Slotting for Dam/Recharge over Procs/Defense

[Steampunkette]

So I had this wild idea to put together a Psi/Mental Blaster and focus all of her slotting efforts into constant increased damage values and faster recharge times.

 

With Assault on (Very important to note that, I think) she winds up with a constant +50% damage and the ability to gain another 261% damage with Build Up and Aim. She's got Permahasten so she'll have permanent Drain Psyche stacks and Psychic Wail every 34 seconds.

 

I know a lot of people swear by making their characters super survivable for soloing/farming/wild 8-man incarnate teams racing through radio mishies, and a lot of others swear by Procs because a /Kin can max out your damage buff limit for extended periods of time.

 

But is going for a constant big boost like that and a ton of recharge viable for normal content and TFs or would I be better off aiming for Softcap Ranged/Melee?

[Parabola]

The thing is that often you aren't having to make a choice between recharge and defence - they can go hand in hand. If you want to slot a load of lotg +rech you need defence powers to put them in and many sets have both defence and recharge bonuses. For this combo you have both ato sets, coercive persuasion and sting of the manticore available that all give recharge and ranged defence. Here's my planned build (that I still haven't got around to levelling):

 

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Psychic Blast
Secondary Power Set: Mental Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Psionic Dart -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(7)
Level 1: Subdual -- Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A)
Level 2: Telekinetic Blast -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(7), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(9), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(11), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Mind Probe -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(13), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mk'Bit-Dam%(17)
Level 6: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 8: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(17)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 12: Psionic Lance -- StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(19), StnoftheM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(21), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), StnoftheM-Dam%(23), Apc-Dam%(23)
Level 14: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 16: Concentration -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(25), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(27), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(27), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(29), GssSynFr--Build%(29)
Level 18: Psionic Tornado -- Rgn-Dmg(A), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(31), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(31), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(33), FrcFdb-Rechg%(33)
Level 20: Drain Psyche -- NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(33), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(34), NmnCnv-Heal(34), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(36)
Level 22: Boxing -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(48), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(48), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(36)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36), LucoftheG-Def(37)
Level 28: Tactics -- AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 30: World of Confusion -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(37), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(39), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(39), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(39), CrcPrs-Conf%(40)
Level 32: Psychic Wail -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(42)
Level 35: Psychic Shockwave -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Arm-Acc/Rchg(43), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Arm-Dam%(45), Erd-%Dam(45)
Level 38: Telekinetic Thrust -- SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(50), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(50)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(45), LucoftheG-Def(46)
Level 44: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 49: Super Speed -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 49: Quick Form 
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon 
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Hasten is perma with s/l/e/r all softcapped. The force feedback in psionic tornado will help drain psyche towards being perma and bring psychic wail up more often (it's under 38sec as it is). And the build still has +33% damage without really looking for it. I don't think it would be worth actively avoiding defence in order to push those numbers any higher.

[nebber]

My fire/energy main has two builds.  The first was crafted to get the highest possible +DMG set bonuses I could (+73.5% total) and has mediocre defence as the ying to its yang.

 

The second build has softcapped S/L/E/ranged def and 28.5% +DMG.

 

The second build is way better for most content.  While the first one can do slightly more raw damage, when using that I have to spend more time jousting, managing inspirations to keep me alive, and recovering between mobs.  Second build is nonstop pew-pew-pew, and I set it up with the macros to automatically combine insps to make reds, which is use unreservedly - compared to the other build where I have to hoarde purples/greens for the 'uh-oh' moments.  So the damage output per time is probably no different between builds when taking into account the associated playstyles.

 

The first build can be better in some situations - like, the higher +DMG bonus can make a bigger difference when exemplaring at lower levels. If the team is really good at holding aggro (or steamrolling) then I could use either build easily. 

[Steampunkette]

It's not that I actively -avoided- Defense set bonuses, @parabola ... It's that I avoided Defense Powers. In addition to most of my primary/secondary I grabbed Hasten, Hover, Fly, Assault, and Tactics (For when I need a little +ToHit or Perception). And my Epic Pool was Force Mastery.

 

For 6-slotted Repulsion Field (I love being 50 and yeeting level 1 NPCs into the stratosphere like 'Team Rocket's Blasting Off Agaaaaaain!") grabbed Repulsion Bomb, Temp Invuln, and Force of Nature just 'cause I dunno what else to grab at high end when I'm not targeting Defensiveness. I actually don't have my final power selected. Suppose I could grab Maneuvers and slot LotG in it.

 

Dropped Tactics, Repulsion Bomb, Temp invuln, and FoN to grab the Fighting Pool to drop a KB protection into Tough, a LotG in Weave and Maneuvers... Then grabbed Vengeance as my final power for another LotG.

 

@nebberyeah... I get that. Not sure how you could get to 73.5%. I'm bucking up against a wall at around 50% with Assault active...

[Steampunkette]

To make my weird decision, here, a bit more translucent:

 

I'm trying to build a Blaster that is -just- a Blaster at level 50. She'll be working with a team of "Lower Tier" characters, narratively speaking, and we're hoping to at least somewhat retain our team roles as we go forward, rather than everyone becoming perfect tank-mages that all solo +4/x8 content.

 

I'm trying to find a slotting strategy that just makes me "More Pew Pew".

[Flat Line]

Just a thought for maxing burst damage (I don’t know if/how well it works).

 

Could you put the ‘chance for build up’ proc in Tactics, then use Aim + Build up, and Assault?

 

With enough recharge this could be up very often.

[Steampunkette]

1 hour ago, Flat Line said:

Just a thought for maxing burst damage (I don’t know if/how well it works).

 

Could you put the ‘chance for build up’ proc in Tactics, then use Aim + Build up, and Assault?

 

With enough recharge this could be up very often.

I've got Aim and Build Up both 5-slotted with Gaussians for recharge, mostly, and the proc is in Aim for a 17% Chance. I dropped Tactics for Maneuvers so I could add an LotG recharge in.

 

If I aim+bu and Gaussian's procs I wind up with 418% damage, which is very nice and makes my Psychic Wail hit for 1300/target. More if I have some Defiance stacks up.

[tidge]

3 hours ago, Steampunkette said:

To make my weird decision, here, a bit more translucent:

 

I'm trying to build a Blaster that is -just- a Blaster at level 50. She'll be working with a team of "Lower Tier" characters, narratively speaking, and we're hoping to at least somewhat retain our team roles as we go forward, rather than everyone becoming perfect tank-mages that all solo +4/x8 content.

 

I'm trying to find a slotting strategy that just makes me "More Pew Pew".

 

I have been toying with the idea of a Psi/Mental blaster as well, but don't yet have specific build advice to offer. However:

• I'm probably going to slot the Cone (Psychic Scream) for Damage/Range along with %damage procs
• Not yet sure on Drain Psyche, on other builds I use this to 6-slot Preventive Medicine, I will experiment as I level
• Other attacks will probably leverage ATOs and Very Rare sets; on a longer attack like Psychic Wail I'll probably go 5xArmageddon with a %damage proc.

 

[nebber]

8 hours ago, Steampunkette said:

@nebberyeah... I get that. Not sure how you could get to 73.5%. I'm bucking up against a wall at around 50% with Assault active...

 

I'm counting assault too in my total, rest is set bonuses.

Splitting the Superior Defiant Barrage into 2 IOs each across 3 powers each gets 4% damage three times over.  My three single target attacks are 4 IOs Devastation (3% +dmg) and 2 IOs Superior Defiant Barrage. The other Blaster IO set (Blasters Wraith) and Apocolapyse got me the other 4% bonuses.  Obliteration and Overwhelming force give the other two 3% bonuses.  Then scrapped together 4x 2.5% bonuses (3x javellin volley 4 slotted, 1x touch of death 4 slotted) and 4x 2% bonuses (3x adjusted targeting 2-slotted, 1x red fortune 4-slotted).

 

Maybe it's easier to see this in my build in mids:

 

https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1528&c=686&a=1372&f=HEX&dc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

 

[DZKFire]

Might be different for you. I play a Fire/Time blaster that blaps occasionally. Thanks to Fire being mostly ranged, I just focused on hitting about 32% ranged defense. I prefer resists even on my squishies, so I use a resist epic shield and put most of my set bonuses into recharge while slightly chasing S/L/E resistance (not too focused though)

[CaptTastic]

17 hours ago, nebber said:

My fire/energy main has two builds.  The first was crafted to get the highest possible +DMG set bonuses I could (+73.5% total) and has mediocre defence as the ying to its yang.

 

The second build has softcapped S/L/E/ranged def and 28.5% +DMG.

 

The second build is way better for most content.  While the first one can do slightly more raw damage, when using that I have to spend more time jousting, managing inspirations to keep me alive, and recovering between mobs.  Second build is nonstop pew-pew-pew, and I set it up with the macros to automatically combine insps to make reds, which is use unreservedly - compared to the other build where I have to hoarde purples/greens for the 'uh-oh' moments.  So the damage output per time is probably no different between builds when taking into account the associated playstyles.

 

The first build can be better in some situations - like, the higher +DMG bonus can make a bigger difference when exemplaring at lower levels. If the team is really good at holding aggro (or steamrolling) then I could use either build easily. 

I’ve went the middle ground between your builds on my Fire/NRG. 

 

Capped Ranged defence (playstyle choice as dislike melee/blapping and prefer to play hover-blaster instead), 50% S/L/F resists, 50% damage bonus, perma-hasten. Puts an AV down solo in around 2-3 mins. Love him. 

[nebber]

So I keep thinking about this thread, because I keep wondering how much maximising +DMG set bonuses really adds to performance, or if it's diminishing returns (especially at endgame).  I decided to number crunch the total damage in different scenerios, and then see how much more damage the set bonuses deliver. 

 

So here's a table of the damage of blaze, first base damage, then how much extra damage you would get from enhancements and  various +dmg powers, and then how much damage from varying levels of global set bonuses.  Both at lvl 50 and lvl 24.  To keep things even I've assumed that defiance is giving a 20% buff on average in all scenerios. 

 

Lvl	Base dmg	Enh	Assault (leadership)	defiance	Build Up	Aim	T4 Musc Alpha	T4 assault (passive)	t4 assault on / 5 stacks	global bonus	global bonus	global bonus	global bonus
-	100%	95%	10.50%	20%	100%	25%	35%	10%	75%	10%	20%	40%	50%
50	170	161.5	17.85	42.5	170	106.25	59.5	17	127.5	16.15	42.5	68	85
24	101	95.95	10.605	25.25	170	63.125	-	-	-	9.595	25.25	40.4	42.5

 

Let's look at the 'extreme' level 50 case - every +DMG power active (leadership/assault, defiance at 20%, build up, aim, alpha, T4 assault on with 5 stacks):

blaze damage with 20% global dmg bonus - 915

blaze damage with 50% global dmg bonus - 957

difference (42 damage, 4.4%)

 

....Compare this to a level 54 leut hp of 867 - he's one-shotted either way.

 

Then a 'non-buffed' level 50 case - T4 assault off and no build up/aim.  Active +dmg powers: assault/leadership, alpha, T4 assault passive.

 

blaze damage with 20% global dmg bonus - 451

blaze damage with 50% global dmg bonus - 493

difference (42 damage, 8.6%)

 

So two shots of blaze either way to defeat a leut, and one shot either way for a minion (436 hp).

 

Exemplaring down to lvl 24, then incarnates are no longer in play and the global set bonuses drop a bit. 

 

'Extreme' level 24 case - leadership/assault, defiance at 20%, build up, aim:

blaze damage with 10% global dmg bonus - 476

blaze damage with 40% global dmg bonus - 506

difference (30 damage, 6.1%)

 

'non-buffed' level 50 case - leadership/assault, defiance at 20%:

blaze damage with 10% global dmg bonus - 242

blaze damage with 40% global dmg bonus - 273

difference (30 damage, 11.3%)

 

HP for leuts/minions at lvl 28 (+4 to lvl 24) are 538 / 270.  The increase in damage in the non-buffed case with higher global bonuses is now looking more significant (>10%) and is the difference between one-shotting a minion with blaze or not.  

 

So there you have it, some numbers to help you make your decision on whether maxing out +DMG bonuses is worth it, at the expense of other bonuses. 

[Krazie Ivan]

23 hours ago, Steampunkette said:

a slotting strategy that just makes me "More Pew Pew"

i built one of these about 5-6yrs ago. it'd been an idea in the back of my mind, but took prodding from another member to sort it out fully in Mids. i NEEDED a team with ice & sonic shields to survive, as we only ran speedy or +4x8 content... it was glorious and horrid at the same time. the constant +dmg buff is nice, but double Procs on top in every attack was quite good against +4s, or when we had capped dmg from a Kin. it's not the same power sets, but might still help you?


 

Blas Femmie ; Fire-Fire-Lev (+Rech +Dmg) - Blast.mxd

Edited April 6, 2021 by Krazie Ivan

[nebber]

6 hours ago, CaptTastic said:

I’ve went the middle ground between your builds on my Fire/NRG. 

 

Capped Ranged defence (playstyle choice as dislike melee/blapping and prefer to play hover-blaster instead), 50% S/L/F resists, 50% damage bonus, perma-hasten. Puts an AV down solo in around 2-3 mins. Love him. 

 

Fire/NRG is the bomb, so many good ways of playing it.  I do love my blapping, whichever poor dudes survive the fireball/BoF opener and charge me get bonesmasher'd and/or power-thrust'd, and I get giddy about it each time. 

 

 

 

[Olly]

My fire/fire has two builds, one with ~235% dmg in Mids and the other with ~30% ranged def and 50% S/L resists. The defensive build relies a bit on incarnates for +defense while the damage build is meant to team at lower levels.

[Sir Myshkin]

On 4/5/2021 at 12:28 AM, Steampunkette said:

But is going for a constant big boost like that and a ton of recharge viable for normal content and TFs or would I be better off aiming for Softcap Ranged/Melee?

You definitely have to make the call that is best for you as a player, but if you want to explore more of that crazy Blaster power side of things and know you’ll have an appropriate team dynamic to support you (or even if you won’t, and are just crazy enough to try) then check out my “Mad King Specials” (link in signature, it’s within the Blaster subsection).

Edited April 7, 2021 by Sir Myshkin