Should I skip the last three powers in /Elec?

[Neogumbercules]

I'm building a water/elec blaster and I'm wondering about those last three abilities in elec. 

 

Power Sink seems useless with Force of Thunder being what it is. 

 

Thunder Strike does a lot of damage but it's so slow and I already have so many attacks. I can whip out Charged Brawl and Havok Punch at around the same amount of time it takes to just use TS. 

 

Shocking Grasp does OK damage but I'm not sure I need a hold. I guess wkth that, a lock down proc, and Char with a lock down proc I might be able to do some series ST holds. 

 

Right now my currebt build revolves around getting Geyser up as quickly as possible. I'm not sure those last three powers will fit into my playstyle but I'm willing to compromise if any of them are really great and considered unskippable. 

[Vanden]

Power Sink is indeed pretty useless in the world of Blaster sustains. Unless you want a Sapper build, then it's invaluable.

 

Thunder Strike is skippable; it will probably get buffed to be faster some day, but until that day, yeah, it's very slow, and the AoE knockback is pretty annoying.

 

Shocking Grasp is quite nice, IMO. Slotted up it can easily permahold a boss, and let you get in some sweet hits with Charged Brawl and Havoc Punch at minor risk. Plus, as an electric attack it fits the theme with the Lockdown proc's graphics.

[Nemu]

I only skipped havoc punch and the aura on my fire/elec.

 

I find I still run out of end even with FoT on my fire/elec so I took powersink. Water has slower animations so I can see why you are not feeling the hurt on your blue bar. That and the fact you are not using thunderstrike.

 

Once I found out that FoT is a sustain I took that and TS, slotted them both with the KD and FF proc and I've been melee tank maging all day err day. The thing about TS is that it has a 12 foot radius and the splash KD can hit up to 16 targets. FoT only has a 10 target limit but a 15 foot radius. Both FoT and TS can stun so there is synergy there also. When you strategically sequence the two you can keep mobs around you down a good while. Fire doesn't have water burst but I can imagine how you can sequence those 3 powers in between building tidal power to max stack to keep mobs down even longer.

 

I took Shocking and 5 slot with the winterset for the defense and the periodic one shot boss hold.

 

The reason I skipped Havoc? Economy wise it was not worth a FF or KD proc, and I needed my set bonuses in my ST melee attacks for my build to give up even one slot for either those procs.

 

lol blaster damage aura.

 

Tl;DR if you want to be a beastly tank mage take Thunderstike and FoT. If you are ok with more pew pew than boom boom then skip TS because it has long animations and long animations are baaad and hurt your deeps.

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Nemu

[Neogumbercules]

Thanks for the replies. I tried fitting in SG on my Mids build and it just couldn't get enough slots to make it work. I definitely feel a little primary heavy, but with the recharge I'm looking at, I should have a fairly decent ST chain for the moments when that matters.

 

I've considered dropping either Dehydrate or Water Jet to make room for something else, but I'm not sure doing that is a good idea.

 

Right now my build is hitting the S/L softcap which is something I usually don't build for on a blaster since it's more effective to maximize damage, but I wanted to try something new.

 

I've got FF +Recharge IOs where I can fit them and 5 LotG procs + hasten, both ATO sets, Chance for BU in Tidal Forces (That's a hell of a combo by the way). Kinetic combats in boxing, charged brawl, and havok punch. 

 

Bottom line I'm hitting a lot of recharge while also maintaining the softcap. I'll have to play for a while to see if I would be interested in going for a more controllery approach with Bonfire, TS, SG and Char with lockdown procs, etc. I started out that way but I felt like every animation was too long for my liking. 

[Vanden]

Well, you could maybe move the Kinetic Combat slots from Boxing to Shocking Grasp, then find two more slots from somewhere else and put a couple +5’d Unbreakable Contraints in there. No Lockdown Proc that way, but with how fast SG recharges the hold proc is pretty unreliable anyway.

[TNT]

I think shocking grasp is worthwhile. It has a good dpa, though it is a DOT so it initially looks lackluster when using it. Plus the hold is pretty good utility if you can stack it with itself or another hold.  If you don't have endurance problems then you can skip power sink.  I tend to skip thunder strike, though the utility of the knockdown can help with survival.   

[Sir Myshkin]

Charged Brawl, Havoc Punch, and Shocking Grasp are the highest DPA powers not only in Electrical Manipulation, but across the top of the list for Blaster secondaries in general. First tier is Energy Punch and Charged Brawl tied, in tier two is Smite, and tier three is Havoc Punch, Shocking Grasp, and Bone Smasher tied. Something not mentioned in earnest about Shocking Grasp is all of the damage procs that power can take. Others talked about adding the stacking hold procs, but you can turn SG into a freight train hitter by devoting 3-4 slots to just damage procs alone. A power that would do 200-250 damage is suddenly given the ability to hit for 400+ and be capable of completely wiping a minion out in one hit; having some of that front-loaded potential will also change the misconception of the power being anemic because it's DoT.

 

Mid's proc calculations aren't exactly 100% accurate, but to set the example imagine a 1.188/s animating attack doing this:

That's as much damage as a quick-form (non-proc) Snipe.

[Haijinx]

Doesn't Thunderstrike have a BIG Aoe radius for blasters? 

[Nemu]

Fairly big radius and huge target cap for it's secondary effect for a non-nuke pbaoe.

 

/rant

 

People are too focused on "I have to be in melee" and "it's got a long animation time" to recognize it's benefits and synergy with FoT and what these two powers together bring to the table for melee blasters.

 

I haven't run across any /Elec blasters that tank mage like I do, most choose the ranged pew pew route when they can be so much more. As much as I extol the virtues of these two powers and highlight the benefits of combat movement ala jousting and developing a sense of when you should move, it falls on deaf ears on the forums. Not too many people want to invest a tiny bit of effort and learn how to play, they just want builds. Take a look at that how to avoid end drain thread in the tank forum, it's all powersets and builds and no one mentions the simple fact that for those combinations without access to end recovery or resist tools you can simply joust the killing blow on carnies/super stunners. That to me is far more useful and helpful than telling people to play powerset x.

 

/rant off

Edited September 14, 2020 by Nemu

[ZorkNemesis]

On 9/14/2020 at 11:15 AM, Haijinx said:

Doesn't Thunderstrike have a BIG Aoe radius for blasters? 

TS's radius is decently large, I think a bit larger than a typical melee AoE but smaller than Force of Thunder, however it doesn't do nearly as much damage to nearby targets compared to the main target.  I don't know the number off the top of my head, but I think the splash damage is 30% of the damage compared to the main target, plus the crowd scatter/knockdowns (TS is meant to give you some extra breathing room, which is not helped by the sluggish animation).  It takes some good procs though and can be built to be a mini-nuke (with the main target already getting hammered hard), plus with the combined KB/KD from FoT (which can also be decently proc'd) you can keep a crowd on their asses pretty easily

Edited September 16, 2020 by ZorkNemesis

[ChrisMoses]

Power Sink is mostly skippable, though you'll want it for the rare chances fighting END drainers. I have it, though it's a late addition.

 

My playstyle is jumping in and out of melee range as the situation dictates. Check out my build. One of my favorites:

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.1.25
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Steel Eel: Level 50 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Water Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electricity Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hydro Blast -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(43)
Level 1: Electric Fence -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 2: Water Burst -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(23)
Level 4: Super Jump -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(11)
Level 8: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 10: Charged Brawl -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(15), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(31), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 12: Dehydrate -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg(13), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(13), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Apc-Dam%(34)
Level 14: Whirlpool -- AchHee-DefDeb/Rchg(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(25), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(34), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Rgn-Knock%(42)
Level 16: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Water Jet -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Build%(19), GldJvl-Acc/Dmg(19), GldJvl-Dam/Rech(21), GldJvl-Dam/End/Rech(37), GldJvl-Dam%(40)
Level 20: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 22: Tidal Forces -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-End/Res(25), GldArm-ResDam(27), GldArm-3defTpProc(27)
Level 26: Weave -- ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(A), ShlWal-Def(33), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(33)
Level 28: Force of Thunder -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), FrcFdb-Rechg%(29), EndMod-I(33), TchoftheN-Heal(37), TchoftheN-Acc/Heal(43), TchoftheN-%Dam(43)
Level 30: Steam Spray -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(45), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(45), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 32: Geyser -- JvlVll-Acc/Dmg(A), JvlVll-Dam/Rech(36), JvlVll-Dam/End/Rech(36), JvlVll-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(36), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- Rct-Def(A), Rct-Def/EndRdx(39), Rct-ResDam%(39)
Level 38: Shocking Grasp -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-%Hold(40), GldStr-Acc/Dmg(46), GldStr-Dam/Rech(46), GldStr-Dam/End/Rech(46), GldStr-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(48)
Level 41: Thunder Strike -- OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(A), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(42), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(50), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(50), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50)
Level 44: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 47: Power Sink -- EffAdp-Acc/Rchg(A), EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(48), EffAdp-EndMod/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(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 -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- RgnTss-Regen+(A), Prv-Absorb%(5), Pnc-Heal/+End(11), Mrc-Rcvry+(15), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(29)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(7)
Level 1: Combo Level 1 
Level 1: Combo Level 2 
Level 1: Combo Level 3 
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