Build Concept - The Matrix

[OmniscientQ]

Way back in the earliest days of City of Heroes, my first character's backstory was a very thinly-veiled retelling of the Matrix, where Neo screwed up and somehow rebooted the Matrix into Paragon City. Everyone else with super powers were just glitches. At the time, the only powerset that worked was a Martial Arts / Super Reflexes scrapper - with super jumping, naturally- and I will admit that I spent more time running through Atlas Park like a parkour course pretending I was being chased by Agents than I did doing any actual missions. It was FUN.

 

Of course, the first character I made upon discovering Homecoming was the same scrapper. But now I wonder if maybe a different power set could work... So I'm looking for advice from experienced Blasters on how best to make a Matrix-themed character out of the modern CoH options. The MA/SR scrapper completely leaves out any of the gunplay involved in the movies, so how effective could a Dual Pistols / Martial Combat blaster be? If I wind up going with Jumping again instead of Hover, does that result in a dead blapper?

[czis]

it would be fine, but martial will have you throwing ninja stars around among other attacks.  IMO, if you are looking for something more matrix-y, go with DP/TM.  you get the bullet time moves of DP, with the controlling the matrix feel of temporal manip.

[OmniscientQ]

6 minutes ago, czis said:

it would be fine, but martial will have you throwing ninja stars around among other attacks.  IMO, if you are looking for something more matrix-y, go with DP/TM.  you get the bullet time moves of DP, with the controlling the matrix feel of temporal manip.

Ooh, See, I hadn't even considered Time. That really does work thematically, though.

[Nemu]

1 minute ago, czis said:

it would be fine, but martial will have you throwing ninja stars around among other attacks.  IMO, if you are looking for something more matrix-y, go with DP/TM.  you get the bullet time moves of DP, with the controlling the matrix feel of temporal manip.

You are thinking dominator martial, blaster martial is all kicks and one punch and those animation beat out /temp melee animations thematically.

 

My DP/MC Blaster soloed the Nictus Ambush during the first mission of the ITF on +3/8 after the rest of the team wiped. The right build can solve for 80% of the challenges that melee blasters face, the rest comes down to awareness and more specifically understanding WHEN to move, where to move, and how to move.

[Saikochoro]

Dual Pistols/Martial Combat fits the bill best in my opinion. You have all the fancy kicks and a nice punch. Ki push knocks the enemy back in slow motion giving you time to land another kick as they are flying away. Reaction time also slows the enemies around you.  Plus you can leap in and out of combat with burst of speed. 

[Omega-202]

15 minutes ago, OmniscientQ said:

Ooh, See, I hadn't even considered Time. That really does work thematically, though.

Czis is wrong.  There are no ninja star attacks in /MC for Blasters.

 

https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Martial_Combat

 

@czis Why give completely wrong info?  

[Nemu]

35 minutes ago, OmniscientQ said:

If I wind up going with Jumping again instead of Hover, does that result in a dead blapper?

There is a reason the majority of melee blaster build you see run combat jumping instead of hover. Here's a simple scenario

 

You get hit with a web grenade, web grenade does -fly, -jump, immobilization and slow

 

Vs hover

You can't fly, can't jump, can't move and are slowed

 

Vs combat jumping

You can't fly, can't jump, are slowed, but you can still move

 

I can say a lot more about having some slow resistance in your build but let's just assume that you do. If you can't move as a melee blaster you are as good as dead. Don't make the mistake of thinking that melee means you need to derp it out and stand in one spot and punch stuff all day long. If you need a good demonstration of that go stand toe to toe with +4/8 incarnate banished pantheon/knives or talons of vengeance while they drop ice slicks under your feet and lightning patches over your head. Whether you intentionally immobilize yourself by not moving when you should or because you got immobilized via enemy powers, the end result will be the same for your HP bar.

 

Movement is fundamental to melee blaster success, I highly recommend combat jumping over hover.

 

You could get both if you wanted to but most min/maxed builds won't have a free power pool pick for you to fit both in. The typical pool pick lineup for min/maxed builds is speed for hasten and super speed, leap for combat jumping, fighting for tough and weave, and usually leadership for maneuvers, tactics and vengeance.

[Omega-202]

9 minutes ago, Nemu said:

There is a reason the majority of melee blaster build you see run combat jumping instead of hover. Here's a simple scenario

 

You get hit with a web grenade, web grenade does -fly, -jump, immobilization and slow

 

Vs hover

You can't fly, can't jump, can't move and are slowed

 

Vs combat jumping

You can't fly, can't jump, are slowed, but you can still move

 

I can say a lot more about having some slow resistance in your build but let's just assume that you do. If you can't move as a melee blaster you are as good as dead. Don't make the mistake of thinking that melee means you need to derp it out and stand in one spot and punch stuff all day long. If you need a good demonstration of that go stand toe to toe with +4/8 incarnate banished pantheon/knives or talons of vengeance while they drop ice slicks under your feet and lightning patches over your head. Whether you intentionally immobilize yourself by not moving when you should or because you got immobilized via enemy powers, the end result will be the same for your HP bar.

 

Movement is fundamental to melee blaster success, I highly recommend combat jumping over hover.

 

You could get both if you wanted to but most min/maxed builds won't have a free power pool pick for you to fit both in. The typical pool pick lineup for min/maxed builds is speed for hasten and super speed, leap for combat jumping, fighting for tough and weave, and usually leadership for maneuvers, tactics and vengeance.

Another option is to skip Leadership and go Sorcery for Mystic Flight and Rune of Protection.  That would get you the "Neo flavor" of flying and give you 50% up time mez protection in Rune.  CJ gives you great ground maneuverability and the +jump control it grants is also +flight control, making Mystic Flight start and stop almost as tight as Hover.  That way you have the option of either.  Mystic Ward is also a great single slot power pick to drop the Preventative Medicine proc into.  

 

There's also the added benefit of additional combat teleportation for dipping in and out of melee when Burst of Speed is on cooldown: 

 

[OmniscientQ]

30 minutes ago, Omega-202 said:

Another option is to skip Leadership and go Sorcery for Mystic Flight and Rune of Protection.  That would get you the "Neo flavor" of flying and give you 50% up time mez protection in Rune.  CJ gives you great ground maneuverability and the +jump control it grants is also +flight control, making Mystic Flight start and stop almost as tight as Hover.  That way you have the option of either.  Mystic Ward is also a great single slot power pick to drop the Preventative Medicine proc into.  

 

There's also the added benefit of additional combat teleportation for dipping in and out of melee when Burst of Speed is on cooldown: 

 

I'm very definitely NOT that idiot Neo, so flying is out. Super Jump is the way for me, yessiree! I do tend to get leadership on almost every character, but I'll have to see how endurance-hungry a Martial Combat blapper is first. I intend to be very mobile, since I'll be missing out on those sweet, sweet Reflexes.