Radiaria

I think that most of the people commenting are speaking about Blasters in general without incarnating them to their maximum potential and I really do not agree that Blasters are the "weakest" AT for soaking damage by any means. In all secondaries there is a major endurance recovery and regen booster power (some are more powerful than others, situationally, Drain Psyche is the absolute king, Cauterizing Aura in Fire Manipulation is the lowest). This is supremely important, because this allows you to run BARRIER for your destiny. Barrier is a godsend for blasters for survivability. Now... What if say I used Drain Psyche and Barrier and was softcapped to a couple different damage types... You're extremely survivable. Add in a primary other than fire with a useful secondary effect that stops damage? You may survive better than Scrappers and Stalkers in a lot of cases. The effects in the secondaries are really important. Also, all secondaries are NOT created the same. Mental manipulation will hands down give you amazing survivability. -Recharge and Drain Psyche and an AOE that has a possibility to stun enemies that can be used mob-to-mob? Ice is also worth mentioning for the damage mitigation while having a great AOE at the end, it arguably can make you as survivable if not greater than Mental. Another true winner of an option if you want a pure ranged character: Tactical Arrow, this is the best "stay at range" secondary. None of its moves force you into melee whatsoever and the entire set actively works to buff your defense, recharge, perception, accuracy, and gives you EXTREMELY good control, this can make you easily as survivable as the two above. Other secondaries are better for AOE damage. Fire Manipulation is the best example of this. This set gives you Burn, FSC, AND Combustion (though I personally feel Combustion is skippable) along with two damage auras. There's no competition. This set though is by far the least effective at preventing damage and getting you killed easily. The melee attacks (usually the T2) are usually some of your best DPA, but by all means, these attacks are *not* required for high ST damage (meaning you can skip them and use your primary for range damage only), and ST damage can even be largely irrelevant now thanks to lore pets being kind of an equalizer against hard targets.

While with Regen, you are probably going to have a MASSIVE difficulty getting to decent res and defense numbers more than any other set (bio is just a lot easier on you) there is a way to make Regen better. If you want the BEST bang for your buck to making you tougher and having your softcaps/caps in general easier to reach: TAKE BARRIER CORE EPIPHANY FOR YOUR DESTINY SLOT. That will make the single largest survival difference for your regen character due to the fact that it gives you 20 seconds of invulnerability and then gives you a permanent +5% defense and +5% resistance to all damage types. This is a big boost especially if you're against a hard enemy near death. There is also ROP (sorcery pool) + Melee Core hybrid which both can add 30%+ defense dependent on mob size, however I can see where lots would tell you to choose another Hybrid option. Or that ROP isn't always worth the cooldown if your build is tight on defenses/recharge. There is always of course: Tough + Weave + Maneuvers + Steadfast protection + Gladiator's Armor + Shield Wall + Reactive Defenses. These will all help give you more res and defense. Some/most skip IH now due to the long CD being up only half the time with mass recharge, you may not skip it, but bare that in mind.

I'm having an issue. When I try opening other people's builds in the latest update and my own previous work, it appears to not open them properly if at all and acts as if my mids builds do not exist when I searching for them?

As for this forum topic, yes, Rad/Rad would give you a taunt aura to keep enemies on you and is very good on resistances, as well as the heals/attacks being able to turn into proc monsters and really dish out. I would highly recommend it.

Dear me, I made a colossal error and thought you made a Scrapper version. That said... I’m so confused. The ST will be lower (that’s ok with lore pets and degen) and the AOE damage between Burn + Atom Smasher is practically a permanent blaster nuke. Although Rads animations are on the long side, I think you may just not be enjoying your build. I love mine!

I understand, I just thought that TA would highlight your primary in a way beyond just ST damage as a whole and elevate it into something more survivable/fun for some if they prefer TA. You may disagree, but I don't think Thunderstrike does enough AOE, and is often much less than Explosive Blast. TS does it's damage to one target, then the "shockwave" (deals much less damage) hits the other targets in a small radius, EB can be turned into knockdown, and it truly sprays its damage across all enemies effected unlike TS, which is why I prefer it, it also keeps you in ranged damage territory (safer). 700-800 to one target then 50-100 to each target versus 100-200 to all targets in a wider area (EB 15 - TS 12) also there is half the cast (EB 1.67s - TS 3.3) and a shorter base recharge (EB 16s - TS 20s). That being said, if you planned to run this in lower player count settings where there aren't a lot of mobs, this would make more sense for TS. Unless they added something new to TS I'm unaware of which could be the case?

No it isn't. Let's say for example, I went into a store and wanted to buy a particular jacket that was in an ugly shade of red but I loved the jacket. That happens to be the only color that jacket comes in. Just because I choose to like the jacket and love the styling of it does not mean that I take the colors with it to buy the jacket or use it. To have that jacket be only in that color forces me as a consumer to wear that color which I wouldn't like. Thus, we have petitions, and people ask companies to add more variety to the clothing. Just because I chose to like the jacket doesn't mean I should be forced to like or "live with" the colors. Also, this assumption that "once built by Arachnos, always built by Arachnos," isn't true once we start considering story factors. Ghost Widow is a relevant example, she was as I said, a Night Widow (natural origin) turned into a "Dominator" (really more of a dark/dark Corruptor) and now has an entirely different origin than her counterpart in Praetoria which is of Natural origin as she is alive and does not possess the telepathic Seer network capability that Ghost Widow has nor the soul or negative energy Ghost Widow in her Primal form utilizes. Thus it is easy to conclude that when Ghost Widow died, she became of magic origin and no longer retains her natural origin anymore. Such character concepts, such as escaping Arachnos, or being killed by Ghost Widow and breaking from of her soul control would indeed by this game's own standard, put you into a Magic origin. Thus, the idea for magic-origin themed backpacks wouldn't be that much of a stretch, plus for overall players, it would benefit them to have more customization options. I do not see why there is such a thematic or story reason to so rigidly hold onto a backpack you don't want to have or have very little customization options for it in this state of the game with alignment switching, coming back as a ghost, etc. all exist as part of this game's lore and gameplay.

I looked into your idea, and I must say I love it, but I think you should possibly look into /Tactical Arrow for even more broken proc mechanics with Energy Blast. While I understand you take somewhat of a damage hit, you get even more recharge from TA with Upshot, you can reach 270%+ global recharge without even trying. Also Ice Arrow is a BEEFY proc monster that can accept several different types of procs to fit into your ST chain. And the biggest monster IMO of all for your survival: ESD arrow. This will make controllers ENVY you. You get their hold power, on all enemies, almost permanently with this level of recharge, also with the note that you can put in Lockdown to hold bosses. It also can deal real damage to late game mobs with the purple hold proc + special robot damage given how many robots this game now has. I sincerely think this is worth checking out. I fully think Explosive Blast is worth taking and slotting in OF + FF proc, this turns it into KD and gives you more AOE chances to proc. Glue Arrow can become a MONSTER. This in theory would be quite possibly one of the safest blasters available. Between the constantly knockbacks/knockdowns/slows/holds you'll be pretty sturdy, add to the fact that this set also gives you additional LotG opportunity in Gymnastics. Highly recommend thinking about this, it may not be as high DPS on paper, but with lores now, I think the differences in survival/gameplay would be noticeable.

StJ/Bio armor is one of the most damaging combinations both in real game play and pylon testing. It hits like a truck. Highly recommend it, there's an endgame where you can softcap S/L/E/N/F/C/M and cap S/L resist with barrier T4 and have IH-level regeneration with the Sandman's proc in the sleep aura (which also gives you significant damage boosts due to Stalker crits on sleeping targets!) while also yourself having great regen. It also gives two decent AOEs that while it may not be Burn, will certainly give you a decent mileage against a pack of foes.

Ice/Regen or Dark/Regen Dark would enable you to continuously stay at range along with providing -to hit which helps you for the fact that capping defenses/resistances isn't going to happen very much without significant sacrifice on a Sentinel and also gives lifesteal which aids your regeneration. Ice slows enemies and is purely ranged and heavily keeps enemies out of melee range whilst dealing good damage, blizzard also provides -to hit and knockdown, therefore, is also very stable. It also provides holds and -recharge. I'd say those are the top two contenders for ranged tank.

No, this is a fallacy. You do not choose the backpack because you chose the Crab. Forcing someone to have the backpack if they want to enjoy the playstyle even if their attacks do not even use the backpack whatsoever is indeed FORCING someone to have it on. And that is untrue, it DOES matter. There are multiple characters with Origins that switched. Ghost Widow is a good example. She was originally a Night Widow (natural) that died and resurrected as a ghost, hence, now she is of MAGICAL origin. So yes, who you're aligned with and what their personal experiences are DOES matter to the origin.

But that's not what I said? I said that if you choose to be a Crab, you're forced to have this backpack. There are a variety of reasons to choose a Crab over a Bane/Huntsman. No one should be forced to "deal with" this backpack at ALL times even when your toggles/powers aren't even in usage and it obscures a rather large visual component of the character (while some may argue there are elements of this in Night Widow/Fortunata, their claws are not an always seen large annoyance to look at/deal with, and other ATs with weapons often either have more customization options or only deal with seeing them in combat/toggles, this however is on all the time, is enormous, and obscures, so I don't really think comparing anything to it is apples to apples.) In response to your other comment towards the other poster, yes, it is constructed by Arachnos, but it may not be aligned or in servitude to Arachnos anymore thus having another origin. Let's say for example, you were an Arachnos Soldier, but later found that you tapped into the Well of Furies to become an Incarnate thus are no longer the "origin" of your powers or say you were trained additionally by Ghost Widow and left to become a Hero and now possess magical netherworld capability and retained some of your old powers thus now have a "magical" origin

Listen, continuity is great. But on a sincere note, not everyone enjoys the backpack. I as well as others have voiced over and over again that it is wrong to force a person to have an (semi-objectively ugly) crab backpack with only 2 customization options. People shouldn't be forced to have this. I understand that yes some of their general animations are tied to their backpack, but for example, this principle of "everyone other AT that has a weapon has to actually use that weapon" is true, however, there is a LARGE sweeping difference between a backpack YOU LITERALLY CANNOT GET RID OF EVEN IF YOU TURN OFF EVERY TOGGLE YOU POSSESS AND USE NO HITS versus TW/ or /Shield where you HAVE to toggle to see the shield and fight or click an attack to see your weapon. I mean personally, if it just simply appeared purely for the animations, OK. However, the ENTIRETY of a Crab's villainy? This is where I think this is comparing apples to oranges.

This is exactly what I was thinking of. I really wish they implemented this.

The part you're forgetting is that Drain Psyche is a scaling ability. It has two purposes: to make you tough against large groups of mobs, and as an AV/GM stopper with -regen. However, against large groups (beyond 4) there is no single Blaster ability that comes close to the amount of survivability it will give you (regen). Even still, 112.5% vs 250% is a large difference (by more than double), that's quite noticeable, you may really love /plant, but is it really *better* overall than mental for most scenarios? The thing I love about Mental is that it is Psionic damage without the commitment to being purely Psionic. You can crush those Minotaurs and Cyclops, a lot of the T9's in this game are nothing to you, and you get a great DPA attack in Mind Probe, all without having to pursue a Psionic-based primary that's heavily resisted to the majority of the game. I don't see why Plant would be considered so heavily over this other than the Toxins and Spore Cloud. The only thing I see a good argument for is that Skewer can be slotted with Achilles and has a decent DPA making it deal more damage for ST if your primary doesn't already fit an Achilles.

Softcaps all positions, gives you 61% smashing and lethal resistance, 172.5% (makes your attack chain seamless with Musculature no Agility needed.) Hasten is very close to perma, this should be survivable, you have Panacea procs and some decent regen and the absorbs in your auto along with good recovery and end discount power if things get hairy. You should probably take Barrier and once you do that, you will get more resistance (tougher). Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.5 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: Katana Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Sting of the Wasp -- SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(A), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(11), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40) Level 1: Focused Fighting -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(7), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(7), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(9), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(9) Level 2: Focused Senses -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(3), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(3), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(5), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(5) Level 4: Agile -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(43), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(43), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(45), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45) Level 6: Flashing Steel -- TchofLadG-%Dam(A), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Obl-%Dam(15), Obl-Acc/Rchg(17), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(17), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39) Level 8: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 10: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 12: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 16: Dodge -- Rct-ResDam%(A), Rct-Def(46) Level 18: The Lotus Drops -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), Arm-Dam%(19), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(19), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Arm-Acc/Rchg(21), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(39) Level 20: Quickness -- Run-I(A) Level 22: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(23), Ags-ResDam(23), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(25), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(25), Ags-Psi/Status(27) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(27), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(29), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(29), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 26: Soaring Dragon -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), Hct-Dam%(31), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(37), Hct-Dmg(37) Level 28: Lucky -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A) Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(40), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(A), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(33), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 35: Evasion -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37) Level 38: Super Jump -- HO:Micro(A) Level 41: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42) Level 44: Calling the Wolf -- MckBrt-Acc/Rchg(A), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(46), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(50) Level 47: Physical Perfection -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal(48), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(48), PrfShf-EndMod(48), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(50), PrfShf-End%(50) Level 49: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(45) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(39), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(40), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(46) Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon ------------

No one said it was the end all be all, "absolutely recommend" is not saying "only" or "end all be all." I did not state this. Also, of course there will be better combinations suited for that, but that is not the point of the thread. The point of the thread was finding a good build to tackle on GM's/single targeting as a Blaster which is something that is do-able and honestly not something you "need" to go another AT for. Also, I don't really understand the point about other sets being used to kill "beyond luts and minions..." that's what your primary is for, you have a sniper and a high DPA (usually) 2nd hitter (e.g. Blaze) to deal with boss and above foes, also Mind Probe is not bad DPA either so I don't really know what's wrong with this? I've played plenty of Mental and love them, I think you are bashing it. You don't like the Confuse? Skip it, there's lots of highlights to Mental besides that. As for your other post about /Time, no, it is not on the level of /Mental. Your only form of -regen is Time Wall (-25%... also not a great proc monster and has a 1.6s disruptive cast) and Time Stop (disruptive 2.17s cast... only -50% regen, only lasts 9.54s) neither of which are "strong" options. -250% regen for 30 seconds and only a 1.32s cast would be much less of a burden on a good ST chain (this is half of lingering radiation-level debuff...) (Mental) /Plant is a decent option, it provides a toggle (Spore Cloud) -112.5% regen does not disrupt the chain at all, however, you pay the price with less than half the effectiveness of Mental Manipulation's Drain Psyche. However if a character fits this for a theme better or you personally prefer its attacks, by all means, go for it.

I'm just going to say, I would absolutely recommend taking Mental. Mental is an amazing secondary, the -regen, the good regen/recovery being far above all other sets (although you need to be in melee range to get benefit, it generally keeps you safe enough to do so). The highest hitting ST is fire, ice is a close runner-up and sometimes slightly above. Fire/Mental I highly recommend. Inferno, Drain Psyche, Fireball, Psi Shockwave, etc. Dark/Mental is also worth considering for the numerous proc options available to it as well as having a "life steal" component that would help should you take some heavy damage, this can be very nice for AOE too as you can proc monster Torrent with FF and basically spam it with continuous knockdown.

Good decision. I think Sonics on a defender is a really wise choice!

I'm sorry but... what?! I mean listen, I'm not going to argue defenders are Scrappers/Blasters, but I will say, they do indeed DPS with the right slotting/build DANDY. Especially when you throw in Kin. Then there's really not much setting you apart from a blaster at all. A kin/fire defender (solo) will outperform a regular blaster (maybe not exceptional builds/combinations, but it will come VERY close) a CORRUPTOR variant, will be leaps and bounds more damaging in both single play and group (600 snipes that CRIT are more than what blasters ARE doing without substantial buffs/build up + gaussians/etc.) Now granted this is harder to pull off but a dark/storm defender is going to give a lot of blasters a good run for their money while being a lot more survivable than most combinations. Granted these are outliers, even just in general, a good defender ADDS TO A TEAM. Kinetics just by virtue of being Kinetics WILL INCREASE DPS FOR THE ENTIRE T-E-A-M. As for the bit about Controllers, I feel the complete opposite. Things are dying too quickly in the state the game is in to really see much use out of mezzes (early game, I see the benefit, late game, not so much. The only time I see a decent benefit out of mezzes is if I am soloing.) I'd rather have some DPS boost (not that control sets in some cases aren't, but there's only a few that come to mind that really bring this to the table.) I would say that there definitely are ATs that are going out of vogue and need some buffs or don't have as much of a place as they may once have. Defenders are not one of them.

Please GM's give notice to this idea that really needs to be highlighted: the crab backpack being FORCED on costumes. Crab is objectively advantaged in comparison whether that be survivability or DPS in comparison to other builds (not saying they're not worth playing or "bad") but I think you should be allowed to take the pets and use the powers that Crab offers and not be forced to use a Crab backpack on ALL my costumes. Fortunatas/Night Widows are NOT forced to use certain costume pieces once they go to the Tailor and unlock their 2nd costume slot they are 100% free to do whatever they want design-wise. I do not understand why in 2019 we should be FORCED to wear this backpack anymore. This is not a hard fix for the Devs. Please consider this for the next patch.

Yea but... come on, it's 2019. I think we should have the ability to remove the backpack now.

I want to revise my original thoughts after having made a Fire/Kin Corruptor, and I would like to say that the damage I am dealing now with Fulcrum Shift on this character is the same if not higher than non-fulcrum shifted regular fire Blaster, and really overall just more because the entire team gets the benefit. Also, if this toon manages to scourge with her FS, this character can in many cases deal substantially more damage toward the end of an enemy's life.

I've done some testing and I can say that double rage is obviously a boost. I would actually say that I did some +4/x8 farming last night on Justin, and it was...... fabulous.... I'm actually very impressed and when these changes go live I really think I might roll it, it's actually really good. Like clearing maps in close times to my fire farmers good, maybe only one minute to 30 seconds longer but this can obviously survive wayyyyyy better in gen PvE and farm pretty much anything.

"Eliminated" no, heavily negligent to the point where it's not completely tolerable and usable on a defense set where it previous was nearly impossible? absolutely. You're still dealing with a Rage Crash that gives -30% resist and 999% damage for a brief period, though, you absolutely will not die from it anymore or be in major peril.