Really Hard Way Blaster

[DreadShinobi]

First, if the character is being designed for league content and only league content certain build philosophies and paradigms shift. Procs like Achilles heel drop in value significantly because there can only be one application of the effect on a target. If 6 people are applying achilles heel on tyrant you get one not six. 

 

Second in league content softcapped defense building diminishes in value compared to squishier variants of characters that focus on dmg proc slotting. You will more than likely be supported by solid aggro control and defense buffs from allies. Furthermore, you may even consider +hp set bonuses and resistances over defense set bonuses. I know proc based builds are a bit foreign to you @Snarky but this may be an instance for you to really delve into that and explore the possibilities here.

 

The last thing I wanted to bring up is why a blaster for the role in endgame content. Having a rez is massively useful for fights like tyrant for others who struggle with the crackle. Tyrant also resists debuffs pretty hard that can put more emphasis on sets like nature that provide a league wide 82.5% dmg buff with overgrowth and have that unique debuff in corrosive enzymes along with a powerful rez. Dominators also deal quite competitive dps with high base damage, fully from range in sets like fiery assault or have brutal regen debuffs in psi assault, -1000% regen from slotted drain psyche that you can joust alongside sleet from ancillary which has defender modifiers. 

 

[Snarky]

4 minutes ago, DreadShinobi said:

First, if the character is being designed for league content and only league content certain build philosophies and paradigms shift. Procs like Achilles heel drop in value significantly because there can only be one application of the effect on a target. If 6 people are applying achilles heel on tyrant you get one not six. 

 

Second in league content softcapped defense building diminishes in value compared to squishier variants of characters that focus on dmg proc slotting. You will more than likely be supported by solid aggro control and defense buffs from allies. Furthermore, you may even consider +hp set bonuses and resistances over defense set bonuses. I know proc based builds are a bit foreign to you @Snarky but this may be an instance for you to really delve into that and explore the possibilities here.

 

The last thing I wanted to bring up is why a blaster for the role in endgame content. Having a rez is massively useful for fights like tyrant for others who struggle with the crackle. Tyrant also resists debuffs pretty hard that can put more emphasis on sets like nature that provide a league wide 82.5% dmg buff with overgrowth and have that unique debuff in corrosive enzymes along with a powerful rez. Dominators also deal quite competitive dps with high base damage, fully from range in sets like fiery assault or have brutal regen debuffs in psi assault, -1000% regen from slotted drain psyche that you can joust alongside sleet from ancillary which has defender modifiers. 

 

Thank you.  i find this informative and thought provoking!

 

I may indeed look at making a PROC'd out build instead of a soft capped build.  This is hard for me to even consider but you make a great point.

 

Why a Blaster?  While I can get away from my near constant theme and meme characters, this old leopard cannot change it's spots.  I hate running buffs, heals, and plants.  Not necessarily in that order.  So while I will grab a Beam Rifle (and I truly dislike disappearing/reappearing objects) I cannot do Poison Ivy.  I mean, we could go out for a bite.... 

 

Dominators....this comment intrigues me....I thought they were way overshadowed at incarnate work.  Is a Dom competitive with a Beam Rifle Blaster for ST ranged?  I will not be jousting in....that is not happening.  I like to get comfortable and burn.  On a Brute they come to me.  If you want to rewrite the entire game to make death patches around your late game bosses...FINE....I will go FULLY ranged DPS.  Now, go back and change all the writing again.  Stupid Devs.

[DreadShinobi]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

Dominators....this comment intrigues me....I thought they were way overshadowed at incarnate work. 

 

Sure, let's take a look at Dominator Fiery Assault and compare it to Blaster Fire Blasting.

 

Blaze - slotted 5x Apoc with proc, skipping the dmg/rchg, 6th slot Glad Jav dmg proc. 

Blaster - 437.2 dmg

Domi - 413.6 dmg

 

Blazing Bolt - slotted 5x Manticore, 1x Glad Jav proc

Blaster - 749.7 dmg

Domi - 673.8 dmg

 

Fire Blast (the power, not the set) is way better on Dominators because they were immune to the Blaster/Defender/Corr tier 1/2 blast animation time normalization. Fire Blast for dominators still has the original 1.2 sec animation while blasters had their Fire Blast animation increased to 1.67s. Blaster base dmg here is 84.72, Domi's Fire blast is 105.4.

 

Dominator abilities have higher base recharges, but much of this is mitigated by global recharge though you may find more gaps in domi attack chain depending on your recharge set bonuses. Dominators can use a 6 dmg proc ST hold to shore up their attack chain. Mind and Fire primaries are best here due to the animation time discrepencies of holds in control sets. (control set ST holds really needed an animation time normalization more than t1/t2 blast sets did and still do). 

 

Blasters get the stacking dmg buff from defiance and a higher dmg cap but otherwise Dominators can do great damage, and access to Sleet in the Ice Ancillary is a huge boon to shore up the difference. If you're going fire primary for Char in your single target rotation you also have access to Fire Imp dps which can be huge when they stay alive. Dominators also get mez protection 😆

 

A blaster is of course going to deal more damage, but the utility from being a dominator is not something to ignore completely. I didn't want to come across as saying blaster is not a good choice for the role you're looking to fill in the original post but I wanted to open the conversation to exploring all your options. I do think you should really consider some proc based builds for the role you are approaching as I said in my previous post, because in league content you can absolutely forgo so much personal protection for higher dps if you are making a character or alternate build that has a very specific function. Good Luck!

[arcane]

@DreadShinobiI get snarkyhomie to consider one god damn proc for a change and you wanna ruin it smh

[Tahliah]

Well, Snarky, you just know I'm going to chime in with a pitch for an Ice blaster.  😛

 

Ice does excellent ST damage, particularly proc'd and setted out (pay attention not just to dmg but also, obviously, to acc and rech).  Also, and this is very controversial apparently, but I like to run DWD in my Blizzard, great -tohit yet still does devastating damage.  The freeze rays also do an incredible amount of damage, even if they don't actually hold the target (as they wouldn't on really hard targets like AVs, but they hold PPs, Carnie Mistresses, and non-AV Fake Nems very well, stopping them from activating their various untouchable powers, plus the freeze rays would be ticking over damage regardless; I have freeze ray in my attack chain for very hard targets for this reason--and because it recharges and casts quickly). 

 

While I would run ice with ice (more good -tohit and -rech debuffs there), it doesn't meet your requirement for -RES and / or -REGEN (though if you guys are creating a specialized team, you might consider assigning more of that to a defender or troll type?).   Also, just get a huge stack of envenomed dagger and use them.  I don't leave home without it! 

 

All that being said, time seems a reasonable choice in this instance (it doesn't require melee range for the most part) and since a blaster is not going to provide the primary debuffs for any team,  /time would be an added bonus.  (But /ice would be better! 😛)

[Snarky]

5 hours ago, Tahliah said:

Well, Snarky, you just know I'm going to chime in with a pitch for an Ice blaster.  😛

 

Ice does excellent ST damage, particularly proc'd and setted out (pay attention not just to dmg but also, obviously, to acc and rech).  Also, and this is very controversial apparently, but I like to run DWD in my Blizzard, great -tohit yet still does devastating damage.  The freeze rays also do an incredible amount of damage, even if they don't actually hold the target (as they wouldn't on really hard targets like AVs, but they hold PPs, Carnie Mistresses, and non-AV Fake Nems very well, stopping them from activating their various untouchable powers, plus the freeze rays would be ticking over damage regardless; I have freeze ray in my attack chain for very hard targets for this reason--and because it recharges and casts quickly). 

 

While I would run ice with ice (more good -tohit and -rech debuffs there), it doesn't meet your requirement for -RES and / or -REGEN (though if you guys are creating a specialized team, you might consider assigning more of that to a defender or troll type?).   Also, just get a huge stack of envenomed dagger and use them.  I don't leave home without it! 

 

All that being said, time seems a reasonable choice in this instance (it doesn't require melee range for the most part) and since a blaster is not going to provide the primary debuffs for any team,  /time would be an added bonus.  (But /ice would be better! 😛)

I have a 50d ice Blaster that i ran for a while.  I found out that a Ice/Cold Corruptor (to my understanding) is just flat out meaner.  That is what I am currently on in incarnate content.  
 

But I am particularly vexed by Tyrant’s recent beatdown of my new 50 Brute and I want to find a way to maximize payback.  My search for a way to maximize damage is revenge motivated. Redside, best side

 

I am thinking a Beam Rifle sitting outside the crackle and constantly burning will be more effective than an Ice on things like Tyrant and Battle Maiden. Lets be honest, in the modern game everyone is nuking crap with damage auras and judgement powers and etc.  A solid ST damage specialist is a bit sideways to modern CoH strategies and I am fond of slipping through the cracks

[Uun]

56 minutes ago, Snarky said:

 

I am thinking a Beam Rifle sitting outside the crackle and constantly burning will be more effective than an Ice on things like Tyrant and Battle Maiden

I've run Magi on all my blasters. I don't believe you can sit outside the crackle and stay in range of Tyrant. Maybe Psychic Blast? It's got extra range.

[brasilgringo]

Seriously have yet to see a Beam blaster build that I fundamentally would believe would do more damage, meaningfully, single-target vs. Fire given all other other AOE utility that also fire brings to the table.  Just build fire for range maybe with even /Energy for Boost Range.  Or post a build to make me a believer, but I've tried Beam and I can't see it.

[Tahliah]

On 2/5/2022 at 8:13 AM, Snarky said:

I have a 50d ice Blaster that i ran for a while.  I found out that a Ice/Cold Corruptor (to my understanding) is just flat out meaner.  That is what I am currently on in incarnate content.  
 

But I am particularly vexed by Tyrant’s recent beatdown of my new 50 Brute and I want to find a way to maximize payback.  My search for a way to maximize damage is revenge motivated. Redside, best side

 

I am thinking a Beam Rifle sitting outside the crackle and constantly burning will be more effective than an Ice on things like Tyrant and Battle Maiden. Lets be honest, in the modern game everyone is nuking crap with damage auras and judgement powers and etc.  A solid ST damage specialist is a bit sideways to modern CoH strategies and I am fond of slipping through the cracks

I hear you, Snarky.  On my ice/ice/ice blaster, I have no problems at all with Battle Maiden, but Tyrant is a beast.  Because of the frankenslotted sets I have in chilblain, I use that on him (not a part of my "normal" attack chain, obviously), plus shiver (and envenomed dagger), all while kiting around like a crazy person and slinging my main attacks . . . hoping not be one-swatted. 

 

I am still getting used to these new-fangled ATs and trying really hard to like corruptors/doms/etc.  Sigh.  Maybe I need that Snarky spirit to help me embrace sideways. I just can't get past how little damage they do compared to my main (which really isn't fair since my main is kitted out incarnate and my corrs are in their 20s and 30s).  I may get there, Snarky, one day.  😛

 

[Snarky]

I did 50 this Blaster, tier 4d everything, and ran him in Really Hard Way on Saturday night.  He did fine.  The range is not what I want.   I still have to dodge crackle.  It is a LOT easier to dodge, unless it is invisible...

 

The build is okay.  Stronger than my Dark/Dark Blaster that I used for months.  Stronger than the Elec (which has more range but less damage, esp ST)  I need to get used to it.  But it will function until i find something better or some crazy idea for....a DOM! goes through my head.