Energy/Atomic?

[Psilencer]

Hi there. I am pretty new to blasters and was wondering how Energy/Atomic pair?  Do they have good synergy?

 

I solo 99% of the time and thought the KB would add to survivability.  Although, if I do get tired of KB, could I switch to KD?  Would that mean I have to forego 6-slot bonuses from sets?

 

Energy/Atomic is pretty thematic and I'm not totally committed to Energy/ as I think Fire/ might be good as well, but I have Fire/ already (Fire/Fire, Fire/Time).

 

Any build suggestions or thoughts would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[venetiasilver]

Survivable Blasting Primaries my top 3
1. Ice (Freeze Ray is very good at dealing with lieutenants and stacks with other holds on bosses)
2. Energy (Freem Energy torrent is the most fun cone in the game for ranged attacks)
3. Assault Rifle (Knockback and Beanbag is useful on lieutenants and can stack with other disorients on bosses)

If picking Ice / Atomic's Control Factors would do well with Positron Cell stacking with the freeze rays.
If picking Energy / Atomic's Recharge just means you get to knock things more often, but you won't get extra "Blappery recharge" from Beta Decay since your pushing things away from you negating that recharge bonus.
If picking Assault Rifle / Atomic wouldn't be too terrible but it'd be a long ways to Positronic Fist for the Mag Stacking on Beanbag to disorient.

[Psilencer]

11 minutes ago, venetiasilver said:

If picking Energy / Atomic's Recharge just means you get to knock things more often, but you won't get extra "Blappery recharge" from Beta Decay since your pushing things away from you negating that recharge bonus.

 

That's a great point.  Thanks!  Could the KB->KD help with this?  Blap more safely?

 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by jk421

[venetiasilver]

The Knockback Tax to me just isn't worth it on Energy Blast, it's base damage already is split between energy / smashing, so either one part of it gets resisted or the other one does. So I tend to focus on Secondaries to pair with Energy that don't require enemies near me to do anything. 

Ice / Atomic would be a great feeling for ya. things slow down to stay in the Beta Decay Field, Positron Cell + Freeze Ray Holds bosses as early as level 8. 
Metabolic Acceleration would help your Single Target DPS a lot since its a flat 20% Recharge Bonus. 

And its thematic "Nuclear Winter" kind of thing. 

[Psilencer]

Great point about Ice slowing things down to maximize Beta Decay.  I have a theme already (going with a White Lantern homage) so maybe the Ice can look like hard-light constructs?

[venetiasilver]

Yeah the Ice blocks can be colored well

[PainX]

as an entirely new player fire is probably a bad time dps galore but no safety nets one of the worst performing sets with a cheap build the best when you have billions burning a hole in your wallet that being said my favorite blaster is fire/rad but it also has any IO it could want incarnates that are stacked and spends 20-60mil per 8h of playtime on amplifiers not exactly anywhere close to new player friendly

 

and yes ice/rad would however be about the safest blaster you can get feels like a whole different world playing ice at lowbie as opposed to fire cant speak for energy as i wont play it with the slot tax cant stand the knockbacks and once i sacrifice a slot i can simply find a better set like for example ice that i can slot as i want to since i do indeed like to 6 slot sometimes especialy since the blaster AT sets both have really good 6 slot bonuses

[Sir Myshkin]

14 hours ago, jk421 said:

Although, if I do get tired of KB, could I switch to KD?  Would that mean I have to forego 6-slot bonuses from sets?

KD favors AoE damage management far better than KB, and what I mean by that is exploding your groups apart means it’ll take even longer to whittle them down versus spamming AoE/Cones on one location. This tends to just translate into a poor gaming experience when you have to constantly chase enemies down, especially solo.

 

Having said that there are only a few powers you really need to focus on KB>KD conversion and that’s Power Burst, Snipe, Explosive Blast and Energy Torrent. The remaining single target blasts have relatively low KB chances, and Nova should realistically be a wipe-out level event when you use it making its KB irrelevant.

 

if you are considering an alternative blast set, as others have suggested Ice/Atomic is a pretty awesome pairing; I have one myself. Ice has several very strong ST blasts, and two location based AoEs that open up positioning options, and Atomic has a decent AoE as well. Don’t disregard what you can do with Energy Blast though, it’s still a good set.

[Flat Line]

The hate on Energy is overblown.

Personally, I only use KB to KD on Explosive Blast and Nova. 
Everything else is easy to control either with hover blasting and knocking them into the ground or using walls as backstops.

There are also a lot if situations where I want to knock back. Energy Torrent or Power Push are great for that.

 

I find it’s a fun power set that looks great. And it keeps you thinking on how to use your knock back instead or to pushing buttons (which gets pretty boring IMHO).

[Psilencer]

2 hours ago, Flat Line said:

The hate on Energy is overblown.

Personally, I only use KB to KD on Explosive Blast and Nova. 
Everything else is easy to control either with hover blasting and knocking them into the ground or using walls as backstops.

There are also a lot if situations where I want to knock back. Energy Torrent or Power Push are great for that.

 

I find it’s a fun power set that looks great. And it keeps you thinking on how to use your knock back instead or to pushing buttons (which gets pretty boring IMHO).

 

 

I was thinking of slotting KB to KD in Energy Torrent/Explosive Blast to KD from range.  Then enter into melee range to hit them with Atom Smasher/EB/Nova.

 

I was thinking of taking Bonfire for evn more KD hilarity.  Not sure about the extra control from Radioactive Cloud but going into melee range so much it certainly might help.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

Edited April 8, 2021 by jk421

[Psilencer]

8 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

KD favors AoE damage management far better than KB, and what I mean by that is exploding your groups apart means it’ll take even longer to whittle them down versus spamming AoE/Cones on one location. This tends to just translate into a poor gaming experience when you have to constantly chase enemies down, especially solo.

 

Having said that there are only a few powers you really need to focus on KB>KD conversion and that’s Power Burst, Snipe, Explosive Blast and Energy Torrent. The remaining single target blasts have relatively low KB chances, and Nova should realistically be a wipe-out level event when you use it making its KB irrelevant.

 

if you are considering an alternative blast set, as others have suggested Ice/Atomic is a pretty awesome pairing; I have one myself. Ice has several very strong ST blasts, and two location based AoEs that open up positioning options, and Atomic has a decent AoE as well. Don’t disregard what you can do with Energy Blast though, it’s still a good set.

 

I did roll up an Ice/Atomic as well and the Ice is super beasty, I'm not sure if it is the right set for the theme of my build.  I tried to change up the color of the powers but it still just didn't look right on this character.  Unless there is a way to turn off the "snowflakes" I think I will stick with Energy and use Ice on a different toon when I think of a concept.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

[Flat Line]

5 minutes ago, jk421 said:

 

 

I was thinking of slotting KB to KD in Energy Torrent/Explosive Blast to KD from range.  Then enter into melee range to hit them with Atom Smasher/EB/Nova.

 

I was thinking of taking Bonfire for evn more KD hilarity.  Not sure about the extra control from Radioactive Cloud but going into melee range so much it certainly might help.

 

Thanks for the feedback!

I had the same idea to boost AoE damage. And using Bonfire, Torrent, Explosive Blast, Nova. All with KB to KD.

 

I ended up respecing out of fire mastery. Not because Bonfire isn’t good. It worked great! I just really didn’t like the look of fire shield. Bonfire does definitely add more control and damage though. Char is also a nice power too... Maybe I’ll add it back for a third build...

 

I also removed the KB to KD from Energy Torrent. The Knockback is just a great control on it. I took it early and it adds a lot of survivability during your first 25 levels before your defence really kicks in.

The shorter range on Energy Torrent can also be a good thing because when it knocks guys back, they are still in range of your other attacks.

 

[Psilencer]

7 minutes ago, Flat Line said:

I had the same idea to boost AoE damage. And using Bonfire, Torrent, Explosive Blast, Nova. All with KB to KD.

 

I ended up respecing out of fire mastery. Not because Bonfire isn’t good. It worked great! I just really didn’t like the look of fire shield. Bonfire does definitely add more control and damage though. Char is also a nice power too... Maybe I’ll add it back for a third build...

 

I also removed the KB to KD from Energy Torrent. The Knockback is just a great control on it. I took it early and it adds a lot of survivability during your first 25 levels before your defence really kicks in.

The shorter range on Energy Torrent can also be a good thing because when it knocks guys back, they are still in range of your other attacks.

 

 

All great points. The look of fire shield actually works with my toon so I think I'm going that route.  What mastery set did you end up going with?

[Flat Line]

I went with Force Mastery.

I like Personal Force field as an ‘oh shit’ power. It makes hospital visits a very rare thing. It can also be used to ‘stealth’ missions without actually stealthing. You’re just about untouchable with it, and can still click on glowies. It’s also a luck of the gambler slot. Lots to like.

Worth noting that Afterburner can also do all of the above on a high defence build in a pinch. But Personal Force field is very reliable.

 

The shield in the set is also costume friendly.

 

I do really like the versatility of Fire Mastery though. My third build slot is a PvP build I never use... Might just put a Fire Mastery build in there : )

[Psilencer]

34 minutes ago, Flat Line said:

I went with Force Mastery.

I like Personal Force field as an ‘oh shit’ power. It makes hospital visits a very rare thing. It can also be used to ‘stealth’ missions without actually stealthing. You’re just about untouchable with it, and can still click on glowies. It’s also a luck of the gambler slot. Lots to like.

Worth noting that Afterburner can also do all of the above on a high defence build in a pinch. But Personal Force field is very reliable.

 

The shield in the set is also costume friendly.

 

I do really like the versatility of Fire Mastery though. My third build slot is a PvP build I never use... Might just put a Fire Mastery build in there : )

 

Hm.  Yeah, that does sound cool.  I will definitely look into it!

 

I'm really having a tough time fitting in all the powers that I want and slotting them appropriately.  Yikes. 

 

Maybe bonfire is overkill for KD. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by jk421

[Psilencer]

1 hour ago, Flat Line said:

I went with Force Mastery.

I like Personal Force field as an ‘oh shit’ power. It makes hospital visits a very rare thing. It can also be used to ‘stealth’ missions without actually stealthing. You’re just about untouchable with it, and can still click on glowies. It’s also a luck of the gambler slot. Lots to like.

Worth noting that Afterburner can also do all of the above on a high defence build in a pinch. But Personal Force field is very reliable.

 

The shield in the set is also costume friendly.

 

I do really like the versatility of Fire Mastery though. My third build slot is a PvP build I never use... Might just put a Fire Mastery build in there : )

 

I am going to try Force Mastery with PFF, Temp Invuln and Repulsion Bomb. 

[Flat Line]

1 hour ago, jk421 said:

 

I am going to try Force Mastery with PFF, Temp Invuln and Repulsion Bomb. 

I haven’t tried repulsion bomb. Repulsion field felt pretty underwhelming. Maybe I didn’t slot it enough, but it rarely seemed to hit...