Best blapper primaries ?

[netphenix]

Hey folks, 

 

Maybe it's been discussed before (my search-fu is weak before coffee) but what would you say are the best Blaster primaries for a "Blapper" playstyle ?

 

I know sets like Dark or Sonic are considered sub-par because they are mostly cone-based and love range. I'm just curious to know what the consensus would be on the other end of the spectrum - sets that mesh well with melee-intensive secondaries for a "thick of the fight" style.

 

 

[Black_Assassin]

Vanilla take would be Fire Blast of course. You have access to strong AOE with Fireball and big heavy hitters with Blaze and Blazing Bolt. The cherry on top is having the strongest nuke in Inferno by a sizeable margin. Flares is also very good as a fast strong damage per animation filler power. 

 

Meshes will with many melee based secondaries.

[Parabola]

Rad is a classic with Irradiate providing early (and very good) pbaoe and everything else apart from the underwhelming Electron Haze being blap friendly.

 

I kind of like Dual Pistols for blapping too for style points as much as anything. Letting off powers like Bullet Rain and Executioners Shot at point blank range looks great. You can either drop Empty Clips or just take a few paces back to use it.

 

Water is another good blap set. Steam Spray comes late and isn't entirely necessary and standing in your Whirlpool provides a fair amount of mitigation.

[High_Beam]

I am running a DP/MC Blaster and I have a blast with her Blapping.  She (and I) may not be the best at it, there are Blapper specialists out there who I am sure could definitely weigh in on, but my girl is fun as hell to play, jumping and flipping and BoS-ing in and out while cycling through massive amounts of bullets against foolish evil-doers who are distracted by her vivid pink mini-skirt and crop top!  Foolish evil-doers, do not pay attention to these guns, pay attention to THESE guns!

 

😍Di Di Guns

[Nemu]

 

You can run primaries with cones but they just require more work to hop in, punch/kick stuff, then hop out, position/blast stuff. I've done a Dark/Rad in the past and my goal for that build is to use both Positronic Fist and KO blow. So in addition to the cones, she only had softcapped range defense. It's still doable, but requires more movement.

 

Melee blasting doesn't mean staying in melee. You have to be smart and know when to get out. With the upcoming defense changes it'll be even more important to understand the art of movement and when to get out of melee. Range defense will be more important because S/L defense will no longer be able to act as a "catch all" defense as it does now.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Nemu

[PluckySidekick]

1 hour ago, Nemu said:

You can run primaries with cones but they just require more work to hop in, punch/kick stuff, then hop out, position/blast stuff. I've done a Dark/Rad in the past and my goal for that build is to use both Positronic Fist and KO blow. So in addition to the cones, she only had softcapped range defense. It's still doable, but requires more movement.

 

Melee blasting doesn't mean staying in melee. You have to be smart and know when to get out. With the upcoming defense changes it'll be even more important to understand the art of movement and when to get out of melee. Range defense will be more important because S/L defense will no longer be able to act as a "catch all" defense as it does now.

 

I found Combat TP to be really fun in melee when blapping, and especially when using cone attacks. It takes a lil practice but very effective when you get going.

[Troo]

if you can afford it rad/martial or psy/mental can make some mean close rangers

[Astralock]

Fire Blast, Radiation Blast, Dual Pistols, and Psychic Blast are the top four blapping primaries, IMO.  Blapping secondaries, I'd go for Atomic Manipulation, Electricity Manipulation, Mental Manipulation, or Sonic Manipulation.

[netphenix]

Thanks for all the replies. 🙂 Those are great ideas for my next bout of altitis. 😛

 

[Jawbreaker]

My favorite blapper is actually Sonic/Fire. with some stealth I sneak up and sleep the mob with Siren's song, Hop in the middle of the sleeping victims and then let loose with the AoE goodness. The -res from sonic just adds to the melt factor

[Doomguide2005]

The one I was loving before my unwelcome hiatus was an Electric/Fire.  Absolutely silly quantity of PBAoE attacks between the set pair.

[Haijinx]

Energy/ with KB/KD in the AOEs is good for blapping.

 

Good active mitigation from knockdowns

[Ironscarlet]

Sonic primary is not sub par if you want to be in melee the - res just makes your melee better. If you pare it with /ninja which was buffed  a few patches ago which can critical a golden dragonfly for 1-2k damage and follow it is up with a 1-2k knockout blow critical. It’s pretty solid. You also have the option to go full def cap to all at 44%  which very few can do. Still it’s  best suited at 33% def and full damage. Pbaoe Nuke = massive - res = big number follow ups = fun.. 

 

Nothing is better than seeing critical even if it’s not double damage it still fun seeing the word pop up on your blaster.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Ironscarlet

[Frozen Burn]

I love blapping!  I prefer to be in melee range with my blasters than at range.  You can blap with any primary.  You can even use cones wile in the middle of a mob - you only get a section of it, but you can still do it.  Also, moving a few feet to get more in your cone (also mitigating incoming damage) is easy to do as well - just try do it after all your Melee & PBAOEs.  If anything is left alive, they will swarm around you for more Melee / PBAOEs.  

 

Blapping really depends on your secondary and the powers you choose.  Some are better for than other.  Avoid /Devices and /Tactical Arrow.  And while can blap with /Energy, it's a little lack-luster since you don't have any PBAOEs and Total Focus being so slow.   Right now, /Sonic is also lack luster due to Defeaning Wave (PBAOE) being bugged and putting out such low damage and having such shorter range than other blaster sets. Once they fix that, it will be a good set for blapping.  

 

One of my most fun Blappers is Energy/Martial.  

[Ringo]

/Energy looks like the most "punching" you can get out of the secondaries, but it has zero utility or even a sustain toggle

 

Is there a good primary that can pull it along?  My first thought is probably Ice for slows or Dark for -tohit

[FUBARczar]

All but my Beam/ and /TA blasters are blappers.  The best primaries for blapping are preferably something with a good non-cone AoE with at least 1 great range attack, preferably two.  In this light there are a few standouts IMO, Dual Pistols, Elec, Fire, Ice and Rad.

 

I find that the best secondaries are Martial and Temporal.  Although many can also be good like Dark, Elec, Ninja, Mental, Sonic and Stone.

[FUBARczar]

I would not recommend psi/mental or psi/time.  It's better to not be all Psi damage.

 

Psi pairs well with Martial, Elec, or something else with above average AoE damage in the secondary, which is psychic blast's weakness, low DPA AoE.

[Pyriold]

Consider elec/. Slot short circuit for end drain and you could drain mobs pretty fast. It also stops recovery, so you have a bit of time with mobs just moving and not attacking.