atletikus

Bet it's much, much, much closer than the discrepancy in survivability and even team usefulness (everyone brings damage in this game). Next roll a Sonic Blaster and compare its damage to your Brutes and Tankers. Bet again the damage of the Blaster is not even close while the survivability is still far, far behind.

I would concur, seems like AR got the slowest snipe by far. Fire's fast snipe is listed as 1.67 sec, but seems to me like the damage compartment is almost instant with rooting. With AR, the damage comes after the rooting aiming animation. Dark is supposedly one of the faster listed at 1.33 sec, but with a slow "projectile" so damage comes slower than with Fire. Mid's operate with wildly inaccurate numbers on it and can't be trusted.

Re-balanced power sets (before introducing new): Particularly for Blasters where there is a huge power disparity between top and bottom performers when the AT pretty much is only focused on damage. Update second/third-rate mez-attacks to new meta. Give Blaster immobilization attacks the same treatment as Controllers that turns knockback into knockdown (this way the various powers will play more nice together). Trim the activation timers on the slower attacks; particularly important for Blasters with much less survivability than any AT not to get rooted by super slow attacks. More interesting missions: Option for more bosses + generic elite boss as end-mission opponent. More wandering patrols, special mobs that can call in almost immediate reinforcements (ie. new spawn or nearby spawn being alerted). Larger chance of nearby spawns being alerted in general. Improve "defeat all" and "click all" functionality so that it shows on mini-map sooner and more consistently. New types of missions, ie. assist police, Longbow, against a larger amount of enemies. Save NPCs in buildings on fire with timers etc. Sound effect re-haul: Reduce volume on the audio effects on many of the more obnoxious SG-base items (some are way to loud!). Introduce alternative power-set sounds accessible at tailors to some of the more contentious ones (ie. sonic + beam rifle).

Just witnessed a level 9 Electric/Dark troller drain Eochai while Back Allay Brawler tanked him. Eochai just stood there taking it for a good while. Wasn't entirely reliable, but I was pretty amazed a low-level or any level could do that to a GM. Even though GM-arresting is like 0.1% of the game at best, I'm starting to re-think Electricity drain effects being useless.

To be honest, I rank Sonic as the worst Blaster primary. Weak in teams except as a force multiplier due to secondary -res effect for smaller teams/hard targets mostly. You rarely ever see Blasters with the set, so plus point for uniqueness I guess. That said, it's a very strong soloist (albeit not particularly fast unless paired with a good melee secondary set and don't play with large spawns) so you can take that act on the road and be successful. Just mind the limitations, most Blasters will outclass you badly on regular teams.

I think the consensus here is that the secondary effect of Electricity pretty much sucks outside of rare builds and occasions. Asking for IO sets to balance this shortcoming would necessitate rather OP sets. Sets that a significant proportion of the player-base rarely dabble in.

Nice straw-man there! There is a wide chasm between the damage output of the top and bottom performing sets and consequently quite the room for adjustment without primaries dealing "almost exactly the same damage". That said, currently the defining feature of sets run more along the lines of good vs. bad that over uniqueness and this diminishes the real choice for players who wants to be competitive - so yeah, damage could and should be significantly closer in my mind. Sonic is indeed very safe to solo, and so was Devices. Devices was buffed because it pretty much sucked outside of solo-use and though the -res debuff of Sonic is pretty nifty in a team setting, the AoE damage is downright pathetic.

No. The game is casual-friendly and making OP IOs as a balancing factor is a bad idea.

It is significantly too low, and not only for Electricity and Sonic which is in arguably a worse spot. The Blaster sets were designed for a vastly different meta than is today. Secondary effects are very overrated as a counterbalance to pure damage in the world of great IO-sets, Epic/Ancillary sets and Incarnate powers.

A bit hyperbolic I think. I believe Sonic is significantly worse off than Electricity now, both for ST and AoE...and definitely for sound effects! Instead of focusing on a single set as done here, I really hope most of blasterdom can get behind a larger rebalancing patch touching on all the sets as a whole similarly to the re-balancing done recently on Dominator secondaries. The same disparity between the Dominator assault sets that was the reason for that patch is arguably considerably worse for Blasters (who for the most part only have their damage and third rate control to contribute). The old style mez powers should all be given a significant damage compartment (without going overboard with it as done for Freeze Ray) and the animation timers of trimmed down. And this should include the secondaries as well as much of the work is already done.

Join the dark side! Power boosted 25% heals every few secs (+heal from sustain), nearly double -ToHit debuff and -62% for the nuke, super long range kb cone (with kb to kd and force feedback proc). Should be pretty survivable and unique. Use bind for Power Boost and Boost Range to remain sane. 🙂

It is PBAoE, but trick is to pull them around the corner for solo use or on the more tricky spawns on a weak team. They will beeline towards your corner and into the relatively small patch (can cast either in advance or while waiting) as well as your PBAoE slow from sustain and even high con enemies will easily be at slow cap. If you put the hold on auto, oftentimes it will hit before the enemy can melee to do serious damage - or just use the hold while the enemies are busy flopping on the floor or fleeing in slow motion. This made me want to roll a Dark/Energy....some nice synergy going with Boost Range for the cones and Power Boosted secondary effects. Hoping to get over my addiction to Fire Blast. ^^

No way. Ice Manipulation is pretty strong solo, from the early level 10 sustain that is arguably the strongest such power in all of blasterdom, and able to AoE soft control efficiently from level 20 with Ice Patch shenanigans as a pseudo hard control. Add Shiver and all you need ever worry about is the alpha, and it has a decent hold that is particularly useful if set on auto, and can be further stacked with the thematic primary. Frozen Aura is nothing if not totally underwhelming though (even with heal proc). I would rate /Ice over /Devices, and the latter has been know as THE soloist set since the inception of the game. Ninja Training's problem isn't that it's typed; it's that it's UNDERPOWERED in all objective measurements (heavily resisted lethal damage just adds insult to injury); that said, it's a stronger soloist set that Fire Manipulation that lacks pretty much any control/mitigation. Mental Manipulation can become a solo farming powerhouse with a high global recharge IO build , but is a very weak and high risk soloist before. Plant Manipulation is another underpowered set that like Ninja cries in the corner in need of buffing.

Below is a list (probably not updated) of enemy resistances. AFAIK the special robot weakness to electricity is only in rare powers like Short Circuit and EM Pulse (mastery). https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Y2P_lCCQjGlVJHrCUKxSGaa3Ul7FMYhYaPykgtcHz4E/edit#gid=671881607

I think it's more a matter of usefulness/reliability rather than it potentially working or not. In 99.9% of gameplay, making mobs dead faster is preferable and to that regard all other sets are better than Electricity Blast. When IOs entered the scene, the usefulness of secondary blast effects/versatility was lessened, and lessened even further with the much needed buff to Blaster secondaries. Albeit Electrical was helped by the change to sniper blasts more than any other set, the set hasn't ever really been in the meta - less so now than ever.

Then they could have given it the Voltaic Sentinel treatment. Weak, but at least not mostly annoyingly so. Either way, crippling what is supposed to be a crowning power is reminiscent of the longstanding willful Blaster neglect that the current developers have been about rectifying - so it's pretty obvious they dropped the ball on this one. Here's hoping they won't let another 15 years pass before they use a little time to revisit poor design decisions 🙂

Seems to me a surprisingly poor change given the other changes to Devices are very well thought out (albeit I would like to be able slot Smoke Grenade with Accuracy ToHit Debuff sets like other nearly identical powers). The Gun Drone is now mostly useful as an enhancement set mule. It isn't thematically meant to be a poor-mans alpha-soaker either, so replace it with a Blaster version of Seeker Drones if that is it's intended new purpose...or alter the taunt to single-target only (with a very short duration so it can't hold it) while considering a buff to make it more robust as well as increasing health regeneration considerably.

As new powerful power sets have been released and old buffed, while also benefiting from more accessible enhancements and temp powers, maybe next in line for a buff is the enemy. Instead or maybe in addition to just a straight up buff, maybe consider a way to make missions less predictable with wandering spawns, reinforcements, invisible enemies who follow and attack when the party/hero/villain is engaging other spawn, trip mines, etc. 😉

None of the powers are shared with other ATs. Each archetype has it's own version of each power, usually with different damage, but the dominator versions also tend to have much different recharge rates and radii as well. Semantics. By your logic, Defenders/Corruptors doesn't share that many powers with Blasters either given they too have many diverging versions of the same powers.

The snipe mechanic will change next patch/issue. When not engaged in combat, snipes will be slow (+3 sec interrupt) form for more damage (4.5 scale dmg). When in combat it will become quick form (no interrupt) for less damage (2.28 but will scale up to a max of 2.78 with +22 ToHit).

Alright. It looks good on paper, but I'm not a fan of the many sacrifices you had to do to get there, like 6 slotting two powers that you won't ever use and not having room for Glue Arrow and double stacked holds. Next issue/patch the snipe mechanics will be reworked making +22 ToHit less of an artificial magical goal. My Archery/Tactical is soft-capped ranged, and just shy of perma (but realistically perma due to 2 +recharge procs), less sturdy, but with better endurance management on fewer slots used and is generally much more versatile. Make sure you always, always find room for Gaussian's proc in a self +DMG power, with 1 recharge it will trigger 90% of the time for reliably hyper-spiked alpha strike carnage. Procs in stustain power/Stamina is less efficient than 2 regular End Mod IOs (only better than a 3rd regular IO due to diminishing returns ED). Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Science Blaster Primary Power Set: Archery Secondary Power Set: Tactical Arrow Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Flight Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Snap Shot -- 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: Electrified Net Arrow -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19) Level 2: Glue Arrow -- HO:Micro(A) Level 4: Fistful of Arrows -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), DfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(21) Level 6: Blazing Arrow -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(40) Level 8: Super Jump -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(11) Level 10: Upshot -- RechRdx-I(A), GssSynFr--Build%(40) Level 12: Explosive Arrow -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(23), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(23), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(34), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(37), FrcFdb-Rechg%(37) Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(40), BlsoftheZ-Travel(46), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(46) Level 16: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(17), HO:Cyto(19) Level 18: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 20: Eagle Eye -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(21), EndMod-I(42), EndMod-I(43) Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(48) Level 24: Ranged Shot -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(25), StnoftheM-Dam%(25), StnoftheM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(31), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 26: Stunning Shot -- Stp-Acc/Rchg(A), Stp-EndRdx/Stun(27), Stp-Acc/EndRdx(27), Stp-Stun/Rng(29), Stp-Acc/Stun/Rchg(29), Stp-KB%(31) Level 28: Agility -- HO:Micro(A) Level 30: Ice Arrow -- BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(42), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(46) Level 32: Rain of Arrows -- 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: ESD Arrow -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(36), Lck-Rchg/Hold(36), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(37), Lck-%Hold(39) Level 38: Gymnastics -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(39) Level 41: Bonfire -- Ann-ResDeb%(A), FrcFdb-Rechg%(43), SudAcc-KBtoKD(43) Level 44: Fire Shield -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(45), GldArm-End/Res(45), GldArm-ResDam(45) Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- Stp-Acc/Rchg(A), Stp-EndRdx/Stun(48), Stp-Acc/EndRdx(48), Stp-Stun/Rng(50), Stp-Acc/Stun/Rchg(50), Stp-KB%(50) Level 49: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A) Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 4: Ninja Run ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 17% DamageBuff(Smashing) 17% DamageBuff(Lethal) 17% DamageBuff(Fire) 17% DamageBuff(Cold) 17% DamageBuff(Energy) 17% DamageBuff(Negative) 17% DamageBuff(Toxic) 17% DamageBuff(Psionic) 6% Defense(Melee) 6% Defense(Smashing) 6% Defense(Lethal) 7.25% Defense(Fire) 7.25% Defense(Cold) 31% Defense(Energy) 31% Defense(Negative) 6% Defense(Psionic) 37.25% Defense(Ranged) 8.5% Defense(AoE) 3.6% Max End 10% Enhancement(Range) 6% Enhancement(Stunned) 29% Enhancement(Accuracy) 77.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 2.5% Enhancement(Held) 12% SpeedFlying 99.39 HP (8.25%) HitPoints 12% JumpHeight 12% SpeedJumping Knockback (Mag -7) Knockup (Mag -7) MezResist(Confused) 6.25% MezResist(Held) 6.25% MezResist(Immobilized) 6.25% MezResist(Sleep) 6.25% MezResist(Stunned) 6.25% MezResist(Terrorized) 6.25% 15.5% (0.26 End/sec) Recovery 34% (1.71 HP/sec) Regeneration 5% Resistance(Smashing) 8.75% Resistance(Fire) 8.75% Resistance(Cold) 5% Resistance(Energy) 5% Resistance(Negative) 5% Resistance(Toxic) 5% Resistance(Psionic) 5% Resistance(Lethal) 12% SpeedRunning

If by "finishing work on Dominators" means rebalancing the (weaker performing) power sets, it...may take a while. Several of the powers are shared with other ATs which could lead to a cascade of "fixes". The patch seemed to be near going live given how quickly the changes on it came, but progress seems to have stalled somewhat now. Wish the devs were a little more communicative as to their plans and progress.

More expensive, more better ;) Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 2.22 http://www.cohplanner.com/ Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Dark Blast -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15) Level 1: Time Wall -- Acc-I(A) Level 2: Umbral Torrent -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(11), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(17), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(17), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(19), FrcFdb-Rechg%(23) Level 4: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(5), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(23) Level 6: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 8: Boxing -- Acc-I(A) Level 10: Chronos -- RechRdx-I(A), GssSynFr--Build%(11) Level 12: Tenebrous Tentacles -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(25) Level 14: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(21), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(31) Level 16: Afterburner -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(31) Level 18: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), HO:Ribo(19) Level 20: Temporal Healing -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal(37), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(37) Level 22: Time Stop -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(37), Lck-Rchg/Hold(39), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42), Lck-%Hold(43) Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(36) Level 26: Life Drain -- TchoftheN-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(27), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(29), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(31) Level 28: Future Pain -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(43), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Mk'Bit-Dam%(50) Level 30: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(42), HO:Cyto(46) 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(36), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(39) Level 35: Time Shift -- AbsAmz-ToHitDeb%(A), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(40), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(40), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(40), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(42) Level 38: Time Lord -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 41: Moonbeam -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(45), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(45), StnoftheM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(45), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46) Level 44: Bonfire -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SudAcc-KBtoKD(46), Ann-ResDeb%(50) Level 47: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(48), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48) Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- Heal-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Heal-I(A) Level 2: Swift -- HO:Micro(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(5) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), PrfShf-EndMod(7), PrfShf-End%(7) Level 4: Ninja Run ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 20% DamageBuff(Smashing) 20% DamageBuff(Lethal) 20% DamageBuff(Fire) 20% DamageBuff(Cold) 20% DamageBuff(Energy) 20% DamageBuff(Negative) 20% DamageBuff(Toxic) 20% DamageBuff(Psionic) 9.13% Defense(Melee) 7.56% Defense(Smashing) 7.56% Defense(Lethal) 8.19% Defense(Fire) 8.19% Defense(Cold) 33.5% Defense(Energy) 33.5% Defense(Negative) 6% Defense(Psionic) 38.5% Defense(Ranged) 10.38% Defense(AoE) 3.6% Max End 52.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 6% Enhancement(Heal) 2.5% Enhancement(Held) 2.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount) 10% Enhancement(Range) 37% Enhancement(Accuracy) 13.5% SpeedFlying 185.2 HP (15.37%) HitPoints 13.5% JumpHeight 13.5% SpeedJumping Knockback (Mag -8) Knockup (Mag -8) MezResist(Confused) 45% MezResist(Held) 45% MezResist(Immobilized) 45% MezResist(Sleep) 45% MezResist(Stunned) 45% MezResist(Terrorized) 45% 10% (0.17 End/sec) Recovery 36% (1.81 HP/sec) Regeneration 15% ResEffect(SpeedFlying) 15% ResEffect(RechargeTime) 15% ResEffect(SpeedRunning) 7.5% Resistance(Smashing) 7.5% Resistance(Lethal) 15.75% Resistance(Fire) 15.75% Resistance(Cold) 2.25% Resistance(Energy) 2.25% Resistance(Negative) 1.5% Resistance(Toxic) 1.5% Resistance(Psionic) 13.5% SpeedRunning

Would also like to know this. Got a toon in the pipeline waiting for some TLC. :)

Both sets are solid separately (after next patch), but as much as I would like to like the thematic combo - I feel that missing out on both self boosting damage buffs is too much a sacrifice given how the Gaussian' proc now easily triggers 90% of the time (w/ 1 rech IO). You can place that proc in Targeting Drone of course, but the proc chance is then about 17% per 10 secs and you can't spike damage when you want/need. This makes that alternative a lot weaker especially given spiking damage with nukes now is so prominent a part of high level Blaster gameplay. If you can see past that, it will be bit of a monster come next patch with the proposed changes to Devices.