Anyone else remember blappers?

[Snarky]

12 hours ago, biostem said:

I suppose it's a matter of how you look at things and what criteria you are using.  A blaster's entire primary is basically ranged attacks, and several secondaries have no or few significant melee attacks.  I'm not discounting the playstyle, but I just view "blapping" as an optional/alternative way to play the AT...

Okay.  soooooo NOOOOOOOOO  lol  

 

First, When I say designed from the ground up.  I mean that.  So, we need to look at Blasting in the first years of the game.  A Blasters entire Primary is NOT ranged attacks.  the T9 on everything but AR and Ice was PB.  That's not the only PB powers in Blasters primaries.  Ranges have been modified, increased and smoothed slightly.  But originally quite a few of the cones and such very pretty short range.  Like Sentinel.  The only secondary with no melee attacks was Devices, favored set of those we affectionately (?) call Toe-bombers.

 

Again, this has changed over the years (slightly) as a pure ranged set like Beam Rifle was added, and now Water.  But I still have not found a design in Blasters where you can set up at 30+ range and unleash and never move into melee without giving up a lot (gimping the build for concept)

 

From what I could tell the only reason Blasters have gotten ANY movement away from Blapper design is the choice when building an AT for "Ranged" and the description as a Ranged character.  Then we get in game and are like?  Hey! These aren't chocolate chip cookies, these are dog biscuits.  You cannot advertise cookies and then hand out dog biscuits. I mean you can (they did) but you will be hearing about it.  For months.  and years.  and decades.  Hey, remember that game that said Ranged characters but it was really a PB monster?       

[Shred Monkey]

I joined a MoLRTF a few weeks ago with my blapper.  Someone (jokingly) said we were in trouble now with my toon joining. 

 

My response... "Don't worry guys... if I DO die, I promise, it will be spectacular."

 

 

 

 

(end of story... we failed, but no I didn't die.  Blappers can be built to be extremely survivable these days... So much so, it makes me struggle to justify playing anything else.)

[Broken_Prey]

19 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

 Blappers can be built to be extremely survivable these days... So much so, it makes me struggle to justify playing anything else.)

I know what you mean. My Fire/nrg blaster is a beast, I Tanked a Manti last night with her. Soft capped to S/L/E and 35+ to range makes you had to kill. The damage is crazy. Last week I solo Hess with a lot of my alts, my Fire/nrg blaster had the fastest time beating my WM/Bio scrapper and my STJ/Rad stalker by a few minutes. 

[roleki]

I prefer playing my en/en as ranged, just because the cast/activation times of /en melee are so abysmal in comparison to what the primary can do in that time.

 

That said, comic book blasters have always been primarily blappers: Iron Man is a blapper, so is Captain Marvel.  I am sure there are more 'ranged-only blasters' but the only one I can think of offhand is the Human Torch. 

 

Bottom line being, almost everyone in comics who blasts, also blapps.  

[subbacultchas]

19 minutes ago, roleki said:

I prefer playing my en/en as ranged, just because the cast/activation times of /en melee are so abysmal in comparison to what the primary can do in that time.

 

That said, comic book blasters have always been primarily blappers: Iron Man is a blapper, so is Captain Marvel.  I am sure there are more 'ranged-only blasters' but the only one I can think of offhand is the Human Torch. 

 

Bottom line being, almost everyone in comics who blasts, also blapps.  

Cyclops, Havok, Storm, Bullseye, Punisher to an extent come to mind. But as you said, they also blapp really well too. Other comic characters forget that, often to a fatal degree.

[SeraphimKensai]

I made a damn close to softcapped beam/em going for the extremes of the range spectrum. I have amazing melee but also the longest range possible in the game. It's a new concept toon but last night it was hover tanking AVs, shooting things across the map so far the game doesn't render the effect even on max settings for me, but also smashing things in the face with bonesmasher, total focus and a proc'd out power thrust.

 

The only drawback is the set doesn't have much for AoE but that's how I built it for concept. It is still fun Superspeed jousting mobs landing out of melee and immediately firing a shot from where I land.

 

Edited February 26, 2020 by SeraphimKensai

[MunkiLord]

Blasters in melee is the best. Also, more evidence everyone wants to be a Scrapper!

[Blastit]

35 minutes ago, MunkiLord said:

Blasters in melee is the best. Also, more evidence everyone wants to be a Scrapper!

Blasters are just nude scrappers.

[Seigmoraig]

@Acheron
If you want a fun alternative to Blappers, look into this build here for Fortunata Widow.
You get 3 nukes, a ST and AoE Hold, a ST and AoE Confuse, 2 ranged ST attacks and 4 ST melee attacks to use when it's time to kill bosses. Additionally you get status protection and a bunch of defensive powers to help keep you alive.

 

 

 

[Herotu]

Does someone want to explain how to build a blapper and/or give example of how it works? No pressure ofc. Just wondering.

[subbacultchas]

6 hours ago, SeraphimKensai said:

I made a damn close to softcapped beam/em going for the extremes of the range spectrum. I have amazing melee but also the longest range possible in the game. It's a new concept toon but last night it was hover tanking AVs, shooting things across the map so far the game doesn't render the effect even on max settings for me, but also smashing things in the face with bonesmasher, total focus and a proc'd out power thrust.

 

The only drawback is the set doesn't have much for AoE but that's how I built it for concept. It is still fun Superspeed jousting mobs landing out of melee and immediately firing a shot from where I land.

 

Solid AOE or not, Beam has become my favorite blast set. I currently have a Corruptor, Sentinel, and just made a Blaster. I like the animations, the sounds, the secondary effects, and of course the solid proc options it presents.

Edited February 26, 2020 by subbacultchas

[Blastit]

13 minutes ago, Herotu said:

Does someone want to explain how to build a blapper and/or give example of how it works? No pressure ofc. Just wondering.

Pretty much just pick a secondary that will give you high-DPA attacks and a primary that doesn't rely too much on cones or similar powers that are iffy to use point-blank. Fireball works as well at 5 range as it does as 50, after all. Then live by the edge of your seat until you get a lot of defence from IOs, APPs and pools.

[Coyote]

9 hours ago, Blastit said:

Blasters are just nude scrappers.

 

Just shut your armor toggles off already and join us. It's fun.

[Snarky]

6 hours ago, Herotu said:

Does someone want to explain how to build a blapper and/or give example of how it works? No pressure ofc. Just wondering.

Fire Primary Mental Secondary is a strong Blapper combo.  Fire is tip top damage and loves to be close.  Mental has powers that deal damage and needs close mobs for drain psyche.

 

Blapping is an all or nothing gamble.  It is going into vegas with a 1000 dollars and putting it all on red.  screw hanging out for 2 days getting drunk.  just make the bet and either win/lose.

 

Now knowing the table and odds is where the art comes in.  Say you know nearly exactly how much punch your attacks have.  With experience you can roll into a mob of 15 including bosses and Lts and use your soft controls and sheer damage to win the day.  knockdown, stun, -tohit debuff, and of course just killing them outright.  build up, snipe a boss lsay into the crowd with a huhge AoE that knocks down or debuffs, drain psyche for massive regeneration, start burning down whatever is there.  

[MunkiLord]

6 hours ago, Herotu said:

Does someone want to explain how to build a blapper and/or give example of how it works? No pressure ofc. Just wondering.

Hit up close, preferably in the face, and embrace debt. If you ain't dyin, you ain't tryin.

[Sakai]

If you want to be a Blapper start in melee range from level one.  If you wait till you have things to help you survive (def/res/whatever) you miss out on valuable training  and debt badges. 

[SeraphimKensai]

Honestly I'd argue the most important aspect of blapping is the joust. Mobility is your most important skill, and learning how to hit a target with a total focus but land 20 feet away on the jump so your outside the"kill zone" of any strong follow up melee attacks is important. It's not like you're just standing there letting things hit you in the face.

 

Jousting is the skill that typically sets you apart from being a blaster that has debt badges and those of us that don't.

[Ukase]

So, what you're saying is you want a brute. 

[Shred Monkey]

For lower level blapping fun i recommend air superiority.  It's mitigation is too good to pass up (around 40% recharge it will perma-knockdown 1 target, including bosses) and it fills in the attack chain nicely.

[Doc_Scorpion]

1 hour ago, Shred Monkey said:

For lower level blapping fun i recommend air superiority.  It's mitigation is too good to pass up (around 40% recharge it will perma-knockdown 1 target, including bosses) and it fills in the attack chain nicely.

If I can find room, all of my melee types take Air Superiority for just those reasons.  It's a pretty sweet power.  My non-melee types are all flyers, and they all take Air Superiority because being able to knock that one pesky mob out of the air is the heart of their "get the ef out of Dodge" survival mode.

[Shred Monkey]

48 minutes ago, Doc_Scorpion said:

If I can find room, all of my melee types take Air Superiority for just those reasons.  It's a pretty sweet power.  My non-melee types are all flyers, and they all take Air Superiority because being able to knock that one pesky mob out of the air is the heart of their "get the ef out of Dodge" survival mode.

Yeah... whenever i run into a new player, or a "learning" player who's struggling in that levels 5-20 range, my advice is always to take Air Superiority slot it with 2-3 of the P2W dam/rech enhancements.

 

 

 

[Broken_Prey]

On 2/26/2020 at 12:39 PM, Blastit said:

Blasters are just nude scrappers.

Why does this make some much sense? 

[HelBlaiz]

Similar to the jousting trick, I've realized aim+bu with Blaze into Fire Sword is more than enough damage to instantly delete LTs. Rather than trying to wind up far, FAR away from my enemies, I use similar techniques to fire off Blaze mid air so it and Fire Sword hit damn near simultaneously. Gets rid of a pesky Tsoo sorcerer and puts me in range for Combustion, Cauterizing Aura, and all my other fun melee powers. Who needs distance?

[Chris24601]

On 2/26/2020 at 12:39 PM, Blastit said:

Blasters are just nude scrappers.

Dibs on "Nude Scrapper" for my next blaster build. 😃

[Nemu]

The art of movement is lost on most people that play this game. Jousting is one aspect but it's more subtle than that as well. After each attack move a little so you are constantly kiting mobs. Knowing when to hide behind line of sight to either buy you time to recover from a hit or to draw enemies closer together, taking a hop after you get hit and pop inspirations mid air to recover, etc...

 

Jousting is not just for blasters and there are different tiers of jousting expertise imo

 

Beginners - jousting targeted melee attacks

Intermediate - jousting pbaoes, especially landing the smaller radius ones like power sink

Expert - Jump Jousting ground based pbaoes like foot stomp or poison trap

 

The most important things about getting into melee is 1) movement and 2) recognizing opportunities to go into melee range. The latter is especially true during leveling before IO sets that make blasters true tank mages. There are many opportunities such as mobs under CC/knockdown, team defense buffs/inspirations, etc. and players need to be able to capitalize on these when they present themselves.

 

Blapper is a stupid term btw. It's just blaster because these "blappers" make full use of both their primary and secondary, the way whether some people like it or not, the blaster AT is designed.