What to pair with /mental?

[Shocktacular]

Hi.  I was looking through the HC wiki (as one does), and decided that making a /mental melee-range blaster could be fun.  However, I'm not sure what to pair it with, since I don't play blasters much.  

Oh please, masters of the blasters, I beseech thee:  What should I pair with /mental?  What would YOU pick?  What are the benefits & downsides of various pairings?  

[Zepp]

Drain Psyche works well with Electric...

Ice stacks with the -Recharge and gives you a more troller feel that kinda matches the troller vibe of Mental...

Dual Pistols is a common go-to for Blapper builds...

 

Is there a theme or concept you have in mind?

 

[Shocktacular]

I don't have a theme in mind yet.  I'm still looking at options.
Elec/ sounds pretty good, now that the "shock" mechanic is there (I'd heard it was pretty lackluster on Blasters before).  Ice could be interesting, too, with all the -Rech stacking up.  I'm gonna wait for a few more responses, but thanks for getting the ball rolling!

[Shocktacular]

Does anyone else have other suggestions?
I'm currently thinking of going with Ice/ but I'd like to get more opinions if I can.

[TheAdjustor]

Well there is Psychic, nice set of combos good nuke that pairs well with mentals PBOE

Fire nice set of stacking pbaoes, good set of powers lots of AoE and solid synergy all around (shame TK thrust got moved)

Archery/Mental is a classic one of the first blaster farmers still does great work

 

 

[TygerDarkstorm]

I have a Rad/Mental blaster that's still a baby, but I thought the pairing might work well since Rad also likes to play in melee.

[Frozen Burn]

I've played many /mental combos back on live.  /Mental pairs well with most anything - so you can't go wrong with any primary.  I chose to recreate here on Homecoming my fav which is Dual Pistols/Mental for all the PBAOE attacks - and yes, I'm counting Bullet Rain (targeted AOE) as a PBAOE as I am always targeting a mob next to me and the "circular" attack hits at point blank range.  I can pretty much level any mob I stand in the middle of and quickly move to the next - lot o' fun!    

[kelika2]

If you are a fan of KOTOR2 you can probably guess what an elec/mental can be like

[Snarky]

If you like cones Dark/Mental is a firehose

[KC4800]

I have a fully incarnate Rad/Mental that is very versatile. Good at long range and blapping.

[Crysis]

Crazy Hot usual perfectly pairs with /Mental.

 

So Fire of course.

[ZorkNemesis]

I tried Sonic/Mental on live.  It's not powerful at all, but Siren's Song sets up for pretty much a risk-free Drain Psyche (both the Sleep and the Regen/Recovery buff are autohits).  Psychic Scream is nice to pair with Sonic's subpar AoE blasts.  Also the -Res from Sonic helps overcome mobs with heavy Psi resist if you're using Mental's attacks.

 

Edited June 25, 2022 by ZorkNemesis

[kazrack35]

 I Second Fire for pure damage, fireball.

 

Water for a bit more aoes, less damage but high survivability (dehydrate slotted with 53 nucleolus , apo damage+5 and 4 of the  accurate healing.

Paired with bonfire kb to kd.

Dual pistol as mentioned should be solid too... 

 

[SwitchFade]

DP

[ScarySai]

Fire, DP, Water and Archery.

[kiramon]

Water or dp will help ease the cd requirement for drain psyche

[FUBARczar]

If I were to power rank pairings, it might look something like this...

 

T1 

Dual Pistols (-Def, lots of PBAoE, quick recharge nuke)

Fire...

Electrical (great AoE and synergy with -End)

Radiation (-Def is a good debuff, also Stun synergy, Irradiate)

Sonic (debuff powerhouse, -regen & -resist; stacking Stun attacks)

 

T2 

Dark 

Water 

 

T3 +

Arrow 

Assault Rifle

Beam Rifle 

Energy 

Ice (sorry folks Rain attacks are your enemy here)

Psychic (best to mix damage types, especially with Psi)

Seismic 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by FUBARczar

[Snarky]

I got a thumbs  down for saying dark/mental is a cone lovers dream?  Tough crowd lol

Edited August 16, 2022 by Snarky

[Six-Six]

Positive and attitude. 😃

[FUBARczar]

12 hours ago, Snarky said:

I got a thumbs  down for saying dark/mental is a cone lovers dream?  Tough crowd lol

Lol, it was me =D

In explanation, IMO those cones are narrow at the standard 30° and Psychic Scream (PoS, err... PS) should be avoided. PS should slow your enemies but in action it slows yourself down with nearly 3 seconds of cast time. What's more, it puts you out of place from using better more vital powers.  

 

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by FUBARczar
Wording

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, FUBARczar said:

Lol, it was me =D

In explanation, IMO those cones are narrow at the standard 30° and Psychic Scream (PoS, err... PS) should be avoided. PS should slow your enemies but in action it slows yourself down with nearly 3 seconds of cast time. What's more, it puts you out of place from using better more vital powers.  

 

 

The fun of having endless cones ( and I have done this) is two fold.  You never have to “line up”.  Because you are firing off endless cones you are basically sprayimg a fire hose and just position incrementally.  Second, you can tailor which cones you fire based on what effects you desire more. Granted, the damage is not T9 Nuke then Judgement but it is a lot of AoE and is a fun mini game

[Mopery]

Let's see how many thumbs down I can generate with my personal choice: Assault Rifle

 

Want to sit back and just fire off cone after cone with a relatively inexpensive(less than 100mil) build? Make an AR/MM Hoverblaster with soft-capped Ranged Defense.

[Snarky]

AR is beloved bu some folks.  I always thought I should solo the game on an AR (redside of course) due to the mini game of building forts and then luring spawns to their death with AR/Dev.  Never got around to it

[Wompy]

Another vote for electric

[FUBARczar]

On 8/16/2022 at 9:54 PM, Snarky said:

I got a thumbs  down for saying dark/mental is a cone lovers dream?  Tough crowd lol

For Cone Heaven I would suggest Sonic/TA.

Sonic Blast alone with 3 cones and the add two Target/Location AoEs with Glue Arrow and Oil Slick, and then add another with Bonfire KB>KD...  There is an AoE dream.