OMG Blappers R Awesome!

[Cheapshot]

I never knew! All this time I assumed blasters were just ranged DPS. After getting the proper sets, they can wade in for massive melee damage! Has anyone started a blapper builds discussion? Can someone point me in the right direction please? 

[Tacopotamus]

Blappers are amazing hands down.  People that don’t embrace their blaster’s melee powers are gimping themselves.  BUT the same goes for the die hard blapper that refuses range.  My advice for when you build one is find the right balance of “when and when not to blap”.  
 

I’m currently building a Radiation Blast/Martial Combat combo that feels sooooo right because it’s just non stop PBAOE and wipes out groups FAST.  And thanks to IO’s, it helps add some soft control to help me avoid the debt train.  My current rotation is:  Burst of Speed, Irradiate, Dragon’s Tail and Neutrino Bomb.  I really look forward to patron pools and getting bonfire too.

 

Just be ready for a lot of heat.  Whatever survives is normally a pissed off hive of bees and will lay the smack down.  Dragons Tail and Bonfire are great for providing KD (covert the KB to KD on Bonfire).  I’ve also had a lot of good luck with using the Avalanche set in Burst of Speed and the KD has been very frequent to my liking.  With those type of soft controls firing off pretty consistently, I normally find myself killing them before they kill me.  Electron Haze is another power with soft control ability that might be worth picking up to keep your enemies floored.

[Max Firepower]

Never underestimate Air Superiority for soft control. I have run two different Blappers to 50, one way back. Anytime I respec’d out of AS before the 40’s, I regretted it.

[icepir8]

I just built a dp/mc blapper that is so much fun. 39% def to melee/range with like 70% mez res and 70% s/l res. I can solo +2 x8 anything that doesn't give a -def debuff. I'm looking for a better build though, I just haven't looked into it.

[NihilXAOS]

Sometimes I want to play a scrapper. Sometimes I want to play a tanker. Sometimes I want to play a stalker, but then I get a mission where I have to lead someone out and remember why I don't play them.

But 90% of the time? I want to blow some stuff up with a blaster. 

Especially my nrg/nrg blaster. Shoot things until they die. If they reach me, punch them into next week.

[Nightmarer 2]

On 1/3/2021 at 4:27 PM, Cheapshot said:

I never knew! All this time I assumed blasters were just ranged DPS. After getting the proper sets, they can wade in for massive melee damage! Has anyone started a blapper builds discussion? Can someone point me in the right direction please? 

What do you need to know? Pretty much any blaster can be a blapper, favourite sets of mine are /nrg, /mc, /nin and favourite primaries are atomic/, water/ and elec/ but that's just personal choice, there are plenty that work fine for blapping

 

[Oskmey]

The build I am running has a thread here:

 

 

I do not wade into melee range from the start. I do my ranged rotation and then, if anything reaches me, I punch it down and then punch it away from me. I recently was too far ahead of my group on a "rescue and lead out" mission and had both ambushes spawn on top of my location at the same time. Not much was left by the time the rest of the team caught up to me.

I do not do melee often. I prefer to run with a team and most things melt before I can even get through my ranged rotation. But for the times when I need it, the blap force is there.

[Six-Six]

I enjoy blapping. so far, the funnest ones are Rad/NRG and Elec/Elec. My /Ninja and /Martial are still lowbies so can't comment on those yet.

I've even applied blapping to my dominators (scrappinators, brutinators???). Not as hard hitting as blappers, but have different tricks up their sleeves. 😃

[VV]

Can someone explain Blapping to me? Looking at the damage numbers from different primaries and secondaries, it seems like the primaries generally do way more damage than the secondaries. I never really played Blasters on Live, so I never really noticed. Until recently, when I thought I would try my hand at blasters. So, I've worked up a few ranged blasters, the latest being Fire/Atomic. I was looking at the Blapper variant and now I really cannot see why I would do that. I always assumed that blappers gave up range for damage, that the melee attacks did more than the ranged, but that does not seem to be true. So, what is the benefit of a blapper?

[Nightmarer 2]

3 hours ago, VV said:

Can someone explain Blapping to me? Looking at the damage numbers from different primaries and secondaries, it seems like the primaries generally do way more damage than the secondaries. I never really played Blasters on Live, so I never really noticed. Until recently, when I thought I would try my hand at blasters. So, I've worked up a few ranged blasters, the latest being Fire/Atomic. I was looking at the Blapper variant and now I really cannot see why I would do that. I always assumed that blappers gave up range for damage, that the melee attacks did more than the ranged, but that does not seem to be true. So, what is the benefit of a blapper?

No ide why other ppl do it, I find it fun, although blasters are now far more survivable than they were back in live, it's still fun, feel like being a bit on the edge.

[Olly]

4 hours ago, VV said:

Can someone explain Blapping to me? Looking at the damage numbers from different primaries and secondaries, it seems like the primaries generally do way more damage than the secondaries. I never really played Blasters on Live, so I never really noticed. Until recently, when I thought I would try my hand at blasters. So, I've worked up a few ranged blasters, the latest being Fire/Atomic. I was looking at the Blapper variant and now I really cannot see why I would do that. I always assumed that blappers gave up range for damage, that the melee attacks did more than the ranged, but that does not seem to be true. So, what is the benefit of a blapper?

I assume our mad scientists have fact-based answers but here's my take: I play a fire/fire/fire blaster that gives me access to inferno, burn, hot feet, fire sword circle, combustion and bonfire as short-ranged (i.e. melee) aoes.  If I were to stay strictly ranged, I would lose the dps from any of those attacks I use, plus fire sword ST damage. It's not that the dps of melee-based powers are comparatively more powerful (though burn and hot feet would beg to argue) per attack, but that you can stack them on top of the ranged dps once you move into melee range. Or vice versa. Start at melee, jump out, and burn down any remaining adds from range -- something you can't do as a scrapper or tank. Blappers don't give up range for damage -- they add melee damage to the ranged damage they already have.

 

I can't help but add my love for hitting bonfire (with the kb->kd proc) then jumping in the middle of the bouncing mob with hot feet, then popping an inferno to "one shot" +4/x8 minions. Throw in a burn and fire sword circle and the lt's and bosses are pretty much cooked. I only do it on speed runs or solo though. Otherwise other dps might not appreciate having no enemies to destroy.

 

[Grindingsucks]

5 hours ago, VV said:

Can someone explain Blapping to me? Looking at the damage numbers from different primaries and secondaries, it seems like the primaries generally do way more damage than the secondaries. I never really played Blasters on Live, so I never really noticed. Until recently, when I thought I would try my hand at blasters. So, I've worked up a few ranged blasters, the latest being Fire/Atomic. I was looking at the Blapper variant and now I really cannot see why I would do that. I always assumed that blappers gave up range for damage, that the melee attacks did more than the ranged, but that does not seem to be true. So, what is the benefit of a blapper?

The answer may vary widely, depending on who you ask.  I find blapping pairs exquisitely well with the new combat teleport power.  Blast away with your primary attacks.  When those are exhausted, combat teleport to the mob and punch away, then combat teleport back or up away from the mob and resume blasting.  Rinse and repeat.

 

If you happen to draw aggro, energy melee attacks have a handy knockback that can push the aggressor off of you and let you hit them from range again, reposition, or whatever.  Some of the secondaries can hold or disorient, allowing you a few extra seconds to combat teleport away and blast them with ranged attacks before they can recover.

 

Mostly, though, I just enjoy the variety of play and added flexibility I get from being able to leverage both strong ranged and  melee attacks from the same AT.  When I play a strictly melee toon (scrapper, brute, whatever) I often find myself missing ranged attacks.  Likewise, when playing a Sentinel or Corrupter, I will frequently find myself missing the feel of good-old, brutal fisticuff attacks.  Blasters allow me to enjoy both things in the same toon.

 

One other thing to keep in mind, is that my priorities are probably different than yours.  You clearly value squeezing the most damage out of your build as possible.  There's nothing wrong with that (certainly, many players have the same build philosophy).  I'm not as interested in it.  Yes, I like to have powerful attacks.  But I also choose a variety of attacks for more interesting animations to look at during combat, which is an important part of the enjoyment of the game for me.  In fact, I will not take a powerful ability with an unappealing (to me) look or animation (Granite from the stone armor set comes to mind.  Great power, but boring look with no ability to customize the color.  Or any of the ice powers, many of which are highly effective.  I never taken them, though, because I hate the way the ice powers look).

 

Blapping is probably not for everyone, but I do recommend any blaster or dominator player trying it out, at least once.  It's a lot of fun to mix up ranged and melee attacks during combat.  😁

Edited January 6, 2021 by Grindingsucks

[KC4800]

Don't be seen first.

Do not become targeted or attacked prior to firing off your first attacks.

Be proactive with your inspiration usage. 

 

Whenever I fail as a blapper/blaster it is because I neglected those first 3 truths.

 

EDIT: 

Once you are attacked, make the foe regret the decision to come and melee you. 

Edited January 6, 2021 by KC4800

[Doomguide2005]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:31 PM, Max Firepower said:

Never underestimate Air Superiority for soft control. I have run two different Blappers to 50, one way back. Anytime I respec’d out of AS before the 40’s, I regretted it.

QFT, while not a blapper, my Emp/Rad/Dark GM Empath solo'd Cimeroran boss pairs (doing repeatables) on 'Invincible' using Air Superiority and Cosmic Burst.  Get one bouncing endlessly with AS while perma-stunning the 2nd with CB.

[VV]

Okay, cool, so I'm not crazy for thinking melee damage is lower than ranged damage, on average, with a few exceptions. (I mean, clearly I'm crazy, but I'm not misinterpreting those numbers.)

[Grindingsucks]

Crazy?  Not at all.  A Blasters ranged attacks do an eye-bulging amount of damage.  But see Olly's reply regarding certain powersets, like fire, where you may gain more dps by utilizing the rnged and melee attacks together.

[VV]

17 hours ago, Olly said:

I play a fire/fire/fire blaster that gives me access to inferno, burn, hot feet, fire sword circle, combustion and bonfire as short-ranged (i.e. melee) aoes.

I was going to ask how any group could be standing after just the first three or four of those, but then you said - 

18 hours ago, Olly said:

 

I can't help but add my love for hitting bonfire (with the kb->kd proc) then jumping in the middle of the bouncing mob with hot feet, then popping an inferno to "one shot" +4/x8 minions. Throw in a burn and fire sword circle and the lt's and bosses are pretty much cooked.

- and confirmed what I thought. I mean, my all-ranged fire/atomic can pretty much burn through a whole group with just Inferno, Fireball, and Fire Breath. I thought about making a Fire/Fire for the rotation you mentioned, but then it seems like it is superfluous, or redundant.

18 hours ago, Olly said:

Start at melee, jump out, and burn down any remaining adds from range -- something you can't do as a scrapper or tank.

My Fire/Fire/Fire tanker with four ranged attacks, including a hold, looks at you quizzically. 

16 hours ago, Grindingsucks said:

One other thing to keep in mind, is that my priorities are probably different than yours.  You clearly value squeezing the most damage out of your build as possible.  There's nothing wrong with that (certainly, many players have the same build philosophy).  I'm not as interested in it.  Yes, I like to have powerful attacks.  But I also choose a variety of attacks for more interesting animations to look at during combat, which is an important part of the enjoyment of the game for me. 

LOL this is exactly what I was ineptly trying to ask, thank you for catching that. To be clear, I have nothing against blapping, per se (I have 2 blappinators, e.g. melee-focused dominators). I was just curious if there was a powergaming reason for blapping or if it was purely a playstyle thing. And, I totally get you regarding making sometimes sub-optimal power choices for playstyle or theme. Mainly, I was just curious if I was reading the numbers wrong. Now that I know I am not, I can make an informed decision.

 

Thanks all for indulging my cluelessness!

[Doomguide2005]

5 hours ago, VV said:

I was going to ask how any group could be standing after just the first three or four of those, but then you said - 

- and confirmed what I thought. I mean, my all-ranged fire/atomic can pretty much burn through a whole group with just Inferno, Fireball, and Fire Breath. I thought about making a Fire/Fire for the rotation you mentioned, but then it seems like it is superfluous, or redundant.

My Fire/Fire/Fire tanker with four ranged attacks, including a hold, looks at you quizzically. 

LOL this is exactly what I was ineptly trying to ask, thank you for catching that. To be clear, I have nothing against blapping, per se (I have 2 blappinators, e.g. melee-focused dominators). I was just curious if there was a powergaming reason for blapping or if it was purely a playstyle thing. And, I totally get you regarding making sometimes sub-optimal power choices for playstyle or theme. Mainly, I was just curious if I was reading the numbers wrong. Now that I know I am not, I can make an informed decision.

 

Thanks all for indulging my cluelessness!

Sometimes, dependent on power sets, blapping is essentially a necessity.  Electric/Fire would quite literally have to ignore it's secondary except it's mandatory t1 which is also the only ranged attack in the secondary.  The rest are either melee or PBAoEs.  Add to that the primary has a fairly set defining attack in Short Circuit which is yet another PBAoE.  Energy Manipulation in many ways is similar.  The secondary attacks (5 in number) are all melee, the remainder are self buffs (ironically one is Boost Range).  

[Coyote]

6 hours ago, VV said:

Okay, cool, so I'm not crazy for thinking melee damage is lower than ranged damage, on average, with a few exceptions. (I mean, clearly I'm crazy, but I'm not misinterpreting those numbers.)

 

Blasters don't inherently do more damage in melee.

But they do get access to a 2nd set of attacks, and this may mean getting access to some better ones.

For example, Water/Electric... Electric has Charged Brawl and Shocking Grasp (usually slotted with some Hold procs), while Water Blast is known for low single-target DPS.

Alternately, Ice/Fire... Ice covers single-target DPS very nicely, but Frost Breath and Ice Storm don't clear spawns as fast as the much faster DoT and higher damage of the PBAoE Fire attacks.

 

Lastly, you can set up AoE attack chains that are complete... Electric/Fire and Rad/Fire, I think, can just run PBAoE/AoE attack cycles with good enough Recharge.

 

In addition, there are some other PBAoE effects. /Electric has two PBAoE knockdown powers, helping you juggle mobs. Add to them an AoE from the primary with knockdown, and you have 3 AoE attacks doing knockdown. It may be safer in melee knocking everyone down, than at range with only one knockdown AoE. Not to mention all the Force Feedback opportunities.

 

Not all combinations result in improved DPS either in single target or in AoE, nor necessarily in improved control abilities. But usually, most Blappers pick sets that benefit from being in melee in some way, and it's not always pure DPS, and even when it is, it's usually because of specific attacks being better, rather than melee attacks in general being better than ranged.

[brasilgringo]

13 hours ago, Coyote said:

 

Blasters don't inherently do more damage in melee.

But they do get access to a 2nd set of attacks, and this may mean getting access to some better ones.

For example, Water/Electric... Electric has Charged Brawl and Shocking Grasp (usually slotted with some Hold procs), while Water Blast is known for low single-target DPS.

Alternately, Ice/Fire... Ice covers single-target DPS very nicely, but Frost Breath and Ice Storm don't clear spawns as fast as the much faster DoT and higher damage of the PBAoE Fire attacks.

 

Lastly, you can set up AoE attack chains that are complete... Electric/Fire and Rad/Fire, I think, can just run PBAoE/AoE attack cycles with good enough Recharge.

 

In addition, there are some other PBAoE effects. /Electric has two PBAoE knockdown powers, helping you juggle mobs. Add to them an AoE from the primary with knockdown, and you have 3 AoE attacks doing knockdown. It may be safer in melee knocking everyone down, than at range with only one knockdown AoE. Not to mention all the Force Feedback opportunities.

 

Not all combinations result in improved DPS either in single target or in AoE, nor necessarily in improved control abilities. But usually, most Blappers pick sets that benefit from being in melee in some way, and it's not always pure DPS, and even when it is, it's usually because of specific attacks being better, rather than melee attacks in general being better than ranged.

Well said.  Fire/Elec is definitely about mitigation (and thos sweet sweet FF+recharge procs) so you stand in melee and just AOE outside of / with the KDs.  Fire/Atomic is about standing in melee to get that sweet sweet recharge from Beta Decay (and maybe -def / -res on enemies if you slotted achilles' heel too) -- faster recharge = faster nuking.  In both cases, I think having the tier 1 melee attack (charge brawl, negaton slam) results in a potentially higher dps chain (with blaze/blazing blast) than using flares.  May also be the case for /Elec if you frankenslot Shocking Grasp with procs and dmg, due to its fast animation time.

[Carnifax]

15 hours ago, Coyote said:

Alternately, Ice/Fire... Ice covers single-target DPS very nicely, but Frost Breath and Ice Storm don't clear spawns as fast as the much faster DoT and higher damage of the PBAoE Fire attacks

Totally this. Ice storm is nice. Ice storm, burn & FSC is lethal (the other pbaoe is too slow for my liking).

 

Blizzard and Burn are ridiculous together. And against AVs Fire sword and ring of fire fill out the single chain nicely.

 

On my Water/Temporal I skipped most of the melee attacks but I really notice it against tough enemies. 

Edited January 7, 2021 by Carnifax

[VV]

6 hours ago, brasilgringo said:

In both cases, I think having the tier 1 melee attack (charge brawl, negaton slam) results in a potentially higher dps chain (with blaze/blazing blast) than using flares. 

Oh shoot, this is a good point. I have a Fire/Atomic and I have not compared this. I will do so.

[Lusiphur Malache]

Created a blapper from the ground up for the fun of it. Ranged does hit harder, but martial is what I enjoy, the combination of reaction time,burst of speed, and oppressive gloom keeps everything so simple

[Crysis]

I’ve been a “Blapper” since focusing on Blasters on Live.  I play a lot of different melee characters and always found the up-close approach favorable.  

 

Homecoming Blappers are very much formidable.  I think many people continue to play Blaster’s as ranged-only, and that’s fine if its how you wish to play.  But between the Sustain powers and the easily-affordable max Defense builds from IO set bonuses, there’s no reason to fear Blapping any longer.

 

Currently leveling a DP/Ninja that is almost Softcapped Defense for S/L/E and Melee, and well over softcap for all those while triggering Hail of Bullets due to the short duration boost to +DEF.  Couple that with decent follow-up AOE’s from both primary/secondary and built in stealth to set it all up, and there’s little risk and high reward.  I also have almost limitless END, 400% Regen and high recharge.  It’s insane.  Even more insane on teams.  Still have that little hole for status effects, but incarnates will solve that permanently.

 

Sentinels can do the same thing, much cheaper and much safer, but with far less damage output and thus it takes longer for them to kill the same stuff...largely the reason why Sent defensive capabilities are so high.  It’s a trade off.  

But Blasters no longer NEED that trade off.  It takes some build planning and some Influence to build them to max effectiveness, but it’s definitely worth it.  Those who aren’t embracing it are missing out on Scrapper like survivability with extreme ranged AND melee damage output.  

[Shred Monkey]

If you want ultimate damage output with AoE and ST, then blappers are your quite simply the best option.  By far the biggest fear is defense debuffs.  But If you have a way to counter that, like perhaps a few teammates, then it's just full destruction on everything you see.   I have other toons for soloing stuff or just toying with builds, but I would say 99% of my teaming in this game is with a blapper.