Sonic/Sonic Blaster

[Bojutsu]

Hello. I may be creating a Sonic/Sonic Blaster named "The Voice of Paragon". 

Sonic doesn't seem very popular. That never stops me from choosing a power set, though. 

Anyone out there care to share their experience and insight for the Sonic Blaster?

Thank you very much.

[Apparition]

FWIW, while thematic those power sets don't mesh well at all.  Sonic Blast has a bunch of cones, so you want to stay at range.  However, Sonic Manipulation wants you in melee range of enemies at all times to apply that sweet -res debuff from Disruption Aura.  It's like Dark Blast/Darkness Manipulation... thematic, but extremely at odds with one another.

 

If you want Sonic Blast, I'd recommend Devices, Energy Manipulation, Tactical Arrow, or Temporal Manipulation for secondary.  If you want Sonic Manipulation, I'd recommend Dual Pistols, Fire Blast, Psychic Blast, or Radiation Blast as primary.

Edited June 6, 2022 by Apparition

[Gulbasaur]

Sonic is, to my mind, a support/control set masquerading as a blast set and consequently it's much better on a defender because the debuff numbers are just that much stronger, and the nature of -res means its usefulness multiplies by the number of people on your team attacking to the point that going in as a blaster means you'll probably be contributing less damage overall.

 

It's also fairly hard to squeeze extra damage out with procs.

 

That said, it's a fun set thematically, but the melee version lacks synergy with the ranged version because you'll spend a lot of time hopping in and out of combat with cones. I'm not anti-cone (my dark/dark corruptor is cone-heavy and fun to play), but they do mean you have to think about positioning to a much greater extent and you need to stay at range to make the most of them. 

 

If you like hybrid-style sets, sonic attack is decent as it carries a respectable amount of soft control, but it's underwhelming as a blast set. My advice is actually to roll a sonic/sonic defender and make the most of those juicy resistance debuffs.

[Bojutsu]

 

I have a Mastermind named "Pet Sounds" (an album by The Beach Boys) who is Beast Mastery/Sonic Resonance. I know Sonic Resonance is different from Sonic Manipulation, but it does get Disruption Field. It almost seems strange to give a toggle -res debuff aura to a Blaster. Maybe it would be too good/useful on a Scrapper/Stalker/Brute/Tanker...

Edited June 7, 2022 by Bojutsu