Water/Tactical Arrow build.

[Sovera]

I'm not a Blaster expert, but being a bit sick of playing melee I've been puttering around with other ATs. That said I'm no expert so critiques are welcomed.

 

 

One of my dislikes of Blasters is the long recharge on the nuke (yeah, it's petty, I know) with it only available every two spawns. Hence I took Water for:

 

- More recharge with FF procs in Hydro Blast and Water Burst.

- Self-heal to help keep HP up.

 

Tactical Arrow is taken for:

- Good passives to stay fully ranged.

- More recharge with Upthrust and Gymnastics.

- Oil Slick doubling as a second nuke allowing to stagger the use and bypass my peeve of only have a nuke every two spawns. According to Mids Oil Slick actually does more damage than Geyser while also recharging faster (it is a DoT instead of a nuke though so not conducive to solo play).

 

 

The idea is to have 45% ranged and then hover blast fully ranged. Since none of the shields gives Ranged defense and slotting for S/L felt superfluous I chose a S/L resist shield instead. Regardless it is meant to blast from afar and in a team.

 

From what I see I can do an attack chain of Water Jet, Dehydrate, Hydro Blast, start over. This will naturally lead Water Jet to have the repeat mechanic though misses will have it eaten by Dehydrate.

 

For regular play it seems logical to boost the weak link (Tidal Forces) with a Gaussian and then alternate. Upthrust (it does +recharge and Geyser is the slowest nuke so it helps getting it back a little bit sooner), Geyser, dump all the AoE, mop up with ST. Next spawn Tidal Forces, Oil Slick, dump all the AoE (Steam Spray will ignite Oil Slick), mop up with ST.

 

 

Water Blast is notorious for the rubbery ST damage though but perhaps Oil Slick will be the boost it needs. Otherwise Energy/ is a consideration since it too has places to slot FF procs and the damage looks better on the surface (but in practice may suffer from the KB>KD slot).

 

 

Spoiler

https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1623&c=687&a=1374&f=HEX&dc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

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Sovera

[Meknomancer]

My mids is acting up so i just had a quick look over. I run fire/water/archery with ta and the fire is easily my favourite but the water is pretty close despite the piddly st dmg it makes up for it in aoe. You did skip some awesome powers to hit the numbers. Ice arrow will be your best st dps if taken and procced out. Flash arrow gives almost 5% - to hit and only needs an acc/-to hit slotted, open with that and you could instantly drop 5% ranged or just go for a t4 barrier. I love glue arrow, it slots tons of goodies and more importantly slows stuff down when they try to run out of whirlpool/oil slick etc. If you throw out the 2 blessings in gymnastics you could toss 3 thunderstrikes in elec arrow, useful power especially on av's and the dps is surprisingly good. I hate the animation on hydro blast so i always take the tier 1 and that slots some extra - def or gets muled as my defiant barrage set. You have 0 to hit slotted, i'd find a way to throw in at least a kismet if your skipping tactics. Water/ta is a great combo, ta upshot and gymnastics already bump recharge and water burst and geyser used on mobs with ff+rech will give you more than enough that you don't really feel the need to chase recharge bonuses. The biggest problem with this combo is there's so many good powers what do you skip when you run out of slots.

 

As the st damage is so bad on water you really want to build up the stacks or have tidal ready for double tapped water jet.

[Sovera]

29 minutes ago, Meknomancer said:

My mids is acting up so i just had a quick look over. I run fire/water/archery with ta and the fire is easily my favourite but the water is pretty close despite the piddly st dmg it makes up for it in aoe. You did skip some awesome powers to hit the numbers. Ice arrow will be your best st dps if taken and procced out. Flash arrow gives almost 5% - to hit and only needs an acc/-to hit slotted, open with that and you could instantly drop 5% ranged or just go for a t4 barrier. I love glue arrow, it slots tons of goodies and more importantly slows stuff down when they try to run out of whirlpool/oil slick etc. If you throw out the 2 blessings in gymnastics you could toss 3 thunderstrikes in elec arrow, useful power especially on av's and the dps is surprisingly good. I hate the animation on hydro blast so i always take the tier 1 and that slots some extra - def or gets muled as my defiant barrage set. You have 0 to hit slotted, i'd find a way to throw in at least a kismet if your skipping tactics. Water/ta is a great combo, ta upshot and gymnastics already bump recharge and water burst and geyser used on mobs with ff+rech will give you more than enough that you don't really feel the need to chase recharge bonuses. The biggest problem with this combo is there's so many good powers what do you skip when you run out of slots.

 

As the st damage is so bad on water you really want to build up the stacks or have tidal ready for double tapped water jet.

 

Valid. All powers have at least 99% to hit +3 enemies though so no kismet needed unless hitting +4 enemies. I know what you mean about the Ice/Flash arrow but I don't see it the same way. Flash needs to hit the enemies, is affected by purple patch (not just effect but duration of the debuff), and anyone not in range will not be debuffed. Tbh I would rather have the defense numbers.

 

Ice Arrow could indeed warrant being used as an extra to help ST with the help of procs, but I just feel that a Blaster ought to blast, not CC, and as you've pointed out in the last line, any non water skill is not building stacks. I already have a self-contained ST rotation (though weak looking numbers with 312, 400 and 409 which look almost more like Sentinel numbers than Blasters).

 

Edit: took and procced Ice Arrow (four damage procs of which one being the purple Hold damage proc, +3 acc/dmg Hami, +5 damage Apocalypse, so no recharge to maximize procs, ED-ed damage and 95% acc to hit +3 enemies) and ended with 286 damage, same cast time as Hydro Blast. Hydro Blast does KD and has a FF proc in it, but Ice Arrow does a Hold which is useful. In terms of raw power it's not the best ST damage I was sold though 😛 (unless Mids lies which is not uncommon either).

 

 

Glue Arrow does seem to do pretty decent damage for an AoE, and the -speed would stack up nicely with the -speed from Whirlpool. Not sure what I would sacrifice for it though. I could trade Steam Spray for it, but not sure what I'd light Oil Slick with when I am alternating with Geyser instead of using both at the same time. Steam Spray also does a fair bit more damage than Glue Arrow. Hmm...

Edited September 28, 2022 by Sovera

[Meknomancer]

Got my mids working again finally. Looking over the build i'm still not happy but i got in everyhting i wanted despite glue arrow being well short of the slots i wanted. Runs a t4 barrier so i just went for getting close to 45% ranged and try to hop away from melee as much as possible. Did originally have fly but i'm finding way too many enemy factions have fliers now that will get into melee and punch you and cj is just so much more mobility:

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

WATER TA : Level 49 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Water Blast
Secondary Power Set: Tactical Arrow
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1:    Aqua Bolt    
 (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
 (3) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
 (3) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
 (5) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
 (5) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
 (7) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status

Level 1:    Electrified Net Arrow    
 (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
 (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
 (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 2:    Water Burst    
 (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
 (13) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
 (13) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge/Endurance
 (15) Bombardment - Damage
 (15) Bombardment - Accuracy/Recharge/Endurance
 (17) Bombardment - Damage/Recharge

Level 4:    Glue Arrow    
 (A) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage
 (17) Ice Mistral's Torment - Damage/Recharge

Level 6:    Whirlpool    
 (A) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range
 (19) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
 (19) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
 (21) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
 (21) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
 (23) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage

Level 8:    Tidal Forces    
 (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up

Level 10:    Upshot    
 (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge

Level 12:    Dehydrate    
 (A) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
 (23) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
 (25) Apocalypse - Recharge/Accuracy
 (25) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
 (27) Apocalypse - Damage

Level 14:    Super Speed    
 (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
 (27) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

Level 16:    Ice Arrow    
 (A) Superior Entomb - Accuracy/Hold
 (29) Superior Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb
 (29) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage
 (31) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
 (31) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
 (31) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage

Level 18:    Water Jet    
 (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
 (33) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/RechargeTime
 (33) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
 (33) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
 (34) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
 (34) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)

Level 20:    Eagle Eye    
 (A) Power Transfer - Chance to Heal Self
 (34) Performance Shifter - EndMod
 (36) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
 (36) Preventive Medicine - Heal
 (36) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb

Level 22:    Maneuvers    
 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
 (37) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
 (37) Reactive Defenses - Defense
 (37) Reactive Defenses - Defense/Endurance

Level 24:    Kick    
 (A) Empty

Level 26:    Steam Spray    
 (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage
 (39) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
 (39) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
 (39) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
 (40) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
 (40) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage

Level 28:    Gymnastics    
 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 30:    Tough    
Hamidon Origin:Ribosome Exposure
 (42) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

Level 32:    Geyser    
 (A) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
 (42) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
 (42) Bombardment - Accuracy/Recharge/Endurance
 (43) Bombardment - Damage
 (43) Bombardment - Damage/Recharge
 (43) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge

Level 35:    Charged Armor    
Hamidon Origin:Ribosome Exposure
 (45) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 38:    Oil Slick Arrow    
 (A) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range
 (45) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
 (46) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
 (46) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
 (46) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
 (47) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage

Level 41:    Flash Arrow    
 (A) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/ToHit Debuff

Level 44:    Weave    
 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
 (47) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
 (47) Shield Wall - Defense
 (48) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance

Level 47:    Hasten    
 (A) Recharge Reduction IO
 (48) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 49:    Combat Jumping    
 (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
 (49) Kismet - Accuracy +6%

Level 1:    Defiance    
Level 1:    Brawl    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Sprint    
 (A) Empty

Level 2:    Rest    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Swift    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Hurdle    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Health    
 (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
 (9) Miracle - +Recovery
 (11) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery

Level 1:    Stamina    
 (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
 (11) Performance Shifter - EndMod

Level 1:    Combo Level 1    
Level 1:    Combo Level 2    
Level 1:    Combo Level 3    
Level 14:    Speed Phase    
------------

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[Camel]

Hey Sovera! Been awhile. Took a shot at making a Water/Tactical Arrow build that met the pre-reqs.

This one has a little less recharge and recharge potential but is still decent. I have never played this combo but I'm positive between managing Force Feedback opportunities and immediate use of Upshot you could achieve perma-hasten quite easily and also still be able to cycle OSA and Geyser. 

Resistances are a bit lower here, a bit higher there, although, this build has a substantial amount more regen and a moderate amount more HP. Managed to get 45% defense to Ranged and Energy/Negative which is still pretty nice even with Barrier spam these days. I run a lot of 4* ITF/Aeon's and have noticed that it is still a huge advantage vs not building for solid defense and allows for more time in the 100%+ defense range after a death in hard mode TFs. If you didn't want this much defense you could then pull all or most slots out of Aqua Bolt and put some procs in Glue Arrow. 

Not much else to say. Pretty similar build just with all the goodies in there (would be nice for Flash Arrow). I think the slotting in Water Jet could have some fun interactions with a chance for a double BU proc on the recharge reset. Attack chain rotation would probably be something like Water Jet, Dehydrate, Ice Arrow and then either Electrifying Arrow or Aqua Bolt. Throw in a Water Burst every now and then when there are at least 2-3 enemies.

Cheers!

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Water Blast
Secondary Power Set: Tactical Arrow
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Aqua Bolt

• (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (3) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (5) Superior Winter's Bite - Recharge/Chance for -Speed & -Recharge

Level 1: Electrified Net Arrow

• (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
• (7) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
• (31) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (34) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (36) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (36) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status

Level 2: Water Burst

• (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (7) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (9) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (9) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (11) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (11) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge

Level 4: Glue Arrow

• D-Sync Origin:D-Sync Optimization

Level 6: Whirlpool

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (13) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (13) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (31) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (46) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (50) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 8: Tidal Forces

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 10: Upshot

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
• (46) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 12: Dehydrate

• (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage
• (15) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (23) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (46) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage

Level 14: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (15) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 16: Ice Arrow

• Hamidon Origin:Nucleolus Exposure
• (19) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage
• (19) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
• (21) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (21) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
• (23) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage

Level 18: Water Jet

• (A) Apocalypse - Damage
• (29) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (31) Apocalypse - Recharge/Accuracy
• (48) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
• (50) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (50) Decimation - Chance of Build Up

Level 20: Eagle Eye

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
• (43) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (43) Preventive Medicine - Heal/Endurance
• (43) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
• (45) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge

Level 22: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (27) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (48) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage

Level 24: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
• (48) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 26: Evasive Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 28: Steam Spray

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (37) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (37) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (37) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (42) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 30: Gymnastics

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 32: Geyser

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (33) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (33) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (33) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (34) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 35: Boxing

• (A) Empty

Level 38: Oil Slick Arrow

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (39) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (39) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (40) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 41: Tough

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (36) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP

Level 44: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 47: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 49: Dark Embrace

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
• (27) Titanium Coating - Resistance
• (29) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance

Level 1: Defiance 

Level 1: Brawl

Edited September 30, 2022 by Camel

[Camel]

This is something that looks fun too. Archery/Tactical Arrow.

No heal, but most of my favorite blasters don't heal. I opted to not proc out Ice Arrow, but it could easily procced out at the loss of some defensive stats. I have an Archery/Radiation Corrupter and I don't notice the lack of a 3rd hard hitter in my attack chain. Also had space for Flash Arrow which is a huge tactical tool in many situations.

What's sort of cool about this build is how built it is by level 20 in terms of primary/secondary powers, with your two nukes being the only two damaging powers left out. My Archery/Radiation Corrupter had hilariously OP AoE in Posi 1 and 2, Synapse, etc. Procced out Explosive Arrow and Fistful of Arrows is a huge AoE nuke at level 20 and is practically spammable every mob. Add in a procced Glue Arrow and now you have 3 AoE proc nukes that have an activation time of 1.17 seconds or lower. These sort of fall off in terms of damage in later levels but are still respectable in their own right.

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.6
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Archery
Secondary Power Set: Tactical Arrow
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Snap Shot

• (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (3) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (11) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (11) Superior Winter's Bite - Recharge/Chance for -Speed & -Recharge

Level 1: Electrified Net Arrow

• (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
• (43) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (43) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (45) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (46) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status

Level 2: Glue Arrow

• (A) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (7) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (36) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (37) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (37) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (37) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage

Level 4: Fistful of Arrows

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (5) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (5) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (7) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (9) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (9) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 6: Blazing Arrow

• (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage
• (13) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
• (15) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (15) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage

Level 8: Aim

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 10: Upshot

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
• (13) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 12: Explosive Arrow

• Hamidon Origin:Nucleolus Exposure
• (19) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (21) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (21) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown
• (23) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge

Level 14: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (23) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 16: Flash Arrow

• Hamidon Origin:Lysosome Exposure

Level 18: Ranged Shot

• (A) Apocalypse - Damage
• (25) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (25) Apocalypse - Recharge/Accuracy
• (27) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
• (27) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (29) Decimation - Chance of Build Up

Level 20: Eagle Eye

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
• (29) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (31) Preventive Medicine - Heal/RechargeTime
• (31) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
• (31) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge

Level 22: Hover

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (33) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (33) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage

Level 24: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
• (33) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 26: Evasive Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 28: Gymnastics

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (46) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
• (50) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 30: Boxing

• (A) Empty

Level 32: Rain of Arrows

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (34) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (34) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (36) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (36) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal)

Level 35: Tough

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
• (46) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP

Level 38: Oil Slick Arrow

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (39) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (39) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (40) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range

Level 41: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 44: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge

Level 47: Ice Arrow

• (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
• (48) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
• (48) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
• (48) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold

Level 49: Dark Embrace

• Hamidon Origin:Ribosome Exposure

Level 1: Defiance 

Level 1: Brawl

Edited September 30, 2022 by Camel

[Sovera]

I ended up leveling this the old fashioned way. The leveling was not hard since I was teamed. The damage... well, it's not great. Like, about Sentinel damage in terms of single target, but it does clear in AoE with soft CC pretty decently and the heal from Dehydrate works very well in keeping the character up (for example the pylon tests required no inspirations to survive and it was not uncommon to be dropped to yellow and heal back to full).

 

The sturdiness is good too. Doing normal ITF at +3 and soloing cysts is pretty good in my book. The pylon hurt more because all its attacks are AoE and the defenses are for Ranged, but the heals kept the character up.

 

 

Oil Slick is a bit of a mixed bag. Tested on a pylon the initial hit is 605 followed by about 150 ticks (yep, 150, though they roll to hit) for 6.05 damage which makes 907 damage making about 1500 all Fire damage total over a period of about 15 seconds.

 

To compare Geyser does 192 Fire plus 64 Smashing followed by 11 ticks of 17.46 damage making for a total of 448 over a period of 5 seconds.

 

... that's pretty weak. But it's without combo points. Using Geyser with 3 combo points changes the damage to 72 Smashing, 216 Fire, 72 Fire, followed by 11 ticks of 24.61 Fire for a total of 630. Still weak but worth pondering using Tidal Waves with Geyser instead of using Upshot for the 30% faster recharge for Geyser to come back sooner.

 

 

Oil Slick is thus a pretty decent pseudo nuke despite its DoT nature not really working well with the current CoH rush rush meta, but it feels good being able to alternate nuke and pseudo nuke in a team and always have something instead of nuking every couple of spawns while always grumbling if someone gets their nuke/judgement off making that once-every-two-spawns moment wasted.

 

This part of the build I liked and would do again.

 

 

The ST damage is the ugly part though. Pylon tests at 4:20 and 4:48 are pretty much Sentinel level, but, it's the price to pay for Dehydrate. Seriously, even not slotted for heals Dehydrate heals for 4 ticks of 33 HP making 132 HP  every 3-4 seconds.  With three combos it goes to four ticks of 50 HP totalling 200 HP. I currently have 1671 HP so a regular Dehydrate heals for nearly 8% per use making Water a good choice to go around surviving bad odds, and this does not account for using the combo points when things are dire. In AoE mode when soloing it was not uncommon to slip Dehydrate between AoEs to keep my HP up.

 

 

After leveling I've changed a few things around. Things I've noticed:

 

- Almost 3 EPS is not enough when in full AoE mode (though lasts indefinitely in ST mode). Probably wants Musculature 33% for a bit more income though the few times I plumbed by blue bar I just used a Recovery Serum. In a team this was not necessary but it was when I parted ways to solo stuff that required vast uses of AoE.

- Oil Slick can be annoying and the ultimate troll is seeing 'miss' when trying to light it on fire. I did not feel the mobs were as Fear-ed by it as when using Burn since they did not run off as much. The Slow can be noticed but they hardly ever were KD.

- Steam Spray is the only way the build has to light Oil Slick so keep that in min when it's its turn. Glue Arrow would definitely feel better instead of a 'short' range Cone, but, Oil Slick.

- Oil slick has a delay between being cast, showing up, and actually be targetable. This is noticeable if using Oil Slick and then queueing Steam Spray/Geyser with them being used but the slick not being lit. I've taken to always cast a skill after Oil Slick and before using Steam Spray/Geyser. During the pylon test I would Oil Slick, Upshot, Tidal Wave, Geyser, as casting all these skills gave Oil Slick time.

- I made a few binds for the build to be as hands free for me to drive. They might not be the best for everyone though (obviously change the keybinds to your preference):

/bind lshift+4 powexec_location target oil slick arrow

/bind lshift+1 powexec_location target whirlpool

 

 

In conclusion I felt the build was good to survive. I would not necessarily say it was good to -solo- though, for that I would recommend taking Ice Arrow to shut down problematic targets, just in case. The single target is definitely not amezeballs but it's an AoEcentric build and it can spend a lot of time just throwing AoE after AoE with barely any ST skills used, so if someone feels CoH is an AoE game then this will work fine, but if someone feels that CoH is a ST game then this will not be it.

 

But even so other sets might do as good or better AoE (Fire, for example, does everything well, -and- it would light Oil Slick without much input on our side) so I feel that Dehydrate is pretty much the star of the show.

 

 

Lastly I'm not a Blaster expert and others have chimed and added their own version of this so take those into consideration.

 

Spoiler

https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1769&c=726&a=1452&f=HEX&dc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