Potential template for typed defense blapper builds

[EnjoyTheJourney]

The main build goals were to build a blapper that survives well in melee and that dishes out major damage both in endgame content and when exemp'd to lower levels. 

 

Giving credit where credit is due, the foundation for this build came from FUBAR. And, it's a really solid foundation. The burst of speed macro came from Big Soto. 

 

A few thoughts about how to get more out of the build ...

 

1. To get the most out of this build it's best to fight in melee whenever chances of survival in melee are reasonable. Dragon's tail increases recharge speed for key powers and eagle's claw is a hard hitting finishing power; eagle's claw helps the single target attack chain hit noticeably harder when you can bring it into the mix. 

 

2. Use the following macro to burst of speed to a targeted mob (can be an ally, for that matter): /macro_image "MartialManipulation_BurstofSpeed" "Tooltip" powexec_location Target "Burst of Speed"

 

3. To begin fights you can target a mob in the center of a spawn, hit "aim", throw fireball, then burst of speed to the chosen target using the macro given in "2" above. Then nuke or attack with dragon's tail, depending on what's available. Sometimes mobs will be knocked down by burst of speed before fireball arrives.  This increases burst damage at the start of a fight. 

 

4. When taking on mobs that can one-shot your blaster, fly over their head and do "hover melee", which when you're in the right place above them allows you to kick them in the head while not allowing them to return the favor with any of their melee attacks. Incidentally, kung fu done in mid-air looks a lot like Dragonball Z, for those who like that anime. 🙂

 

5. For mez protection cast rune of protection, then melee core hybrid, then rune of protection, and then rely on inner will to carry your blaster through to when melee core hybrid will be available again. 

 

6. Barrier destiny and assault hybrid are very reasonable alternative incarnate picks to the ones offered here. 

 

7. Inner will can be used reactively when you get stunned by a rez by Romulus in the ITF and for a variety of other situations. It also heals your blaster for a noticeable number of hit points if slotted for that. 

 

8. Reaction time can be used to figure out which mobs are chasing your blapper while in teams and with lots of mobs around. Just look to see which mobs slowly change direction to follow your blapper when (s)he moves around; you can then decide whether you'd like to reposition out of their melee range or just wade in and mow them down. 

 

Hopefully the build and the notes on how to get more out of the build are helpful. Suggestions for improvement are welcome, as always. 

 

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!

Martial Burns: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Martial Combat
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3)
Level 1: Ki Push -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Acc-I(7)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(9), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(9), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), PstBls-Dam%(11), Ann-ResDeb%(33)
Level 4: Reach for the Limit 
Level 6: Mystic Flight -- WntGif-ResSlow(A)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 10: Burst of Speed -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(13)
Level 12: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 14: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(17)
Level 16: Dragon's Tail -- Erd-Dmg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erd-%Dam(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), FrcFdb-Rechg%(34)
Level 18: Blaze -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(19), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(23)
Level 20: Reaction Time -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(36), EffAdp-EndMod(36)
Level 22: Rune of Protection -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), GldArm-End/Res(50), GldArm-ResDam(50)
Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Blazing Bolt -- SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(29), Apc-Dam%(31)
Level 28: Inner Will -- Prv-Heal/Rchg(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(31)
Level 30: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(36), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(37), UnbGrd-Max HP%(37), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(37), StdPrt-ResKB(39)
Level 32: Inferno -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erd-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Erd-Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(40), Arm-Dam%(40), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(40)
Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(42), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(42), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), ShlWal-Def(43), Ksm-ToHit+(43)
Level 38: Eagles Claw -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(45), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(45), Hct-Dam%(46)
Level 41: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(46), ShlWal-Def(46), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(48), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(48)
Level 44: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(48), Rct-Def(50)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Defiance 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A), Clr-EndRdx(13)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(15)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 49: Quick Form 
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface 
Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement 
Level 50: Banished Pantheon Radial Superior Ally 
Level 50: Rebirth Radial Epiphany 
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment 
------------

 

 

[Nemu]

You are missing out on the juggling potential of Storm kick -> dragon's tail -> storm kick. You might not need it, but it's fun to execute.

 

I suppose you can live with rune of protection and inner will to deal with immobilizes among other mezzes but I can't fathom playing a melee blaster build without consistent immob protection i.e. combat jumping.

 

The build also seems to have poor maneuverability, You can use translocation all the time to pop yourself all over the battlefield but it's not precise and takes a lot of time. Melee blasters should be adept at getting in and out of melee range and that cast delay in translocation is really going to hurt you if you do that against harder content. Also a flying blaster is a poor choice for jousting and that's another tool in the melee blaster arsenal to minimize melee exposure when things get bad (and it's fun). I like jousting way too much to ever do a non-combat jumping melee blaster but YMMV.

 

There are enough pure damage type ranged attacks out there that aren't S/L/E and I have found that S/L/Ranged offers more complete coverage. Once your melee survival is respectable, and you don't absolutely NEED 45% S/L to achieve that, then range attacks/debuffs become the real threat.

 

I'd rather get tactics than assault to combat blind. I hate blind and I don't think assault offers much for blasters when one attack with a defiance buff accomplishes what the toggle offers. Some of your powers such as fireball and dragon's tail also have less than 95% chance to hit against +4s, Fireball is especially low at 77%, tactics will help here.

 

The 4th slot in Shield wall is wasted, 9% combined energy/neg energy resist will not save you when your total E/NE resist even with those is at a whopping 19%.

 

Same with the double stacking of preventive medicine and the 2 slots in sprint for that S/L resist. What's the difference between 37% S/L resist and 28% S/L resist on a blaster? Absolutely nothing. You can at the very least recover one of those slots from spirit ward and put it into Maneuvers for 3 piece reactive defense to give you a slight HP bonus, or recover another slot from sprint and slot flares for apocalypse for more global recharge.

[Chelsea Rorec]

I tanked an ITF on an elec/elec/mu.

Do that then get back to me 😛

[EnjoyTheJourney]

There seems to be some playstyle differences between the three of us, as well as perhaps some differences in how defenses are put together to support those different playstyles. Which is fine, as there are multiple ways to successfully play a blaster. And, I have no doubt that the two of you do better than fine in-game with the way you approach building and playing your blasters. 

 

I'll ponder whether to switch out assault and switch in tactics. Endurance management has been easier than expected so this blaster could probably run it. Plus, cimerorans can be a pain when they shout and tactics would help when fighting them. 

 

Wanting to stick with combat jumping is understandable. I leaned heavily on it for build after build for quite a while. But, if you remove it you would fairly quickly adapt and figure out that mobility is not really a problem, especially but not only if you have flight, translocation, and a kind of combat teleport available to you. Also, reaction time slows down mobs, which helps for being quicker than mobs when moving around a battlefield. You'd also find that, at least with /martial as your secondary, mez of any kind is no more than an infrequent event that goes away as soon as you engage inner will / RoP / melee core hybrid or use an inspiration.  

 

I occasionally joust. But, that's usually restricted to when I'm the only teammate in melee (ie: all others are ranged) or when I'm trying to, say, solo a tower on a +4x8 ITF. Even then I'll usually focus on defeating mobs as fast as possible as long as survival doesn't seem to be acutely threatened. Also, I prefer to hover-melee over top of Lord Recluse in an MLTF, for example, so a maximized single target attack chain can be repeated until he drops. Jousting in that and similar situations not only takes more energy, it's also a DPS loss compared to continuously hitting mobs while doing "hover melee" over top of them.  Try this out on a MLTF sometime using a jet pack, if you're curious, and as long as you're positioned correctly you'll notice that Lord Recluse will drop your teammates' life bars with his heavy hitting attacks and your blaster will take no damage.

 

With more of an emphasis on standing next to (or sometimes over) mobs and continuously hitting things until they fall over, smash / lethal defense and resists generally matter more than when operating a lot at range; there are a lot of incoming melee attacks when playing right in mobs' faces, especially when taking on bosses and above. The layered defenses in the build above provide good initial defense totals against most attacks even without team buffs or inspirations. Since RoP or melee core hybrid are engaged about about 75% of the time, most of the time smash / lethal resists are in the 50s or 60s even without team buffs. Energy / negative energy resists are usually in the mid 30s to mid 40s without team buffs, as well. The cimeroran day job helps out with this to make these totals just a bit better, when it's active. These are backed up with a strong heal and very good regen from rebirth radial (melee core hybrid also offers good regen, which noticeably helps). Reaction time provides a rapidly refilling absorb shield, as another buffer. It also helps a lot to get all the key passive and active accolades (portal jockey, TF commander, freedom phalanx reserve, atlas medallion, geas of the kind ones, elusive mind, eye of the magus). Finally, T4 radial lore pets further improve both damage and sturdiness, when summoned. Defeats are not that common even without team buffs with this build because of multiple and substantial layers of defense. 

 

On that note, this blaster build has tanked multiple max notoriety ITFs. It has also tanked most of the last mission of a relentless ASF after the team's tank needed to leave. Burst of speed was usually used to begin battles and being in melee range was the default against all of the different kinds of mobs encountered. That did lead to a couple of defeats when taking alpha. And, support was good, as were other teammates, which was obviously very helpful. But, that is still a feat many blaster builds would find difficult to pull off. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by EnjoyTheJourney

[brasilgringo]

xx

Edited January 21, 2022 by brasilgringo

[EnjoyTheJourney]

As a brief update, assault was swapped out for tactics, with a lvl 50 cytoskeleton in the default slot. A T4 barrier was created and it sometimes used (ie: for relentless Aeon runs, when another barrier may be needed). Other than these changes the build is identical to the one in the OP.