Electrical Blast is bad, don't use it

[DocRadio]

On 9/26/2019 at 9:04 AM, DarknessEternal said:

Electrical Blast is objectively the worst of the blast sets.

 

1. Endurance drain is pointless.  NPCs don't have costs to their powers.  They have drain.  The "cost" is deducted from their endurance.  The only check which is made is if they have any endurance.  So if they have 1 endurance, they can use a power that "costs" 100, at which point they'll have 100 removed from their total endurance, 99 of which was meaningless.  So for endurance drain to be a meaningful mechanic, you have to get them to 0 endurance and keep them from recovering any.  If you think that's what Short Circuit does, see the next point.

 

2. -100% Recovery doesn't zero out endurance recovery on NPCs.  It halves it, just like 100% deductions on recharge, or endurance reduction.  On this point, I'm not actually sure.  It's just the most likely explanation given that you can demonstrably prove NPCs get endurance back while being chain Short Circuited.  Eventually they get endurance.

 

3. Voltaic Sentinel is much worse than the high damage single target attacks other sets get.  Just simple math on this one.  It does 1/4 to 1/3 the damage of the heavy single target attacks.  It also does this less often given practical levels of recharge, as its rate of fire never changes.  And you don't even get to decide who it shoots.

 

4. Thunderous Blast has 25 second longer cooldown than other T9 nukes.  It does the same damage as them, but takes longer.  It also has a longer animation time. 

If you use short circuit along with power sink you can zero out anything short of an EB... and you can get some of them. You could probably do the same thing with short circuit and boost power. With enough global recharge you can keep them wheezing for air. I used to do it with my old Elec/Elec blaster. Was it reliable? Reliable enough since I was also packing two holds. I honestly kind of like elec blast, and I'm using it on a sentinel and a corrupter even now. I also like TBlast. It's a ranged nuke that is now crashless. It more than get's the job done and can also wipe out endurance bars, especially when followed by short circuit. I will agree that voltaic sentinel is garbage. But that's not that much of an issue now that you have the ability to use Zapp in an attack chain.

[drgantz]

I made a low level Elec/Elec blaster and ran it through DFB.
The minions and bosses lost almost no end from my blasts.  Of course, this toon had only low level abilities.

[Sir Myshkin]

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove a

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove a point.

I will ...

 

I hate you guys. /em opens mids

[Galaxy Brain]

22 minutes ago, Sir Myshkin said:

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove a

I will not make an OP Electric Blaster just to prove a point.

I will ...

 

I hate you guys. /em opens mids

I know you're gonna, but what point is it gonna prove?

 

What would an elec blaster bring to the table that's different than another set with the same slots?

[SmalltalkJava]

43 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

know you're gonna, but what point is it gonna prove?

 

What would an elec blaster bring to the table that's different than another set with the same slots?

I think it would provide a counterpoint to the original premise of the posts title.   It would certainly be interesting for me to see the build.   I myself have never played an electric blaster.  So I appreciate any new outlooks in play styles and ways to push Powers to new limits 

[Sir Myshkin]

36 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

I know you're gonna, but what point is it gonna prove?

I was mostly being facetious.

 

38 minutes ago, Galaxy Brain said:

What would an elec blaster bring to the table that's different than another set with the same slots?

What's actually interesting to me about this thread is the back and forth about this very singular question. Pre-Sunset, and even further back than that actually, I used to have a Kin/Elec Defender, classic Sapper build. It was all pre-I9 and all that jazz, and after the advent of IO's I truly felt like his value dropped significantly because Kins, collectively in a high-yield environment, end up being nothing more than a +Dam source since there's not a lot else they bring to the table that most high-yield builds haven't already corrected (end management, speed, recharge). That's subjective experience for some, but I definitely felt--as a Kin Defender--absolutely useless.

 

I could however use him still as an effective Sapper, run into a spawn and completely mitigate their ability to do anything because I could siphon through Short Circuit so quickly that once I'd stolen their endurance, I could keep it indefinitely, but I couldn't kill worth a darn. In high-impact teams, again, neat party trick, worth a ton solo, but Defender, so damage sucks anyway (subjectively).

 

Electric Blasters could do the same thing but invariable, and lacked a few of the other tools that made it safer on the Kinetic. With Procs and Incarnates though, there's a lot of interesting things that can massively amplify what Electric Blast and Electricity Manipulation do in their secondary effects.

 

As Exhibit A:

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(11), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(11)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Energy Punch -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Hct-Dam%(5), GldStr-%Dam(7)
Level 4: Ball Lightning -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), PstBls-Dam%(29), JvlVll-Dam%(31), Ann-ResDeb%(31), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(31)
Level 6: Short Circuit -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erd-Dmg(25), Erd-%Dam(25), Arm-Dam%(27), Obl-%Dam(27), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(29)
Level 8: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), GssSynFr--Build%(23)
Level 10: Bone Smasher -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(34), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(34), GldStr-%Dam(34)
Level 12: Zapp -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Apc-Acc/Rchg(13), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Apc-Dam%(15), StnoftheM-Dam%(17)
Level 14: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Energize -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(17), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(19), Prv-Heal/Rchg(19), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(21), Prv-Absorb%(21)
Level 18: Tesla Cage -- GhsWdwEmb-Acc/EndRdx(A), NrnSht-Dam%(36), GldJvl-Dam%(36), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(36), UnbCns-Dam%(37), GldNet-Dam%(37)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 22: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Voltaic Sentinel -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(43), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 28: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 30: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), StdPrt-ResKB(37), GldArm-3defTpProc(39)
Level 32: Thunderous Blast -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(50)
Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(39), Rct-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Rct-Def/Rchg(40), Rct-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Rct-ResDam%(40)
Level 38: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(42), HO:Cyto(43)
Level 41: Summon Spiderlings -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(45), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 44: Whirlwind -- EndRdx-I(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(48)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), HO:Cyto(48), HO:Cyto(48)
Level 49: Tactics -- HO:Cyto(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 -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany
Level 50: Preemptive Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Storm Elemental Core Superior Ally
Level 50: Melee Radial Embodiment
Level 50: Ion Radial Final Judgement
------------

 

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The capacity to neutralize endurance with this build is incredibly high. Nearly every spawn is facing close to full reduction within just two hits, if not full reduction from Interface inclusion (resistances aside). For this one specifically the biggest kicker is Power Boost as it amplifies the -End effect, which in turn amplifies the return, and by having an Alpha slotted worth 33% End enhancement, now every single end-impacting attack has a significant kick that most players wouldn't have slotted for in the first place (either for set bonuses, or damage, or whatever). Preemptive is contributing a unique trigger here too with its -End over time, does an initial kick and then keeps kicking for a short period after to catch that next tick, ontop of -Recovery, which means all of my attacks are now contributing.

 

What's it add to the table? Soloability with more safety by being able to shut down a mob faster. Ball Lightning + KD, run in and Short Circuit before they can get to their feet and... well that's about end game for them (aha, ha... ha, puns).

 

And this is just one variant. Elec/Elec could do similar with its toggle AoE to marginally slower effect, and a Kin/Elec Defender (with the proc portion of this equation) finally actually have some contribution, and a couple of tools to more significantly impact bigger targets faster (Transference).

 

General side note: Shocking Bolt (Epic) is better than Tesla Cage (Primary Blast Power), and that bothers me.

[DarknessEternal]

Prove that's useful in actual play over a Blaster who just kills things.

[Galaxy Brain]

Tesla Cage is legit bad compared to pretty much every other ST hold you see in blast sets 😞

 

With heavy investment and a complimentary secondary you can make the sapping work out for sure. That said, it does require sizable investment and if you want to be a sapper then Elec control does the job out of the gate with 2 powers.

[Sir Myshkin]

1 hour ago, Galaxy Brain said:

With heavy investment ...

If by investment you're referring to the set costs, the Winter-O's are actually skippable, upon reflection. When I added them I wasn't thinking about the effect of Power Boost on the toggles and was trying to clamber up to 45% (or as close as I could) S/L defense. Swapping out for a pile of procs does just fine. Most of the build is actually pretty affordable beyond the time investment for gathering Incarnate parts. The base version of the AT-O's can be purchased or pack-pulled-converted for 10mill a piece (so 120mill for both sets), and catalyzed by what gets dropped in natural game play. I don't think there's been a single case where I don't end up with 10-12 catalysts by Vet Level 1 in just basic play (even at 2x XP play). The HO's, those can be swapped for a bunch of cheap Def/End IO's, swap when affordable, or +Boost the IO's as available and get the 'same' return. I could also "budget build" this a bit further by swapping the Apocalypse set for Sting of the Manticore and tossing a different second proc in there. Yeah, I'd say ~300mill, maybe 350mill inf. For an IO build, that's... kinda cheap I think.

 

1 hour ago, Galaxy Brain said:

...and if you want to be a sapper then Elec control does the job out of the gate with 2 powers.

Well, technically the core of the Blaster is Ball Lightning + Short Circuit (-15% End, and then -75% End & -133% Recovery in that build). But I get what you mean, Controllers do make it a bit easy, but not as fast in my opinion. I did a fair amount of testing Electric Control for other things and found its Sapping ability was pretty decent without any intentional effort involved.

[Galaxy Brain]

I meant investment from pairing a secondary and Incarnate slot just for more -end as opposed to being able to efficiently use the effect by itself. 

 

Elec control abilities iirc have a -10% end base for most of the powers (fences does at least) on top of Conductive Aura and Static Field just draining quickly and safely. Those two also give you back endurance on top of sapping, while outside of boosting with power boost / stacking with power sink, Short Circuit needs to juggle end mod and damage investment. 

 

I'm not saying it isnt good, I've played elec3 the most of any character on live and it's super fun! It's just in terms of being an effective blaster or sapper there are better alternatives that dont require as much specific pairings.

[Scarlet Shocker]

Elec blast and generally always had a "good history" - it always "used to be ok" but since forever it's got left behind. It "used to" excel at PVP, but then ED and -End got mitigated. It "used to be" one of the best control sets outside of being a controller but almost any other blast set can claim that title, especially Water. And why play an Elec blaster when you can play an Elec controller now? It "used to be" able to drain an AV's end but there's no chance of that now.

 

In fairness it always "used to" have a useless pet. Some things haven't changed. VS remains roughly as useful as a rubber duck in the Sahara desert. (But that in itself makes it so skippable it relieves a tad amount of pressure on decision processes. I don't know if that's sufficient excuse however.)

 

But it does seem odd that it has this kind of mythical aura (I suspect strongly, that there's a lot of rose tints going on here too) that once upon a time it was very good. But it never has been good in my opinion. Not since 2006 when I first rolled my namesake.

 

But...  it is fun. It can do some interesting things, and built right, and played right, it can be a boatload of fun. It's challenging to play one to its best, and that (to me at least) adds to the fun. But maybe that's just my take on things, but I've always been one who roots for the under dog. I've always enjoyed the comic characters who have fewer, weaker powers - in my mind that's what makes them great and although I didn't build Scarlet to be that person (I didn't know how Elec Blast performed in comparison to other powers) it didn't take  me too long to realise that's where she lived and one reason she became my main for so many years.

 

Is it worth playing? If you enjoy working hard to get the best out of it, absobloodylutely. If you want to walk into a room and kill all the things before your team arrives, not so much. Does it need close and personal scrutiny by devs (of whom successions have failed to even raise a level of interested awareness of its shortcomings)? Very much so. Is it playable now? Yes it most assuredly is. It doesn't need a huge amount of but it does need some. The relatively recent snipe tweaks have helped Zapp take up a good deal of slack from the set but that's probably true of most snipes. But do something creative wtih the -End (maybe give a % to stun if an opponent's end gets too low, for example, or even better boost the amount of Endurance returned to the player, giving Electric Blasters much higher levels of sustain.) Give it a worthwhile pet, something that earns its crust, and do something wtih the nuke which is pretty horrible. (I spent a decade skipping it because it just wasn't worth the grief of the -End crash and lack of damage.That's been partially resolved but it still deserves more.)

 

Much of how you approach the set is going to depend on what you want from your character, and there's nobody else here can answer that one. Give it a go. You might even like it!

 

Yeah Electric Blast "used to be" a lot of fun. It still is to my mind.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Scarlet Shocker

[Doomguide2005]

Good or bad I know one thing for sure close to the end of Live I had an Elec/Fire aoe blaster who was a ton of fun.  He could unleash 7 different  AoE's, but endurance was a major obstacle. (Lots of panting and blue pills). Recreated him here, he's just as much fun and the new Sustain has put an end to constant need to rest between mobs solo.  Anxious to see how the next 25 levels go.

[Frostweaver]

This is not technically a necropost because... Power transfer/Chance to heal.

Holy Carp.

I think electric blast has just become the new 'go to' set for blappers. Easily getting regen-level healing while dishing out (low) blaster DPS as well as DECENT end drain+damage numbers from sets?

Looks to me like the devs listened.

[BasherBot]

Pretty certain Electric Blast has value in PvP since the endurance drain is useful there (I don't play PvP... Just noting a place where it could have a decent or a large amount of value depending on how strong the drain actually is).

[theDarkeOne]

I am not sure about all this since I tend to not play blasters all that often. . . But my new project is my elec/mental/mace blaster and she cruises through missions - maybe not at +4/8 but +2/8 - in her late 30's just fine. I figure by the time I have her Incaranted she will be a beast and a half. But I also like to nuke from distance, close in and finish them off with shockwave. 

 

I have played many "unplayable" sets and honestly, while some may be slower I haven't had issues playing any of them!

[Banana Man]

Elec blast doesn't have very much value in PvP, outside of thunderous blast for the highish end drain value. It's still a very nice set, and not something I'd recommend anyone roll if they are making a dedicated PvP character.

 

Elec is definitely sub-par in PvE, but it's not the worst set if we're considering high level IO'd content.

[wiss]

On 4/13/2020 at 8:42 PM, Banana Man said:

Elec blast doesn't have very much value in PvP, outside of thunderous blast for the highish end drain value. It's still a very nice set, and not something I'd recommend anyone roll if they are making a dedicated PvP character.

 

Elec is definitely sub-par in PvE, but it's not the worst set if we're considering high level IO'd content.

I'd like to see Electric Blast get a chance to "arc" the attack to other nearby enemies for the single target attacks like Electric Affinity.  Have the set build up "Static" charges with the AoE attacks and then it arcs to that number of other enemies at like 60% damage/40% damage/20% damage or some other percentage decrease.  It fits the theme and would help address the lack of damage.

[Vilhelm]

I've run an elec/elec blaster longer than I've run scrappers.  It was the second character that I ever created on live back at release and I never stopped playing him.  Elec blast just feels light on damage compared to most other sets.  The trade off is of limited use, at least on blasters.  I've played a sapper elec/elec build for a long time.  Yes you can use it, but other blasters are killing the mobs or the team has already moved on.  With IOs other blasters are not at much threat from anything that you could fully drain.  Elec Blast lacks multiple heavy single target blasts or ranged AoE attacks that it can use to leverage extra recharge into higher performing attack chains.  I think only two tweaks would shore things up a lot in making Elec blast on the Blaster much more satisfying and without overpowering it.  

 

1. Make Tesla Cage cause damage in addition to its hold, at least as much as Lightning Bolt.  I think it could be made into a true tier 3 with a hold and that it wouldn't do anything to harm balance.  But even tier 2 damage would help with low level attack chains, and high level overall damage dealing.  

2. Make Voltaic Sentinel a real, controllable pet.  It's damage isn't high, but if you could control what it was shooting at like a Mastermind minion it would become a lot more useful.  Weak HP and its cast time would be worth dealing with for the extra damage.  It would also make the pet unsuitable for tanking, and keep the agro on the blaster since it would easily out damage the pet.  It would be a nice support pet for a blaster without adding anything drastically new.  It would alter the IO type for the power, but it would offer a lot more in terms of game play.  

 

Combine both of these changes and you would shore up the Elec/Elec blaster as a damage dealer, preserving the current play style, and at least in spirit staying within the cottage rule.  If you try to redesign the endurance drain mechanic it would be more difficult and do nothing to help the damage of the blaster version, and no matter what the blaster's control will be much less than an actual control class.  Blasters are for damage.  Chaining attacks would help with AoE damage, but do nothing for single target.  

 

Elec doesn't need more recharge, it doesn't have enough damage dealing attacks of sufficient strength in single target to get a good damage boost with that extra recharge.  I don't think that the set needs an endurance boost either.  Without a tier 3 attack, it can't stack multiple high recharge attacks to develop a higher end attack chain that other blast sets can. 

[Neogumbercules]

The useless endurance drain effect is the least of Elecs problems in my opinion. The biggest issues for me are mechanical.

 

Ball Lightnings slow dot gives enemies too much opportunity to shoot back and causes wasted damage on a mob that you (or volty) fire a ST attack at who would have died from the DoT but just wasn't dead yet. 

 

Short Circuit has the exact same problem only you get to stand in the middle of the enemy group and wind up that long ass animation on top of it. 

 

Voltaic Sentinel is weak and you have to rely on the AI to fire at the correct enemy. It's AI is wonky and recasting it all the time is annoying.

 

Tesla Cage on its face isn't bad but I would prefer a T3 blast over a ST hold. 

 

Thunderous Blast seems to have a shorter range than it should and the animation time is kind of long, in addition to the cooldown.

 

I would love for Volty to be permanently out and, when in combat, to fire at my target. Crank up the damage of Tesla Cage to make it comparable to a T3 blast, swap the animation of Short Circuit to the Water Blast TAOE attack, speed up or eliminate the DoT on ball lighting, and increase the range and reduce the cooldown of Thunderous Blast. 

 

I think those changes would increase the playability of Elec Blast a great deal. 

[BlackenBlue71]

My main hero * is an Electric/Devices/Munitions Blaster. He's a re-do of my main hero from the original CoH.  I am not a fan of Voltaic Sentinel. My Blaster only has it in his build as a placeholder until I respec, because there wasn't really anything available that I wanted when he levelled up.  I rarely even bother using it against anything higher than blue cons when soloing.

 

I don't care about endurance drain being useless or Thunderous Blast taking longer to recharge than other nukes. The other options do not fit the concept.  (Plus, I think TB has the best  nuke animation, even though its longer.)

 

*Not Blacken Blue, my screen name here. Blacken Blue is a Dark/Regen Sentinel.

Edited September 24, 2020 by BlackenBlue71

[agentx5]

Personally, I started this game with Electric Blast because I thought it fit the character best, but I too found that Power Sink was the only effective means of completely draining -END fast. Otherwise they usually run out of HP before END.  And draining HP ends the fight (in most cases... damned Super Stunner Freaks), draining END is something they just recover from.  On a team, you definitely feel rather useless with Electric Blast.

 

Personally, I wish Electric did disorientation/stun rather than END drain.  That'd be pretty epic, IMHO.

 

And if that's too much of a controller-like mez thing, then have Electric Blast attacks have a chance to chain to an additional target.  It's be kind of like how fire has DoT, with a little of the awesomeness that is Ionic Judgement

Edited September 26, 2020 by agentx5

[warlyx]

On 9/22/2020 at 7:52 PM, wiss said:

I'd like to see Electric Blast get a chance to "arc" the attack to other nearby enemies for the single target attacks like Electric Affinity.  Have the set build up "Static" charges with the AoE attacks and then it arcs to that number of other enemies at like 60% damage/40% damage/20% damage or some other percentage decrease.  It fits the theme and would help address the lack of damage.

that would be cool

[kelika2]

Turn Voltanic Sentinel into Frozen Orb from Diablo2.  an entity that just travels out shiitting out little bits of damage in any direction.  give it like 4-6 minor damage ball lightning powers so its always throwing something out without worry if it running out of attacks.  I dunno if Pseudo pets can move from point A to point B without player interaction but you get the idea.

 

With that idea out there, Short Circuit (blas, cor, def) can get revamped into a single target ability to make up for the lack of ranged attacks you hear now and again and stop most of you from trying to take away sents little quirks

[Artillerie100]

I remember reading this thread last year and thinking "I guess I should stay away from Electric Blast". I came back to the game again this year and a friend made an electric / regen sentinel and had a ball with the toon, so I thought "WTH, I'll try an electric / TM blaster out".

 

It is by far my favorite blaster now out of 5 of them (Dark/TM, Fire/MA, Archery/TA, Cold/TA). Voltaic Sentinel out with it's 20% damage boost plus the seamless attack chain of Charged Bolts / Lightning Bolt / Zapp makes this character a gatling gun, all the while stacking damage boosts with fast animations. Ball Lightning, Thunderous Blast (the animation is a little slow, agreed) and Static Discharge from the Electric epic pool is all the aoe I need to pretty much delete spawns. Thunderous + Aim + Double BU does this almost on its own unless it's an elite boss mixed in. I don't run Short Circuit anymore as this character is purely ranged and I found I didn't use it hardly. I run almost entirely level 54 content, for reference.

 

Sure, the endurance drain could use some love, but on the rare chance I get stunned or held, I regularly chain cast Charged Bolts and LIghtning Bolt and drain a bosses endurance and kill them shortly after. Thunderous leaves them with little to no endurance as it stands. If they speed up the Thunderous Blast animation and cooldown, as well as increase the endurance drain, this set will be a dream. 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Artillerie100

[Phigment]

Quick question.  I was thinking of making an Elec/? blaster and one of the things that sounded sort of appealing was that in the electric blast power descriptions, it mentions the attacks can transfer some of the targets endurance back to YOU.  Is that correct?  Just thinking having some extra endurance would help with lessening any issues with running out of endurance. 

 

I guess the short version is:  Is the return of endurance worth trying out the set?