Ranged Blaster

[Snarky]

I am discovering how well I do on Blasters and liking it.  I ran an AR/Dev Blaster all day yesterday.  Posi 1, 2, Synapse, Yin. Various odd jobs in between.  The Synapse was where it really coalesced into a describable situation.  

 

I run the TFs in order on a Build I don't know, for playtesting.  I needed a Synapse, and I don't start TFs.  An ad goes up.  Synapse, RP, send tell.  I threw brackets around (lf Synapse) and decided to shut up for 2 hours. I was a little shocked when we started with 6...  Its a freaking Synapse. A Brute, a troller, 3 fenders, and my little blaster self.  After 3 missions, I shit you not, the troller leaves because its taking too long.  I really want this badge.  Already the rythym of the team is getting established.  These folks (I think they are long term RP team) have not run a Synapse since live.  They got no idea.  I have all the maps memorized because I do this on every toon and we had Synapse week a month ago, 8 runs that week.  I get to a mob, usually before the Brute but right before he hits.  If I expect crap I get close and drop 'trops.  Then I smoke bomb and unleash hell. THe team stayed tight, I give them that.  2:04 was final time.  Dropped Babbage with Help from Global channel recruits.  I was really useful.  Hover blasting and burning down team problems.  3 Blasters and a cranked team on Yin with a diff group, that was a hoot.

 

I think as I develop my playstyle Blasting may be my new niche.  I like the focus of one thing.  Freaking burn it down.  I am already thinking about the maps, the layouts, the PvE mob composition, what I normally do on a Brute.  I just like taking a hammer to the bad guys.  Or a rifle in this case. Only a few times does the BGs "Staying Alive" pop through my head as a situation goes FUBAR.

 

Now I need to find the right powersets.  AR is prime real estate.  All ranged.  I will not do a PB Nuke.  I love dark, all those cones.  but no ranged nuke.  I am dropping caltrops for 2 reasons.  1) close close range.  2) Area targeting.  Okay, area targeting deserves a special place in FU land.  It works simply and great.  Until you are in a multilevel terrain with 30 mobs and 16 people firing every special effect in the world.  Cant see the floor reticle.  cant find my mouse cursor.  cant land the damn power.  so, DPS goes to zero while trying to straighten that all out.  Why I cant play ICE.  love the set, cant land the powers correctly.  So, ranged only, ranged nuke, no Area targeting AoE.  You see my problems here right.  Was actually looking at Elelectric.  THen there is a thread up top right now about how much that stinks.  So, AR...Beam?  Or play Dark as a generally Nukeless playstyle?   Dark has a ton of AoE, I LOVE cones, and it is least resisted of all damage types on PvE mobs.  Dark/Mental would give yet another cone.  But put me always jousting in for End Drain power.  course, once in you have End drain, shockwave, and Blackstar.  Then race to the hills, no melee.  …..Danged, I just talked myself into an alt.  Sigh.  Will keep you posted.

 

Any thoughts on Blasting to fit the modern game are definitely appreciated.  Coming off Brutes and Tanks so I literally have no idea how good/bad some sets and combos are.  Everyones playstyle is different.  I try to play ranged stalker.  I will go in if I have too, sometimes they come to you lol.  But I try to stay out there.  Burning down the house.

 

 

[crkohl]

Sounds like you’d like Archery. All ranged, great AoE. One of the fastest recharging (and not PBAoE) nukes in Rain of Arrows. Bind it to a button with “powexec_location target” and let it fly. 

[Bopper]

41 minutes ago, crkohl said:

Bind it to a button with “powexec_location target” and let it fly. 

Yes, please do this with all your location AoEs. Makes life soooooo much easier.

 

2 hours ago, Snarky said:

I am discovering how well I do on Blasters and liking it.  I ran an AR/Dev Blaster all day yesterday.  Posi 1, 2, Synapse, Yin. Various odd jobs in between.  The Synapse was where it really coalesced into a describable situation.  

 

I run the TFs in order on a Build I don't know, for playtesting.  I needed a Synapse, and I don't start TFs.  An ad goes up.  Synapse, RP, send tell.  I threw brackets around (lf Synapse) and decided to shut up for 2 hours. I was a little shocked when we started with 6...  Its a freaking Synapse. A Brute, a troller, 3 fenders, and my little blaster self.  After 3 missions, I shit you not, the troller leaves because its taking too long.  I really want this badge.  Already the rythym of the team is getting established.  These folks (I think they are long term RP team) have not run a Synapse since live.  They got no idea.  I have all the maps memorized because I do this on every toon and we had Synapse week a month ago, 8 runs that week.  I get to a mob, usually before the Brute but right before he hits.  If I expect crap I get close and drop 'trops.  Then I smoke bomb and unleash hell. THe team stayed tight, I give them that.  2:04 was final time.  Dropped Babbage with Help from Global channel recruits.  I was really useful.  Hover blasting and burning down team problems.  3 Blasters and a cranked team on Yin with a diff group, that was a hoot.

 

I think as I develop my playstyle Blasting may be my new niche.  I like the focus of one thing.  Freaking burn it down.  I am already thinking about the maps, the layouts, the PvE mob composition, what I normally do on a Brute.  I just like taking a hammer to the bad guys.  Or a rifle in this case. Only a few times does the BGs "Staying Alive" pop through my head as a situation goes FUBAR.

 

Now I need to find the right powersets.  AR is prime real estate.  All ranged.  I will not do a PB Nuke.  I love dark, all those cones.  but no ranged nuke.  I am dropping caltrops for 2 reasons.  1) close close range.  2) Area targeting.  Okay, area targeting deserves a special place in FU land.  It works simply and great.  Until you are in a multilevel terrain with 30 mobs and 16 people firing every special effect in the world.  Cant see the floor reticle.  cant find my mouse cursor.  cant land the damn power.  so, DPS goes to zero while trying to straighten that all out.  Why I cant play ICE.  love the set, cant land the powers correctly.  So, ranged only, ranged nuke, no Area targeting AoE.  You see my problems here right.  Was actually looking at Elelectric.  THen there is a thread up top right now about how much that stinks.  So, AR...Beam?  Or play Dark as a generally Nukeless playstyle?   Dark has a ton of AoE, I LOVE cones, and it is least resisted of all damage types on PvE mobs.  Dark/Mental would give yet another cone.  But put me always jousting in for End Drain power.  course, once in you have End drain, shockwave, and Blackstar.  Then race to the hills, no melee.  …..Danged, I just talked myself into an alt.  Sigh.  Will keep you posted.

 

Any thoughts on Blasting to fit the modern game are definitely appreciated.  Coming off Brutes and Tanks so I literally have no idea how good/bad some sets and combos are.  Everyones playstyle is different.  I try to play ranged stalker.  I will go in if I have too, sometimes they come to you lol.  But I try to stay out there.  Burning down the house.

 

 

As for Dark, sure, its nuke is PBAoE, but it is one of the best debuffs around. If you can stealth in, no one will hit you while you jump out.

 

I think Archery might fit you if you're looking at range. I'll hop onto City of Data to see if any other sets might fit your desires. If so, I'll update this post.

 

Update:

Water, Beam, AR, Archery, and Electric appears to be the choices for all Range attacks. 

 

If you want to go cone heavy, you might look at Energy Manipulation as a secondary. It comes with Boost Range that will greatly increase the length and width of your cones...and who doesnt want more length and width amirite? It also comes with Power Boost which could pair well with Soul Mastery (more cones and -tohit) and it might boost Unleash Potential if you take the Force of Will pool.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Bopper

[ScarySai]

After some heavy testing, I'm pretty confident that TA is the best secondary to go for if you want pure range.

[Bopper]

16 minutes ago, ScarySai said:

After some heavy testing, I'm pretty confident that TA is the best secondary to go for if you want pure range.

Just looked over all the options in Mids. I think you're right. Lots of nice options with TA.

[Snarky]

Thanks.  I am posting a Dark/Mental build in a new thread hoping to get some advice and critique.

[Novacat]

One note: Smoke Grenade doesn't aggro so should always be first/pre-battle (before even caltrops or a moving brute). It can even let you bypass some enemies (a lot if you've got stealth rather) and can be chucked into enemy groups from afar while others are getting ready or gathering.

 

It's got a nice long duration anyways so even if you chuck one every 30s while tapping your foot it'll probably last the whole fight once everyone actually gets to work.

Edited February 24, 2020 by Novacat

[Snarky]

Yes. As i played the Dark/Mental today i rather missed the stealth and smoke combo of AR/Traps. It is truly beautiful. I am using stealth and invisibility pool powers but do miss smoke grenade. We all know how nasty it is to fight through that when Arachnos drops it on a team lol

[Outrider_01]

Try water/Martial combat, fun times.  Water only if you prefer; kinda OP in versatility in debuff/KB/heal and combo effects.

[Call Me Awesome]

Archery is defiantly a good choice for pure range, I've played it twice, once as Archery/Energy and once as Archery/TA.  Here's the thing, /Energy has available to it the wonderful Boost Range power... this has a major effect on cones as well as greatly increasing the range of your heavy hitters.  I also have a Fire/Energy blaster and Boost Range allows me to stay away and pound the mobs.  

 

Another bonus of Archery is the extremely low endurance use... my Archery/Energy blaster never bothered to slot Stamina and even flying and running several Leadership toggles I only run low on end during a long AV fight.  The Archery/TA is even better on endurance.  On the other hand a downside to this is lower damage output and a heavily resisted damage type (Lethal).

 

Of the two I've played I'd probably give the nod to Arch/TA as it offers more utility, but requires you to be a bit closer.  With Boost Range you can hit mobs that are out of your render distance, so it's really mainly useful for Fistful of Arrows.

[dragonhawk777]

I did a fire/rad blaster and he is awesome at range.  I chose radiation because it gave me a bunch of options build wise, and I wanted something a bit different than the standard fire/energy build.  I skipped the melee abilities and got the single target hold, plus char from the epic fire pool, so I can easily lock down bosses.  I skipped Inferno and just use the pyro judgement power.  If your going to go pure range I would say flight is a must for travel powers as it can keep you out of range in 90% of the situations you will encounter.  I slotted for both damage boosts and ranged def so it hits like a truck and can tank most things at range.  The biggest unconventional thing I did was take Heal Self for added survivability.  Combine that with Barrier and it becomes quite easy to just run around any map in a TF and kill things on your own, as a healer becomes fairly redundant at that point.  This is my current build for him.  My Incarnate powers are Muscular (45% damage boost), Barrier, Pyronic (+dot), Longbow Pets, Reactive (resistance debuff) and Assault (bonus damage).

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Dragonhawk: Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Atomic Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- 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(46)
Level 1: Electron Shackles -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Fire Blast -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Apc-Acc/Rchg(9), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Dcm-Build%(11)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-End/Rech(11), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(13), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(13), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(15), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50)
Level 6: Rain of Fire -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(17), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(34), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(36), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 8: Fire Breath -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(29), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(31), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(31)
Level 10: Positron Cell -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(27), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(27), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29)
Level 12: Ionize -- AdjTrg-Rchg(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(48)
Level 14: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(15), Frb-Stlth(19)
Level 16: Aim -- AdjTrg-Rchg(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(48)
Level 18: Blaze -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(25)
Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 22: Metabolic Acceleration -- EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(A), EffAdp-EndMod(36), EffAdp-EndMod/Acc(37), EffAdp-Acc/Rchg(37), EffAdp-EndMod/EndRdx(40)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- Ksm-ToHit+(A), LucoftheG-Def(31), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(39), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(43)
Level 26: Blazing Bolt -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(34)
Level 28: Tactics -- AdjTrg-ToHit(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(45), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(46), GssSynFr--ToHit(46), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(50), GssSynFr--Build%(50)
Level 30: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 32: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(43), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(43)
Level 35: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(37), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(39)
Level 38: Aid Self -- Mrc-Heal(A), Mrc-Heal/Rchg(40), Mrc-Heal/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Char -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(42), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(42), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(45), StdPrt-ResKB(45)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Quick Form 
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 -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(39), EndMod-I(48)
------------

Edited February 24, 2020 by dragonhawk777

[Shred Monkey]

I would choose a secondary based on which sustain power/powers you want.  Just because a secondary has melee attacks doesn't mean you have to use them.  Trick Arrow is a very popular set among min/max'ers, even if you don't use any of the arrow attacks.

[Novacat]

Tactical Arrow. Trick Arrow's a bit less beloved by people in these parts!

But Tac Arrow is an excellent set; long as you don't mind having no big fat debilitating face-punches, it's got less hard control but more utility and self-buffs than other secondaries.

For primaries where you really want/need to focus on the set itself due to various mechanics (like Beam or Water) it's golden.

[Call Me Awesome]

2 hours ago, Novacat said:

Tactical Arrow. Trick Arrow's a bit less beloved by people in these parts!

But Tac Arrow is an excellent set; long as you don't mind having no big fat debilitating face-punches, it's got less hard control but more utility and self-buffs than other secondaries.

For primaries where you really want/need to focus on the set itself due to various mechanics (like Beam or Water) it's golden.

Absolutely.  Tac Arrow is miles better than Trick Arrow and much better suited for the game.  Trick Arrow may look good on paper but in the length of time it takes to toss out it's goodies most teams will have the spawn dead or nearly so.  Tac Arrow on the other hand works MUCH better in a fast moving group.

 

I've played an Archery/TA blaster here to 50 and it's a lot of fun.  I've attempted a Trick Arrow defender a couple of times back on Live and never made it to 20.