New love for Blasters! (Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the BOOM)

[Force Redux]

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

Blaster appreciation post (meandering thoughts not at all related to mechanics or builds)

 

Back when dinosaurs walked the earth (before Issue 3), I tried my hand at a Fire/Fire hover blaster named Sun King. About the time I got to Perez Park, I parked it and never came back to it. It never jived with me. The tradeoff for damage vs. frailty was too much, and I wasn't willing to give it a try. During Live I settled on Scrappers, Tankers and Masterminds with a side-helping of Controller.

 

(clearly Issue 24 was kind to Blasters, since my experiment...)

 

On HC, I've mostly been spending my time on anything with a support set: Masterminds, Defenders and Controllers, chiefly. But I had never once touched a Blaster since those many years ago. I tried Sentinels, but I found their damage uninspiring (fun, but uninspiring). I have several Tankers, and a few Stalkers, but in general I hate jockeying for position on teams to get to mobs. I like range. Range is good. 

 

However, I always stood on the high DPS sidelines, never ready to trade off the comfort of control and buffs/debuffs for the raw BOOM! power.

Then I ran last week with a Beam/Sonic Manipulation blaster and I really liked the /sonic visuals. I'm a sucker for visuals. Yes, the ring-aura was all it took to get me to try an AT I'd avoided for over 16 years. So I rolled up a Sonic/Sonic. I knew it wasn't the most optimal pairing, but I liked the theme and also the idea that I could do DPS and also help force multiply the team. Visually, it worked well, and in play, it was blappy with combat teleport binds helping me get back in and out for cones vs pbaoes. However, I lacked a certain something and I parked it at 41.

 

So I did some research, and rolled up a Ice/Martial, which I felt was a much better Blapper, and had some built-in safety in the Marital Arts secondary. Style points for my Sub-Zero martial artist knockoff. Got to 44 and realized I still wasn't sold on Blapping just yet. Lots of work trying to softcap R/S/L even with Cold Epic (I could respec into Fighting to achieve it, though). This one went on the shelf, but its a good combo, I will likely return to it later. But for now, I thought, what about mostly ranged?

 

More research. Third Blaster. Beam/Devices. "CLICK". Right from the start. The visuals. The solid ST damage, the utility of Devices. It all fell together. In short order, with some TFs, Radios, an AE farm, MSR and a few solo missions, I had this character, Android Assassin, up to Alpha T3. Now, one of my top favorite characters (competing with TA/Dark Defender, Demons/Dark MM and Plant/Nature Controller). How did I miss this AT before? I was so dead-set against Blasters, but I've been convinced! I'm eyeballing other combos (Ice/Plant I see you over there)....

 

So, big thanks to all those who posted info in these forums that I poured through to come up with good choices. New blaster, happy blaster!

 

TLDR: I got over my comfort zone and decided to invest in a pure damage AT.

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by Force Redux

[Six-Six]

Sounds like you got yourself some Awesome Sauce! 

Blasters are contenders for my favourite AT (them and SoAs). I love Blapping, having both melee and range attacks (with maybe a control here and there). My top blapper is Rad/Energy. I enjoyed it so much that I made two of them... just to experience the levelling up all over again. 

One thing I've noticed in people's comments is the mez. I honestly don't mind the mez, and some of my blasters don't even build around it. You get used to it after a while. Defiance is cool like that. 😃

[Force Redux]

Yes, I agree Six-Six, having the ability to do *something* even while mezzed, if a HUGE perk. Helps you feel engaged.

 

Yes, my stealth-blaster is Awesome Sauce, kind of like a ranged stalker. I squee every time I use my Snipe and get like 900+ damage and knock them off their feet! Very visceral! 😁

[Erratic1]

Heaven knows I tried and tried to find a Blaster I could love. My accounts (Homecoming and original) are/were littered with the attempts. It was not their frailty nor susceptibility to control that was an issue. I would start a blaster, really enjoy the low level play and then usually in the 20s and less often the 30s grow bored with them. It just felt too...repetitive. I tried making them more controllery and I really thought I was going to enjoy my Sonic/Ice blaster but nope, got tired of it. 

 

And then I came across Beam/Martial which kept my attention and enjoyment all the way. He is my first and only level 50 Blaster. Something about seeing DISINTEGRATION sends me to a happy place and was enough to get me over the 30s hump.

 

I've made two more blasters since, but neither is out of their 30s yes. We'll see....

[Six-Six]

Haven't tried the new Combat TP yet, but on my Dark/Martial dom (which I play like a blapper), I open with Envenomed Blades-Masterful Throw-Jaunt-Spinning Kick. I hit jaunt while the snipe is animating and by the time it fires, I'm up in his face to finish him off with a kick (insert squee here). Little joys CoH has provided us with. Incidentally, I bet seeing BR's Disintigrate spread is just icing on top of the awesome sauce. (sounds ew in RL, but you get the idea) 😃

[Force Redux]

Happy to hear that Martial really clicked for you. Ki Push is hilarious! (so is /Sonic's T1). 

 

Devices hits that same spot, offers me some permutations to gameplay that chagnge from solo to group. I can do set up, toe bomb, stealth, get up close and keep at range, with a few neat tricks. 

[Force Redux]

1 minute ago, Six-Six said:

Haven't tried the new Combat TP yet, but on my Dark/Martial dom (which I play like a blapper), I open with Envenomed Blades-Masterful Throw-Jaunt-Spinning Kick. I hit jaunt while the snipe is animating and by the time it fires, I'm up in his face to finish him off with a kick (insert squee here). Little joys CoH has provided us with. Incidentally, I bet seeing BR's Disintigrate spread is just icing on top of the awesome sauce. (sounds ew in RL, but you get the idea) 😃

I don't worry too much about making Disintigration happen, but it does and often and I really love those big orange letters floating above heads! Fist pump moment!

[Erratic1]

56 minutes ago, Six-Six said:

Haven't tried the new Combat TP yet, but on my Dark/Martial dom (which I play like a blapper), I open with Envenomed Blades-Masterful Throw-Jaunt-Spinning Kick. I hit jaunt while the snipe is animating and by the time it fires, I'm up in his face to finish him off with a kick (insert squee here). Little joys CoH has provided us with. Incidentally, I bet seeing BR's Disintigrate spread is just icing on top of the awesome sauce. (sounds ew in RL, but you get the idea) 😃

 

Yeah, I really want to try Combat TP. Problem being I am trying desperately not to make another character (got as far as only needing a name yesterday before I stopped the process). I really want to work more of my characters in their 30s and 40s to 50 before starting something new.

[brasilgringo]

I know Beam gets talked about as one of the best sets, but from my old experiences on Live I don't recall it feeling that powerful.  How are you finding it for St and AOE? I hear a lot about the cone power being not so great / thin cone?

 

I have Water/Plant hover blaster with softcapped Range that I enjoy, but his ST doesn't pack a lot of punch (tho his AOE and the safety it brings are pretty great).  Plant is a good secondary for being at range if you don't take the melee attacks. and slot the holds for set bonuses.  Plus you get a nice AV toggle.

 

I'm incarnating out a Fire/Elec (he's +3 now) but I can't recall sniping anything for 900.  maybe 700 with BU/Aim (set to +4s).  I have an Elec/Ninj in the works.

[Force Redux]

HI Brasilgringo. I've played Water Blast extensively on Defender and Sentinel, but not on Blaster. That said, comparing them across ATs, I'd say Beam Rifle has stronger ST than Water. 

 

Cutting Beam is a decent fairly wide cone. I like it even better with some +range from set bonuses and enhancers. I have it with -Res proc as well, to help with team damage. I use it constantly, it us up often and plays nicely with being ranged.

 

Piercing Beam hits very hard. its the narrow 5 degree cone. In large groups with full teams, you are guaranteed to hit 2-3 at least until the mobs spread out. I was dubious about it, but I took it and would not respec out of it. It also has a nifty -Res, so even good on hard Single Targets.

 

Overcharge is the nuke all ranged characters love. Good range, hits hard, big enough area and comes with a nice stun. Also has -Def so you could slot more -Resist IOs, but I use mine for the ranged bonus with 6 slots to soft cap. 

 

Beam (rightfully so) is not an AOE king, it is mostly 'meh'. But with single target at level 51 i'm getting over 900 points of damage with my snipe. I could probably get higher. To me that's good. /shrug. Certainly when I'm taking down Bosses and EBs I seem to do so very quickly. The -Regeneration in Disintigrate is also helpful. 

 

Disintegrate is supposed to add to AoE but its random and I just count it as 'extra' gravy on top of the set. I see the single target energy dots more than i see the disintegate spreading, but I enjoy when it does happen. 

 

Devices adds nicely to the AOE through Caltrops (to a lesser extent) and Trip Mine (all the time). Trip Mine is big damage and I toe bomb frequently to up my AOE and I never feel lacking as a result. This plays well with either diving into a new group of enemies first to lay it down, or by letting pet AI have the mobs come to you for a nice explosive greeting when they try to pummel you in melee.

 

Beam has become one of my favorite blast sets, not just on Sentinels and Defenders, but now on Blasters, where it shines, even without the Sent chain-AOE. 

Edited December 28, 2020 by Force Redux

[Force Redux]

1 hour ago, Erratic1 said:

 

Yeah, I really want to try Combat TP. Problem being I am trying desperately not to make another character (got as far as only needing a name yesterday before I stopped the process). I really want to work more of my characters in their 30s and 40s to 50 before starting something new.

Combat TP is one of the most fun things I've encountered in MMOs besides flying. If I could fit it in on every character, I would.

 

Hell, I was just having fun watching our team's scrapper 'BAMF'ing around the battle field, kicking things. Eye candy!

[brasilgringo]

15 hours ago, Force Redux said:

But with single target at level 51 i'm getting over 900 points of damage with my snipe. I could probably get higher. To me that's good. /shrug. Certainly when I'm taking down Bosses and EBs I seem to do so very quickly. The -Regeneration in Disintigrate is also helpful. 

 

I think i figured out the difference i was seeing -- you're talking about non-fast Snipe (normal snipe with longer animation), right?  Doing that I was able to get 900+ on my Fire snipe with BU+Aim.  It's great for eliminating troublesome mobs in a group before you engage (Master Illusionists, Dark Ring Mistresses, etc.).  I guess for beam it's nice since you can follow up from range with your Nuke.  For FIre, having stealth is helpful for being closer .

[Force Redux]

Yes, true, the extra range buff from Penetrating Shot is very helpful for long range mayhem!

[Rathulfr]

On 12/27/2020 at 10:48 AM, Force Redux said:

More research. Third Blaster. Beam/Devices. "CLICK". Right from the start. The visuals. The solid ST damage, the utility of Devices. It all fell together. In short order, with some TFs, Radios, an AE farm, MSR and a few solo missions, I had this character, Android Assassin, up to Alpha T3. Now, one of my top favorite characters

Today's */Devices is so much more awesome than those of yesteryear.  My retail main for 8 years was an Energy² Blaster, and he was the first character I re-created on HC in April, 2019.  About a year later, and after a playful semi-insult on the forums ("Go away, blasterman"), I decided to try an Energy/Devices variation.

 

MIND.  BLOWN.  It's my current favorite Blaster build.  Welcome to the /Devices club!

 

 

[Force Redux]

Yeah, Devices really does check a lot of the boxes!