Never built a blaster before

[TheSpiritFox]

Sup all. So I have three blasters who I like. The fairly typical Archery/TA, a Fire/Ice, and a Beam/Dev. 

 

And like, I have no idea what or how exactly to build these out. 

 

I see alot of recharge and ranged defense, but like I haven't spent enough time on blasters to get a good idea of what the sets can do on the high end or what I should be building them to try to do. And money is no object, I spend whatever the best build I can come up with costs if I get something to 50. 

 

But like...what? What are my build goals and playstyle with each of these blasters? Whats possible? Do i have choices or is there kinda an ideal build for each one? How do I turn each of these blasters into an absolute murder machine with as much survivability as I can reasonably expect? Actual build suggestions for each would be nice as I am not really sure where to start on them, but I would like some meta talk more cause I can eventually figure out a build if I know what to build for, all my other 50s are IOed out beasts, help me do the same to these three. 

[FUBARczar]

Those three can play differently depending on what you want.

 

Do you want to play at melee or at range distance-wise? 

On the ground or Hover-blast?

Answering these first will help to kick off your build goals.

 

Just a suggestion, Fire/Ice is a Blapper in melee range.  Archery/TA and Beam/Devices should play at range and either on the ground or in the air.  

 

 

 

[Nemu]

Melee blasters take a lot more finesse than simply softcapping your S/L/Ranged defenses and standing in the middle of mobs.

 

I always advocate learning how to move before you dip into melee blasting. It sounds stupid but there are nuances with movement you need to master if you truly want to be a god among blasters.

 

I'd recommend the ranged pew pew approach to start. Do the typical hover blaster with ranged defense softcap thing with fire shield and bonfire with any blaster combination and it'll serve you adequately.

[Lockpick]

My build goals for Blasters are usually the same:

• Ranged Defense
• S/L Defense
• Good damage and accuracy
• Good recharge

I like to play my Blasters at Range, so I prioritize Range defense.  I have an  Archery/TA and a Beam/Dev that I play at Range.  Can't speak to the Fire/Ice. 

 

My Beam/Devices is a Hover blaster and my Archery/TA stays on the ground usually.

 

Thunderstrike and Artillery are nice sets for Ranged defense and are cheap to boot.

 

[MTeague]

"Remember Caesar, Thou Art Squishy."

 

Built properly, that can stop being true when you're high level and have your slotting mostly complete.

But during levelling? remember that phrase.

 

Now that said, squishy or not, sometimes melee is the RIGHT place to be.  Assault Rifle/Martial Combat is chockfull of Knockdowns. Between Ki Push, Storm Kick, Dragon's Tail, Buckshot, Slug, Sniper Shot, you can EASILY take a boss from full health to dead before it can ever attack you even once. Plus, keeping a baddy on it's butt in a corner with an Ignite patch is just fun.

 

Personally, I find Blappers far more fun than Hoverblasting or trying to be an orbital platform of doom. But sometimes you pay the price.  

If you ARE going into melee, you should know how you plan to handle bosses, or large swarms.

Also, you should have a GTFO card or two.  I'm a huge fan of Speed of Sound / Jaunt for this.  But a PBAE slow, whether it's an aura (ReactionTime, FrigidProtection) or a patch (Glue Arrow) is also good to help you get distance when it's time. 

[Gwyrddu]

14 hours ago, MTeague said:

"Remember Caesar, Thou Art Squishy."

 

Built properly, that can stop being true when you're high level and have your slotting mostly complete.

But during levelling? remember that phrase.

It seems to me that certain powersets can be pretty survivable leveling on a blaster if you avoid melee and the powersets support such a playstyle. For example I have dark/devices blaster and a claws/ninjutsu scrapper both at level 18 and I'm looking at their statistics right now which shows my blaster to be a little more survivable (less damage taken both absolutely and as a ratio of damage output and less debt xp compared to my scrapper). Both have only been soloing btw.

[Novacat]

It actually depends on a few things.

Some set combinations are particularly conducive to blapping. Two reasons: Dead things can't hurt you, and some of your most powerful hits and mezzes are likely to be one and the same - a melee attack somewhere. Now obviously a Blaster must take their sustain, put some slots in there; Regen and END depend on it and a blaster with no go juice is a blaster about to lose their battle of attrition.

 

Tactical Arrow for example has the glue, the EMP, happily stays at range, and has a very good spread of little buffs. It wants you to stay afar, and gives you a rather good start towards doing so in exchange for the sheer power blaps offer. Probably won't take everything though - if you've got other holds the set gives you another to freeze up, but if your primary and epic have none, it's rather skippable.

 

But look at Darkness. Where's it the most effective? Soul Drain and Dark Consumption are PBAoE, Smite and Midnight Grasp are pretty good melee smackers. What if you've got a nuke or judgement that matches going to to toe on top of that? Might not be long before the safest place for you to be is right next to a boss as it stumbles unconsciously, debuffed and with you freshly topped off from draining all his friends. Who are dead now. They're dead and it's your fault. If you've got Overcharge or another area Disorient, you're going to cause some real trouble.

 

One thin gthough: By endgame that scrapper will outpace the Blaster and be *significantly* harder to kill. IOs can bring you up, but while you try to softcap the blaster, the scrapper's hunting AVs on a cheaper build.