the use of a different power. Like water blast, using a few different basic attacks builds up tidal forces and then that is released as additional damage with a couple attack options. Why not use something like this for snipes. So if you can make it through the normal animation to open a fight then it has the normal effects, but as you use like your single target attacks once you begin fighting you build up sniper shot (or something else who cares what it is called really) and at like 3 stacks or 5 stacks of sniper shot your next sniper attack is instant, at full power to a normal long animated sniper attack. So essentially giving us back the full power sniper during combat but ultimately on a more limited basis because you have to build up the stacks to really get the damage out of it. Or if you fire it off early it is at the reduced damage but still instant for those that don't mind the lower damage stat but want it available more often to fill in an attack chain or something. Seems like something like this could work and not be over powered and bridge between all the issues, or most of them.

If I was making it I would be dropping the fighting line in order to stick with powers that give me more of a chance to do recharge and fill other needs. Example being things like stealth, hover, combat jumping all can take a LOTG 7.5 bonus. Get rid of melt armor it is a waste of a debuff amount IMO. Better off taking rain of fire I love that power plus it can be boosted with firey embrace. I really didn't care for my dark/fire so when I got to 50 I have parked her and didn't even do the incarnate stuff. But IMO with fire shield slotted up and if you went barrier on the incarnate destiny slot you have enough resistances and defense to make it through most anything end game you need to. However perma dom/hasten. If you get perma dom and have taken hasten you pretty much have perma hasten. I have around 176 percent global recharge. That is like 106 from bonuses and 70 percent from hasten. My domination over laps by about 12-13 seconds so more then enough time to click it, and Hasten has about a 3 second period when it is down completely before clicking back over. IMO this is what you have to plan for. Every power choice every IO set should be considered for it's ability to boost your recharge for as little investment as possible and then save slotting for powers that really really need slots. Which is why something like fly, can take hover, fly, and afterburner, there are three powers that need no slots. Put a LOTG global recharge in hover and afterburner and a lfight speed in fly. Then you can get stealth for another lotg. Figure out the 5 10 percent bonuses you want and make sure those powers can get 5 slots etc. Control is a dominators damage mitigation which is why I don't suggest fighting pool, I do know others take it, it isn't wrong to, just not my style I guess.

They are. Sure they don't live in melee range but they don't really live at range either. They are a "Mixed" AT. And I know this varies by set, it varies by play style and other things. But the nice thing about a ranged attack is it doesn't require a minimum range to be used. Unlike a melee attack has to be within in a certain range. So like on my Earth/Fire I find I come into melee range a lot to make use of combustion, consume (if I need to), and I just use my ranged attacks from there. I am perma dom so you hit a mob with stalagmites and stone cages they are essentially held for long enough for rain of fire, combustion and a few single target attacks to take out. Same thing really with my mind/psi. My ice/ice is always in melee range to use arctic air and ice sword/circle. I am not disagreeing that they can be used by going into range to use controls that need it and then running back away out of the mob to kill them off, I am just saying IMO you don't have to. And as such the AT is mixed. And most Doms I know would say the spend time about equally split I think between melee and range.

First of all most powers that grant any kind of bonus for having enemies in range, give the most benefit for the first few enemies in range. No blaster knockback power is even hitting every enemy. And even if it should, again, those enemies are not attacking anylonger while knocked back therefore you don't have to regen against them or get a damage bonus etc. Brutes generate fury by attacking and being attacked. So by that logic we should never kill mobs because brutes would get no fury? Maybe brutes should finally start to take their taunts if they want to guarantee they get attacked to build fury instead of telling me not to use powers. And again, as far as a kinetic goes, you are talking the difference between understanding power dynamics and not. First of all not all enemies will be knocked away, if the kin is good they are going to target the strongest enemy, which is also the least likely due to their own resistances to be effected by knockback. And I would also maintain if you can not get through a fight without a kinetic to give you end, you made a crappy character and is again not the knockbacks fault. Hum I must have missed all that testing you speak of. Who conducted these "tests" Where is the evidence that knockback slowed down a team or caused more team deaths or any of the things that people say is true is true. Cause you know as well as I do that they don't exist. What does exist is "opinions" and those opinions are most vocal from melee players who get upset if 1) their perfect little mob is disrupted and 2) if they are not perceived as being the star of the team. Therefore anything that makes it seem like you don't have to have a tank or brute running in and herding 50 enemies into a ball for the team is considered bad. However the game was not designed with the intention that we would ever have people building characters capable of doing that. And frankly on most teams I have been on, herding smaller more manageable mobs that require less defenses from the melee normally are more manageable and killed more quickly by the team then running and taking down the entire room at once. But again that is my opinion I have no tests to show that. I have not once said that you should not care how your knockback effects the team I have said you should not care what people think about you for having it if you want it. Again I don't disrupt the team flow but there are many ways that you can still have knockback on your character for your own use, and still use those powers on a team when the situation calls for them. I didn't say a word about the use of stone cages with earth quake. I said it works really well with stalagmites. Just as fire cages works really well with flashfire. It turns your fastest recycling AOE control into a hold instead of a stun. Stuns leave enemies wandering around, and again as you listed how bad that is for the likes of melee that a stunned enemy might wander out of mele range to give a brute their regen bonus or defense bonus or not be a kinetic bait. But more so depending on your build my earth is a earth/fire/fire. Stone cages dropped on a mob that is stunned makes sure they all stay nice and packed for Rain of Fire and combustion, and firebreath and fire ball. Hell frankly since being perma dom I barely use earthquake or quicksand anymore mobs are controlled completely and fall so fast it isn't worth the time to spawn either of them most of the time. Ah but then again, I did not say mad spam or suggest it should be used as an opening shot. I said that controllers and doms that do it before a herd is formed are pissing off melee. However after that herd is formed it keeps them on top of the melee toon, some have other effects like stone cages debuffs defense making mobs easier to hit and if there happens to be a knockback effect on the team, immbl enemies will not then fly away from the melee herd. Or at minimum enough will be left to provide that regen bonus or kinetic target etc. But see again kind of my point tell a controller to take a power that is useful for the team and they make an excuse for why they don't want it because they want their build to perform a certain way. But hey go ahead and pile on a blaster that wants his build to work a certain way. A controller not having an immbl on a team with how many power choices can knock back enemies could be said to be just as selfish as a blaster that doesn't want to give his up.

Guess it is different strokes for different folks but in looking at the build you made I feel like I like the one I made for myself more. For defense I have definitely lower smashing lethal but higher on everything else including positional defenses which I feel are more important then type specific damage defenses. I get all that and also 69 percent res to smashing lethal and 26 percent res to fire and cold. And I also don't ignore signature powers like bone smasher and total focus which I know many people say "I don't mele" but sorry sometimes the melee comes to you and it is nice to be able to put down an enemy fast when they do. ' Like I said I don't say mine is better I say it is different and more suited to how I want to play. but I will post a data link if you are interested. http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1522&c=666&a=1332&f=HEX&dc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

I have not read every post in the thread I am sure some people are wanting nerfs ot the powers or whatever. But I think more so the OPer and others are concerned that the powers have given things to ATs that breaks their concept and trivializes other ATs usefulness to the game. And I can not say they are wrong. My spines/fire brute now for farming can have a pet (which inever use) but a recharge bonus for powers almost as effective as speed boost, a damage buff that requires no enemies, no to hit roll, no aura to infect other enemies etc, and every two minutes max out all resistances and defense and evry two minutes drop an alpha strike as powerful as any blaster that has twice the range and hits over twice the targets. Now when they decided to add epic power pools it was done with thought. Thought to not only themes to fit with power pools available like fire or cold but thought as to filling the gap in existing needs for the AT. Controllers and tankers got some blasts, def and blasters some resistances etc. But the incarnate are blanket powers to all ATs and as much as I might be willing to concede it is nice having some means of mez protection on my blaster everytime I click judgement on my brute I think "how could the devs have given me this" Now I don't want them to be nerfed but I do wonder if perhaps having them scale to content would be a bad thing. For example if you are playing incarnate content they they are full powered but if you are not maby they cap out at leve tier 3 or 2. So you still benefit but not quite as much. But mainly I think most people want to be challenged. So my first thing would be I would like to see more incarnate level content put into the game. Give us more to do with the powers then a few trials and farming the same zone over and over. As far as the ease of getting salvage and slotting them I am fine with it on homecoming. Frankly I found it to be to grindy back 8 years ago when my life had more time for games. I am glad now that I don't have the time to playlike I used to I can still make progress.

I don't know how hard this would be to do, but for the last few days I keep doing things that make me miss something from the old days. Example would be I was reminded of how much fun it was in the early days of the game to have an unrestricted number of targets. My first toon was an energy blaster and I can recall getting invites to PL teams where the tank herded the entire map or werewolves into a trash dumpster and I would jump in and nova them. Something you can not do now just because you can not agro enough to get the map to follow and even if you could nova now has a max number of targets. Another example would be that Hamidon raids have almost become a joke. You spend more time standing around waiting for everyone to decide to start then you actually do in the encounter itself. I remember the old days where it was a challenge to take him down and people had to listen and work together or you would end up with a 90 yellow mito spawn on top of your heads. So my thought would be to take up a list of things that might be able to be "uncoded" ore reversed and have like a promotional weekend. Kind of like having a double xp weekend only for the weekend some of the new game mechanics all get reversed. Maybe we can bring statesman back to life for a weekend, give controllers back their old pet spawns of 3 sets with a time limit on the pet spawns. Things like that. Not forever just for a fun weekend of frivolities.

I agree with most all of this. I when solo will open on a large mob with my AOEs boosted with aim and build up and then with the current insta snipe still have the ability to insta full power snipe the boss, or lt or biggest of the mob on top of that. Do I do that on teams, no. I get to let a tanker herd. I get to let a controller immb I also get to try hovering over the top to prevent the effect, I also get that the tanker should be trying to drop said herd where the kockback is not going to be an issue. But the OP is acting like he can not slot the power as he would like because people have told him to get rid of his knockback. I am saying fuck that. Slot the character how you want. Try to limit the issue sure, but don't fundamentally give up your plan for that character because other players tell you to do it. Because like I said, none of them would give up a scrap of their defenses to do it for you. Why do you think they get so pissed about the knockback, it isn't the damage potential things die so fast to begin with, its that their defense auras don't grant as much protection if they have 6 mobs around them instead of 9. Yet tell the blaster with half the HPs to give up game changing amount of defense in his IO build seems to be no issue for them to ask for at all.

Talk about selfish. "Hey, I know this annoys literally -everybody- else, and makes killing actually slower, but I don't care. Also it'd be fixed if we took three times as long to kill stuff by letting the tank position it against a wall or corner so my annoying powers didn't inconvenience the entirety of the team. Why won't they do that? Yeah, can't imagine why people tend to dislike Energy blasters... First of all if you are playing with a blaster that is causing your team to take 3 times longer to kill anything the problem is NOT the blasters. Secondly IF and I do mean IF on chance I use my knockback in a fashion that spreads out the mobs they are normally close enough to death that I am finishing them off before they have a chance to get up and return to the herd anyway. And guess what, even the mobs not knocked back are taking that aoe damage in the herd also. And finally, guess what pumkins, there is no knockback if you put the mob in a logical place to take advantage of the powers that are on the team you are playing on. So if you are the tanker on the team you know I am there cause apparently I am pising you off with power secondary effects that are essentially a random number roll, then politely ask to not attack the mob until you get it settled into one spot and then settle that mob into a corner or against a wall or something where there is no knockback. See THAT is something you should have control of. the Tank is herding I am killing. You play your role on the team and I will play mine. But if you are being irritated by a blasters knockback it is because you are a shitty tank not because they are a shitty blaster.

"Optimize for you" with strong KB AoEs means you will make your entire team suboptimal. I dislike teaming with trigger-happy Peacebringers and Energy Blastahs as they tend to work against the team by scattering the spawns with their subpar damage (compared to AoE-centric power sets like Fire). Can't count the number of times oblivious "blastahs" like that wasted my team-melting AoEs and made a short fight more dangerous and protracted. Then solo if you only want to see your powers be used. A team might not be "optimal" its a team. Point being is that lets say 2 people on that team have lag issues that cause their computers to freeze up everytime you unleash one of your "mob melting" aoe attacks so they ask you not to use them because it makes their play better. Do you then stop using your AOE attack? Like it or not a opening salvo or explosive blast and energy torrent (especially with build up and aim) is making most of that mobs minions a AOE Immbl worth of damage away from being dead. So perhaps rather then questioning why the powers are being used, perhaps question why the controller in the group is not hitting them with IMMBL to prevent the knock back from happening? Oh what do you mean many controllers skip their AOE immbl? You mean it prevents them from making a build that can solo fight AVs because another power choice is better for them? But what about optimizing the team? Thing is mobs in this game melt. If you can not successfully in a full team fight +3s at the upper level, then the problem you are having is NOT the blaster or kheldian with knockback. Enemies that are knocked back are not attacking, when they get up are not attacking with their melee attacks (which do more damage) because they have been knocked out of melee range. Should energy torrent be used on every mob everytime it is recharged? No likely not. However this player is forgoing something that does benefit his character (I don't remember what one I have in it might be a blasters wraith or a winters bite or something) but my 6 slotted energy torrent I believe is giving me 7.5 percent of defense to aoe and fire and cold damage types. I am not giving that up because OTHER players want to kill a mob 4 seconds faster then if the mobs didn't have to get up and run back to the tanker they are agro'd to. If this dude from the OP is willing to keep his blaster squishie that is his choice I was offering my opinion to his question.

I didn't say you had to scatter the mobs. You could simply point out to your tank/brute/agro shield to do his thing in positions where the knockback is less of a factor. I fail to understand why blasters seem to think that they have to change the inherent traits of their characters or power sets to compensate for a lack of skill land plain out blockheadedness of another player that can not seem to understand that the blaster AOEs knockback or not, do more proportional damage then any AOE a tanker gets. Which means using them melts mobs faster, which means if the knockback is an issue then herd to where it is not an issue. Yes I get that spreading the mobs is bad, in theory. But I also have to be happy with how my character plays, for me. If I am someone that cares about the knockback then fine slot it with your reducers and live with the limited bonus you can get from that power, or hell get rid of the power all together and take something you can slot as you want to. But I for one love my soft capped ranged defense and 30 percent energy defense and 70 percent SL resistances and 32 percent fire/cold resistances that all those 6 item bonuses give to my blaster. Just imagine in reverse. Say Hand Clap did like high damage and tankers took it because it was a high damage AOE even with the knockback. And trollers complained and told them not to use it because it knocked the enemies out of the range of Rain or Fire or blasters complained because it spread out the mobs right before they hit fireball. Do you think for one moment any tanker would give two rats ass about changing the slotting on handclap and losing their 6th slot bonus because a squishie didn't like it? I don't know a single tanker that would give up a 3.75 percent defense bonus for anything. So why should you be expected to. Slot what you want to enhance what you want, and be mindful of your use of the power when teaming. Period. And if people still complain that is their problem not yours.

The problem is not what to put in it. It is that you seem to think you have to put a kb to kid io in it and only have 5 slots. Stop making the toon for whinny ass melee players and optimize the character for you.

Well I dropped the hammer today and went ahead and built the blaster I planned out up above. I made one change of note which was I pulled stealth and replaced it with maneuvers. It starts with a higher base defense and then I added 2 slots to it. I forgot whare I got them from perhaps energize. The thing I found is this, we don't have any real long click powers. Other then a possible epic like force of Nature and I guess hasten we don't have anything with a very long recharge. So I took hasten to 2 IOs slots it only losses a bit of recharge anyway. My alpha slot is the one that grants recharge buff anyway so that is pick up the slack plus I have about 40 percent recharge from bonuses. And with bolts, blast, and burst I am really finding that I am never at a lack of having a power to fire off, and frankly I am firing them off as quickly as they are recharging and going from one animation to the next so even if they clicked back sooner I would be in the animation of the other attack and not able to use them anyway. So I kind of feel like sacrificing defenses and resistance bonuses for recharge is a waste, for me at least. Even energize I find I don't need it up all the time. I was running through a map with +2/4 player setting. And really just going from mob to mob with no end issues at all and if I happened to draw extra agro and prolong a fight then I would click energize and the discount in end cost alone allowed me to finish my fights. So worrying about it being perma, again not an issue solo and on a team you are likely getting a recovery buff anyway. I have one set left to buy so these will bounce up a bit but my basic numbers right now grant me SL Res 68.9 FC Res 20 EnE Res 7.2 tox/psu res 14 Defese is SL 21 FC 29 EnE 37 Psi 17 Melee 25 Range 45 AOE 27 I am watching +2 bosses just wiff at me with ranged attacks. And frankly I don't see how anyone calls total focus a death sentence. Maybe for the mob I am attacking. I didn't go bellow half health all night solo and that was even because I really pushed it and herded for a nova. I am right now so pleased with how he is playing I could spit. Now my issue is I was planning on taking Barrier as an incarnate as a way to have an oh shit since I didn't take force of nature, But the build seems so solid I now am wondering if the mez resistance one isn't a better choice.

An interesting thought. I am not willing to give up flight. It was my first travel power and this is a recreation of the first character I ever made. And frankly I don't really care about nova stealthing mobs or running through missions to the end. I play the game to play it, if I wanted to just run to the last room of every map that IMO kind of defeats the purpose. However changing to use the patron to get a defense bonus I didn't consider and I might decide to look more into that. I can cap range easy enough, or soft cap, but smashing lethal is not that high on this build, But being that I had such high resistances to it I was less worried about that. Might need to make a build changing the epic to the patron and see what I get, food for thought.

This is getting to be my feeling on a lot of the complaining. I already get it on knockback, but on FB last night someone was complaining that a controller or defender had the speed boost power slotted with speed enhancements. Now though I agree that it is a waste of enhancements and not needed that the power really only needs end mods, the point being is it is not my character to choose. So I really don't care if I slot my kinetics with speed, in fact if that is going to be the new bitch I might do it just to piss people off just like I have been thinking of making a second build of my energy blaster that has every power slotted with nothing but accuracyx3(cause you don't want to miss) and knockbackx3 cause STFU about knockback it is my character and I like it.

I can agree on some things but disagree on many others. Hasten is not a waste of a choice and LOTG don't come close to giving you what it does. FON I agree with you on and I have removed it from my current build. Total Focus not only provides me with a spot to put a defense bonus into but it is quite possibility the hardest hitting power in either of the two sets. Yes it has a long animation, but it is also a mag 3 stun.. I loved it more when it was mag 4 sure, but IF a mob gets into melee range, a total focus/bone crusher/energy punch combo takes down most anything short of a boss, and frankly might stun the crap out of that boss. You might not like it but melee will happen. Energize is also a nice place to store proc IOs though that do more then simply heal but are part of the healing set. More so then slotting health. If I decide I don't like the health proc and take it out I am limited to slotting healths base effect which is really not all that great. If I did so with a slot on energize I have other options, be it recharge or buffing a good health bonus/regen rate that is noticeable. Just my feeling it isn't all about the recharge. far as afterburner goes, well again its is not only useful but it is a mule for a IO. In my case a LOTG recharge since it accepts defense IOs. Fly, which I want on my blaster for sentimental reason, is incredibly slow compared to other travel powers. And sure with base hopping and orro portals etc we can make some of that faster then it used to be, but if I am going to take a waste of a power choice to mule an IO into anyway, why not take something I get use from. Fly with 1 flight speed and Afterburner prettymuch caps fly speed to around 80 mph as opposed to 60-62 I think without afterburner. It is a noticeable difference and all things being equal why not.I mean for me it is one of those trade offs. Just like stealth. Sure it is not a big deal if things see me. I am not stealth running mission or anything. But it si a defense buff albeit a small one and again mule for a lotg. I think we just have different philosophies on what we want. I looked at your build and frankly it doesn't seem to pick any one thing to try and be outstanding at. Having played dominators a lot, I got used to the idea that when I slot IOs I normally try to pick the one thing that is most important to me to buff. In those cases it was recharge to achieve perma dom. But on my blaster I have chosen defense. But I can not make myself superior at all of the defense. I can though for one thing. Since I am a ranged AT it makes sense to pick ranged defense. Be it that most of my incoming attention will be from range. My newest build gets like 43 percent range. IMO everything else was just a bonus I achieved the goal I set out for. I will link my new build below. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! QuiJon: Level 50 Mutation Blaster Primary Power Set: Energy Blast Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Concealment Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Power Blast -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg(3), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42) Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Energy Punch -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Dam%(9), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11) Level 4: Energy Torrent -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(34), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36) Level 6: Fly -- Flight-I(A) Level 8: Power Burst -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(15), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42) Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19) Level 12: Bone Smasher -- Mk'Bit-Dam%(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(23), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(25), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(27) Level 14: Sniper Blast -- ExcCnt-Stun%(A), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rchg(27), ExcCnt-Dmg/EndRdx(29), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rng(29), ExcCnt-Dmg/ActRdx(31), ExcCnt-Acc/Dmg(31) Level 16: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 18: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 20: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 22: Energize -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal(45), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(46) Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(31), StdPrt-ResKB(33), GldArm-3defTpProc(42) Level 26: Explosive Blast -- SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(36) Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def(37), LucoftheG-Rchg+(39) Level 30: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 32: Nova -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 35: Power Bolt -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(50), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(50) Level 38: Total Focus -- Mk'Bit-Dam%(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(40), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(40) Level 41: Stealth -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A) Level 44: Personal Force Field -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(48), UnbGrd-ResDam(50) Level 49: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance 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 -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21) ------------ My totals are defense SL 17.4 F/c30.8 e/n 35.8 psi13.3 melee 21.5 range43.3 aoe 25.8 resistances sl 68.9 f/c 26 e/n7.3 toxic/psi 14 Is it scrapper level defense no, but I think it is about as strong as a blaster can probably get. And that is what I was going for. Best I could get with an priority to ranged defense.

Ok looking at your current build I still am thinking what are you generally going for. You seem to spend a lot of money on regen and recovery, which I get the recovery part because you are trying to take every toggle in every power pool I think. See with the build I am trying to make I am going for a specific goal of ranged defense. Anything else is just gravy. But I feel like you are missing some good opportunities for little return. For example You are still going with the leadership pool. This cost you end, and requires you to spend slots to get any good return. Even if you keep maneuvers for the defense, assault does next to nothing and tactics I mean IMO you should have more then enough acc from IO set bonuses to make the end use in this a waste of time. And that is six slots there also. I know you think why but one of those power choices could go for Hasten. Hell at your recharge bonus level if you can afford this build cause it will cost you probably 300+ million influence or a few thousand merits to bring hat down a bit, hasten will only be down for like 10-15 seconds maybe with just its original slot as recharge. That makes your 96 percent recharge into 165 percent recharge almost all the time. So then figure you lose a end drain like assault and you just increased all the time up of your attacks by way more to do full damage rather then a bonus 8 or whatever assault added. I would say drop tactics and get aim and build up both. even 1 slotted with the recharge chnge I just spoke of they will be up all the time. Now you have the shield wall +5percent resist all which is great. But if you dropped tactics and put just 2 of those slots on to tough or temp invulnerability you could also slot the steadfast protection that gives 3 percent defense to all, and the gladiator armor 3 percent defense all +tp protection uniques. In fact I would say six slot touch and you can keep the 3 pieces of stead fast protection in it plus the unique you have now and the other from gladiators all in one power giving you the steadfast 3 piece set bonus plus 6 percent defense to all and the aegis or whatever it was you had there. And powers like PFF, hover, CJ, Stealth, and afterburner might seem like powers that seem like a waste but they are all places to hide a LotG to keep that recharge up. And on top of that flight and afterburner with no other slotting will max out your fly speed. You might not care but your waiting team will. The thing I find with IO sets is you can go nuts and really make no difference but think you have or you can really invest in just bumping one or two aspects of the character and hope that is enough. Most sets for a character don't give you what you want always. Hence best ranged defense boosts are in melee attck sets. And vice versa. That is why I picked ranged defense.. Yes I am cautious like most blasters about going into melee range. So it makes the most sense to try and shore up ranged defense. It doesnt do a lot of good to have great regen or recovery if you are dead. So imo the most important bonuses to go for are those that keep me alive the longest, then once I am getting those anything else I just a nice extra.

So last night the recreation of my first character ever finally hit 50. So I knocked this out real fast trying to see what I could come up with for some build direction. Thought I would see what people think before I start spending influence. Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! QuiJon: Level 50 Mutation Blaster Primary Power Set: Energy Blast Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Concealment Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Power Blast -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg(3), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42) Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Energy Punch -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Dam%(9), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11) Level 4: Energy Torrent -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(11), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(34), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36) Level 6: Fly -- Flight-I(A) Level 8: Power Burst -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(15), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42) Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19) Level 12: Bone Smasher -- Mk'Bit-Dam%(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(23), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(25), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(27) Level 14: Sniper Blast -- ExcCnt-Stun%(A), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rchg(27), ExcCnt-Dmg/EndRdx(29), ExcCnt-Dmg/Rng(29), ExcCnt-Dmg/ActRdx(31), ExcCnt-Acc/Dmg(31) Level 16: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46) Level 18: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48) Level 20: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 22: Energize -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), NmnCnv-Heal(45), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(46), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46) Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(31), StdPrt-ResKB(33), GldArm-3defTpProc(42) Level 26: Explosive Blast -- SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(34), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(36) Level 28: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), LucoftheG-Def(37), LucoftheG-Rchg+(39) Level 30: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 32: Nova -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 35: Afterburner -- Flight-I(A) Level 38: Total Focus -- Mk'Bit-Dam%(A), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(40), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(40) Level 41: Stealth -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A) Level 44: Personal Force Field -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(48), UnbGrd-ResDam(50) Level 49: Force of Nature -- ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50), ImpArm-ResDam(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance 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 -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21) ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 13% DamageBuff(Smashing) 13% DamageBuff(Lethal) 13% DamageBuff(Fire) 13% DamageBuff(Cold) 13% DamageBuff(Energy) 13% DamageBuff(Negative) 13% DamageBuff(Toxic) 13% DamageBuff(Psionic) 14.13% Defense(Melee) 10.06% Defense(Smashing) 10.06% Defense(Lethal) 18.5% Defense(Fire) 18.5% Defense(Cold) 23.5% Defense(Energy) 23.5% Defense(Negative) 7.88% Defense(Psionic) 33.5% Defense(Ranged) 16% Defense(AoE) 32.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 6% Enhancement(Heal) 10% Enhancement(Range) 2.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount) 38% Enhancement(Accuracy) 12% SpeedFlying 198.8 HP (16.5%) HitPoints 12% JumpHeight 12% SpeedJumping Knockback (Mag -4) Knockup (Mag -4) MezResist(Confused) 75% MezResist(Held) 75% MezResist(Immobilized) 75% MezResist(Sleep) 75% MezResist(Stunned) 75% MezResist(Terrorized) 75% 18% (0.3 End/sec) Recovery 32% (1.61 HP/sec) Regeneration 30% ResEffect(SpeedFlying) 30% ResEffect(RechargeTime) 30% ResEffect(SpeedRunning) 23.75% Resistance(Smashing) 23.75% Resistance(Lethal) 20% Resistance(Fire) 20% Resistance(Cold) 7.25% Resistance(Energy) 7.25% Resistance(Negative) 14% Resistance(Toxic) 14% Resistance(Psionic) 12% SpeedRunning Let me know what I am missing or totally misdirected on please. In Pines the total ranged defense says 40.8, melee and aoe are low 20s, energy/nrgy are 30ish firecold 25ish.psi 15. SL Resist is 68, fire/cold 20 rest are all mostly single digits. But mostly I was trying to prioritize ranged defense while not totally breaking the bank in costs.

interesting and gives me something to think about. My two concerns off the top of my head is that it seems light on attacks in favor or attacks that have longer recharge times. Like that ranged attack I found to be total crap. But thinking if I could change that out with laser beam eyes or something. Even if you say that the guarde spin or whatever that defense power aoe was called, is not worth it for the defense(which I totally notice it but maybe because I know it is there I think it does more then it does) it is a good attack that does good damage in AOE with a relatively short recharge. The second thing is that you skip the level 38 armor completely also. Strength of will I think it is called. I know it can not be recharge boosted but it seems to be a really nice boost to resistances when needed. And being how low elemental resistances are in the set I would think that would be a plus to have on hand as needed. So I am kind of wondering if perhaps dropping maneuvers and taking that might be better for me personally. Also just curious but you have the brute ATOs kind of frankensloted between two powers any reason for that compared to just putting one set in one power and one in the other? I thought bonuses were based on total number of set pieces in the character, is it actually in a power? Meaning doing it that way you are only getting the first 2 bonuses twice?

Honestly for farming you don't need anything. I do just fine with my spines/fire brute and he has nothing of any sets in him at all. Hell he doesn't even have IO basics just the SO 53s I have picked up along the way. That is the entire point of AE farming is you make a map or run only maps that cater to your build. In this case a fire build that natively has maxed out fire resistances. Go in with a load of purples and click as needed. If yo are alone you will get more then enough drops to keep them full just burn the reds and yellows and blues as you get them and I set it so I don't get rez and breakfrees at all. I have farmed this toon solo in the AE since he was like 32. Start off slow and build up to what you can handle. And now between his fire resistances and the level shift from the alpha slot he is farming +4/8s with no problem. And like I said no real investment. Heck if you are AE farming just do one run every 3-4 for tickets instead of drops and you will have more then enough tickets to redo SOs and don't even have to spend money there either. Considering I don't plan on ever playing the toon outside of the AE farm or demon farm maps I see no reason to spend influence he is earning on making him any better since really I probably would not notice the difference.

I know overall there doesn't seem to be a lot of love for staff fighting, but was wondering if anyone has made a decent build for one with IO sets so far. This would be for just normal game play not farming. I am not sure what way to go. WP seems to have low resistances for elements but ok for SL but no defense for SL to speak of. So I am trying to figure out if I am better off going for defense for everything or trying to shore up resistances. Staff kind of has a nice defense buff in one power that is mostly perma once you start to fight. And WP has a acc debuff aura so I am thinking should be be adding to that and going for defense buffs out of IOs and just live with the lower resistances? IF someone has built one or has the pine's build I can download that would be great to take a look and give me some ideas.