/Devices Questions

[Sou1catcher]

I keep seeing people skip over Half the powers and it makes me wonder. I can see the benefit in the few that folks do take but that is a total of 3 of 9 powers.

 

Are Any of the below worth taking??? If so, Why should I take them???

 

Caltrops The Range is crap and the effected area is so small. I can see the utility but should I waste a power slot on it?

 

Taser With Web Grenade already taking a slot, is there any reason to take it and add slot to it instead of Web G?

 

Smoke Grenade I see No One with this in their build

 

Time Bomb Same as Smoke G above

 

Gun Drone Seems to only be relevant if Hover.

Edited August 14, 2021 by Sou1catcher

[Pzn]

Taser is an excellent attack.  Much stronger than t1/t2 blasts or web grenade in terms of DPA.  It's about the damage of a t2 blast at the speed of a t1. 

 

Edited August 14, 2021 by Pzn

[Force Redux]

Caltrops area denial is not to be underestimated. Also damage over time with an immobilize and procs is good. That said, it's also just a great one slot wonder if you have the room.

Edited August 15, 2021 by Force Redux

[Cenozoic]

Qualifications:  50 Fire/Dev Blaster (Vet 100-something)

 

Style of Play:  Hover Blasting

Notes:  I do not use mines, bombs, or pets.  Took Devices for the defense/stealth/targeting drone.

 

 

Caltrops - Yes.  Positional defense.  Drop in front of you and open fire!  Drop it in melee range to reduce the attack rate of enemies.  Or combine with Web Grenade (immobilize) on AV to stack DPS.

 

Taser - Maybe.  Basically a ranged melee attack.  Toebombers may like it.  I spend the slots elsewhere.

 

Smoke Bomb - YES.  Autohit 5% -ToHit. Also reduces perception, so mobs don’t notice the nuke animation (Inferno!!!).  Great for non-softcappers, and awesome debuff for your melee teammates.

 

Time Bomb - NO.

 

Gun Drone - Maybe.  Good for slot bonuses, and DPS/aggro control is good for soloing.  I focused on primary attacks instead.

 

 

Hope this helps!

[plainguy]

My 2cents..

 

Caltrops The Range is crap and the effected area is so small. I can see the utility but should I waste a power slot on it?

As was stated very good for area denial and basic overall keeps the mobs moving.. Moving mobs don't attack.  You will Definitely see a damage redux on high level missing settings with the less number of mobs attacking. 

 

Taser With Web Grenade already taking a slot, is there any reason to take it and add slot to it instead of Web G?

I know some see value.. I don't.. I don't need to stun.. I need to kill. Nothing that I can stun is of value to stun..  Meaning I am not gonna stun an AV with this and any boss is just better off dead/arrested. If I need to stun a boss then I have bigger problems with the build. You are just better off dropping AOE and single target hits on that mob you want to stun until it is dead or everything around it is from the AOE then work on taking him down. 

In a solo setting the mobs will always come back to you eventually. In a group setting they will just get knocked off by another player.  

Maybe good leveling up for a bit.. But end game respec out of it.   

 

Smoke Grenade I see No One with this in their build

As mentioned is great to get you defense cap and beyond.. Again 1 in 13 hits for a equal con mob at defense cap..  Who doesn't want those odds.

 

Time Bomb Same as Smoke G above

Useless.. Crap damage and you have zero control over it.. Again just no value.. 

 

Gun Drone Seems to only be relevant if Hover.

Wrong on Hover comment.. Gun Drone was fixed.. I will brag and say I posted it up on bug board.. Many countered with working as intended..  Then it was fixed next patch..  Yes I gloated.. No one responded back after my gloat..

With enough recharge and procs you can have out 3 Gun Drones.. Yes one might be only 10 seconds.. But again with recharge you will have the ability to have two Gun Drones out for 40 seconds together. If you have Burnout you can definitely have 2 Gun Drones at the start.. So You could Gun Drone.. T9 AOE.. Then Burnout.. Gun Drone.. T9 AOE and then 40 seconds later have a 3rd out.  

[dragonhawk777]

Perspective:  Ground based archery blaster.

 

Taser:  Great damage and a built in stun.  Think of it as the melee attack other sets have but it actually has a 20 ft range.

 

Caltrops:  Good utility for ground based, particularly if you use it with an ability like Bonfire.  Enemies are slowed and have more chances to get knocked around by Bonfire before they reach you.  Both knockbacks and slows work on bosses so the only thing immune are EBs and AVs.  If you take fly Caltrops lose alot of their utility imo as you can just fly out of range easily enough.  I would rate it a 5 utility wise if ground based and a 2 if you take fly.  Another perk is you can get alot of the ability even if you dont slot it, so if you have all the key powers you want, and are running low on enhancement slots and are looking for something to take and not invest in it then Caltrops are a good option.

 

Smoke Grenade:  Useful in situations, though I would say more useful solo than in teams.  Again a viable option if you want to pickup something and not have to invest in it.  Utility wise I rank it about a 4 or 5.

 

Time Bomb:  Useless.  I have been advocating for this to get changed since COH was live.  It is by far the most useless ability in the game.  It should be changed to something like a Sticky Grenade that is short range and does aoe damage.  Then Taser is your single target melee damage ability and Sticky Grenade is your aoe damage ability.

 

Gun Drone.  It has decent damage but has a number of defects to its mechanics.  Its basically uncontrollable and will randomly attack any mob that wanders into its aggro bubble. thereby negating the stealth bonus to Covert Operative.  You dont get the pet control menu with it so they are more of a pain to dismiss.  The plus is it can act a minitank if you are solo and have too many mobs aggroed to you.  In groups that are moving fast and you arent getting any stealth advantage its added dps to the team, so overall Id say if you run in fast moving groups its ok damage, but solo or slower moving groups its probably more of a hinderance.  In general I think the Seeker Drones that Traps get are better than the Gun Drone as you can just summon them as needed, they fly out and hit the target and explode.  

Edited August 16, 2021 by dragonhawk777

[ZorkNemesis]

5 minutes ago, dragonhawk777 said:

You dont get the pet control menu with it so they are more of a pain to dismiss. 

 

You can enable the pet window for non-Masterminds in the options menu.  Once enabled a 'Pets' button shows up at the top of the team window.  Still can't issue commands but it makes them much easier to target for buffs or dismissal.

 

You can also auto dismiss all active pets by typing /release_pets, though this will dismiss all pets so if you're using patron or lore pets they get dismissed too.

[Crystal87]

Any of you have a beam rifle / devices build? Without taser, bombs and the drone possibly..thanksssss

[Force Redux]

11 hours ago, Crystal87 said:

Any of you have a beam rifle / devices build? Without taser, bombs and the drone possibly..thanksssss

I've got one I can post later this week. Not just a build, an actual character I leveled into incarnates.

[Mr. Vee]

Taser is good damage with 1 second activation. I couldn't care less about the stun. 

[Crystal87]

12 hours ago, Force Redux said:

I've got one I can post later this week. Not just a build, an actual character I leveled into incarnates.

That would be awesome thanks!

[expeditor]

My build in Mids, does include Trip Mine and Gun Drone but no Taser, soft-capped ranged defence, deviated a little along the way in practice but gives the gist of it:

 

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[Sou1catcher]

OK, time for an Update;

• Took Caltrops- Only One slotted but it's useful in Situations
• Took Smoke Grenade- Same as above (any IO suggestions for it?)
• Gun Drone- turns out to be more useful than i thought and free damage.

  On 8/15/2021 at 5:58 PM, plainguy said:

   

  Gun Drone  With enough recharge and procs you can have out 3 Gun Drones.. Yes one might be only 10 seconds.. But again with recharge you will have the ability to have two Gun Drones out for 40 seconds together. If you have Burnout you can definitely have 2 Gun Drones at the start.. So You could Gun Drone.. T9 AOE.. Then Burnout.. Gun Drone.. T9 AOE and then 40 seconds later have a 3rd out.  

  I'ld be interested to see how you did this

[Mr. Vee]

I was going to say smoke grenade would make a good cloud senses set mule but at least according to mids it doesn't take accurate to-hit. I guess 4 dark watcher if you have the slots

[plainguy]

On 8/19/2021 at 11:54 AM, Sou1catcher said:

OK, time for an Update;

• Took Caltrops- Only One slotted but it's useful in Situations
• Took Smoke Grenade- Same as above (any IO suggestions for it?)
• Gun Drone- turns out to be more useful than i thought and free damage.

  I'ld be interested to see how you did this

 

3 Drone does not last long.. But 2 is consistent 

 

Here is the build I am using.. You can just switch up the primary

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.6
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Blaster
Primary Power Set: Dual Pistols
Secondary Power Set: Devices
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Pistols -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 1: Toxic Web Grenade -- CrtSpd-Acc/Slow(A), CrtSpd-Dmg/Slow(3), CrtSpd-Acc/EndRdx(11), CrtSpd-Rng/Slow(33)
Level 2: Dual Wield -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 4: Empty Clips -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/Rchg(9), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(11), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(31)
Level 6: Kick -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(19), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(19), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 8: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(21)
Level 10: Targeting Drone -- GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(A), GssSynFr--ToHit(13), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(13), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(15), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(15), GssSynFr--Build%(17)
Level 12: Swap Ammo 
Level 14: Caltrops -- Rgn-Knock%(A)
Level 16: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(17)
Level 18: Executioner's Shot -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 20: Hover -- BlsoftheZ-Travel(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(21)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Field Operative -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(34), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(34), Prv-Heal/Rchg(33), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(36), Prv-Absorb%(39)
Level 26: Bullet Rain -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(33), Artl-Dam/Rech(50), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(36), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(36), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(27)
Level 28: Suppressive Fire -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 30: Smoke Grenade -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(A)
Level 32: Hail of Bullets -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(46)
Level 35: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(43), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46)
Level 38: Gun Drone -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(39), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Apc-Dam%(43)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(45), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Trip Mine -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 47: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(48), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Burnout -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Heal(23)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 50: Agility Radial Paragon 
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany 
Level 12: Chemical Ammunition 
Level 12: Cryo Ammunition 
Level 12: Incendiary Ammunition 
Level 8: Speed Phase 
------------

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Edited August 21, 2021 by plainguy

[kelika2]

On 8/14/2021 at 11:06 AM, Sou1catcher said:

Caltrops The Range is crap and the effected area is so small. I can see the utility but should I waste a power slot on it?

 

Taser With Web Grenade already taking a slot, is there any reason to take it and add slot to it instead of Web G?

Smoke Grenade I see No One with this in their build

Time Bomb Same as Smoke G above

Gun Drone Seems to only be relevant if Hover.

Speaking from a fire/dev blaster point of view:

 

Caltrops yes, I use it with Rain of Fire

Taser yes, its super strong, but short range

Smoke Grenade on you, but my final build does not have it because its not enough -tohit and for "full invis" i use Operative + stealth IO in Sprint

Time Bomb no, the game moves really fast and its hard to time it properly

Gun Drone yes.  perma hasten build and having two out for about 20 seconds is good times.  one is always out

[Max Firepower]

I have used Caltrops with up to 3 (even 4) slots.

Recharge, Recharge, then Slow and/or Proc, Proc.

 

Taser... I haven't used, but would consider.

 

Time Bomb is the Blaster's version of Liquefy.  A totally WTHeck power that never seems to get revisited, and not sure why.  Doesn't fit with the normal metrics of what's good for team play, but maybe some Dev Data supports it for solo.  I just skip and move on.

 

Smoke Grenade - Maybe? - I have it on a few toons.  More at end game where I feel most of my build is complete (more for an RP style), it's OK for soloing to make sure you don't aggro a second group (or third) that you can't handle, I guess.

 

Gun Drone - Do you want a Pet that's got great resists/defense/taunt AND range?  This is for you!  I usually 4+ slot, focus on Acc and getting Resists to 90%, then dmg/rech as needed.  If it takes Expedient Reinforcement (not checking at moment), that's usually where I pull about 4 slots from.

[Doomguide2005]

      Smoke would have some niche value used against 2 categories of foes.  

      First is Snipers.  They'll see through things like SS+stealth IO or Field Operative + stealth IO (or even all 3 stacked up) but those stealth combos will get you close enough to potentially use Smoke on them.  Now they won't see you or any allies for that matter.  Helpful since if a Sniper hits you it'll likely suppress your stealth and now you may be visible to other mobs as well.

     Second because it's a perception debuff and not a stealth buff it works vs late and  endgame foes that just ignore stealth like Rikti drones.

 

Caltrops I have typically taken.  I like to use multiple Rng/Slow so I can throw further than just off my toes.  Global recharge takes care of recharge for caltrops.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Doomguide2005
Caltrops comments