Best solo blaster in the game...?

[Nostromo21]

Just started a Dark/Temp blaster as a sort of thematic hero, just for fun, doubt I'll get her to 50, with my rampant alt-o-holism he he.

 

Which led me to thinking...what is in fact the best solo AT/build for killing at range consistently? Is it in fact a blaster, or a defender perhaps, or a sentinel, Kheldian, Dominator, Corruptor,, or even some MM build perhaps...? Obviously, extreme glass canon builds are out of the running, as it has to be playable solo to 50 & have a decent TTK/TTL overall, so it doesn't become overly squishy & frustrating at any particular levels or content.

 

What does everyone think is the CoH #1 Top Gun, if there is such a thing?

[Sovera]

I'd go with Sentinel for soloing. I'm currently leveling a blaster and it's fine, but the one time I tried to fight Knives of Artemis I got stunnedheldstunnedheld within the first seconds of combat. It can be fixed later on, but a Sentinel has it fixed since level 10.

 

Tbh I wouldn't even use ranged for soloing because mobs will just run off once at 20% HP and it's a needless pain to go through.

[Six-Six]

I would go with a corruptor, but not for the reason(s) you might expect. But just to be clear, "best" in anything is a rather sweeping generalisation that will surely cause some controversy. Anyhoo...

With regards to @Sovera's vote for Sentinels... sure, Sentinels have the armour to withstand most attacks. but the caveat to that is they tend to lack damage to earn the title "best" range killer. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Sentinels. I have some that can do comparable damage to blasters (and some that even surpass SOME of MY blasters), but at the cost of their sturdiness. It's fairly difficult to have it both ways. I doubt that it's impossible, but certainly challenging.

Blasters, while bringing the pain, can -thanks to set bonuses, epics, and tertiary pools- can also be built tough enough. In fact, I have 2 blasters that have completed the Ironman challenge. I also have 3 other blasters that came very close, only dying at 49 for some stupid reason like lag or falling off the edge... hardly a worthy death, but a death is a death. However, the reason why I don't consider blasters to be the king of range killers is because most of them want to blap, which is melee and not range. Blasters bring the pain from a far or up close.

Which brings me to the Corruptor (the Fender's evil brother). Corruptors can bring it as much as blasters because of their Scourge mechanic. They have other tools aside from armour to help them be survivable, and it makes for some interesting game play, even when some of the tricks in their arsenal are for allies only. The main reason why I think Corrs should take the title is that they are primarily limited to range. So in a way, Corrs win by default because of this limitation. They just edged a nose hair or two above Defenders who prioritise utility over damage in much the same way Sentinels make you prioritise taking a punch over giving one,; and Doms and Blasters are "disqualified" because they do damage in melee as well.

This of course does not take into consideration VEATs and HEATs... which are called "Epic" ATs for a reason. @Voltak's Fortunatas, for instance, are things to be feared (think Sentinels... on steriods... with anger issues... on their period) 😃

[FUBARczar]

Blaster all the way!

 

For pure soloing I would pick Temporal manipulation and add your favorite blast set.  

 

Temporal manipulation + acrobatics means that you get 2 pts of stun and hold protection, and then you can also easily reach 100% slow resist.

 

Then you just put the blaster ATO in the T1 or 2 boat power for additional status protection.   

[Voltak]

2 hours ago, Six-Six said:

This of course does not take into consideration VEATs and HEATs... which are called "Epic" ATs for a reason. @Voltak's Fortunatas, for instance, are things to be feared (think Sentinels... on steriods... with anger issues... on their period) 😃

Regarding the question posted by the OP --

"Best" is determined by the player, the driver not the car.   Your skills and your style will pick your combo. 

Yes, Fortunatas are extremely powerful. Considering that without Aim and without Follow up, you can carry in your build a 65% dmg buff
And, in addition to that, they are armored, they pretty much are sentinels but on steroids. 
They also carry an arsenal of controls not just blasts. 

But, if your skills are up to par, and your build as well, Dominators can be extremely powerful as well.   But Dominators don't always kill from range. 
They are also S tier for dmg. 

Also, Corruptors are also very powerful.  
A Kinetics corruptor is a sight to behold when in the right hands and with the right build.  As far as dmg goes, they can be on par with blasters or when fully stacked of dmg buffs and scourge, they can surpass blasters solo, but that's situational. 

Blasters are the kings or range dmg.  They were designed to be kings of range dmg.  Everything in the designing the development of blasters was made exactly for the purpose of placing them in that role. 

Your survival as a blaster is 90% based on skill, then comes your build, and your secondary. 
What one player can do with a blaster is not necessarily what another can do given the same blaster.   Skill matters a lot. 

I don't even place sentinels here. 
Everything above can do better than a Sentinel. 
 

[FUBARczar]

1 hour ago, Voltak said:

Regarding the question posted by the OP --

"Best" is determined by the player, the driver not the car.   Your skills and your style will pick your combo. 

Yes, Fortunatas are extremely powerful. Considering that without Aim and without Follow up, you can carry in your build a 65% dmg buff
And, in addition to that, they are armored, they pretty much are sentinels but on steroids. 
They also carry an arsenal of controls not just blasts. 

But, if your skills are up to par, and your build as well, Dominators can be extremely powerful as well.   But Dominators don't always kill from range. 
They are also S tier for dmg. 

Also, Corruptors are also very powerful.  
A Kinetics corruptor is a sight to behold when in the right hands and with the right build.  As far as dmg goes, they can be on par with blasters or when fully stacked of dmg buffs and scourge, they can surpass blasters solo, but that's situational. 

Blasters are the kings or range dmg.  They were designed to be kings of range dmg.  Everything in the designing the development of blasters was made exactly for the purpose of placing them in that role. 

Your survival as a blaster is 90% based on skill, then comes your build, and your secondary. 
What one player can do with a blaster is not necessarily what another can do given the same blaster.   Skill matters a lot. 

I don't even place sentinels here. 
Everything above can do better than a Sentinel. 
 

We can also drop pillow, err marshmallow hands, the HEATs.

[Sovera]

Voltak's point of view is from someone who does four star hardmodes in 30 minutes with three deaths. Not sure it applies to someone who makes a post asking what ranged character to solo with.

 

Sentinels remain a good choice for anyone who is not ready or able to build expensive or complicated, or be ready to drive said builds.

 

 

That does not mean his advice is to be ignored, but adjust the advice to the person being advised.

[Sir Myshkin]

Anyone can cook, but to cook well takes practice.

 

My favorite ranged build is Ice/Atomic on a Blaster. It can do most of its shenanigans from ranged, two AoE's are TLAoE (one of which is the Nuke), and it can stack up to three abilities with a hold component on top of an AoE that bursts a Mag 2 hold.

 

Seismic/Earth on a Blaster is also looking to be a strong heavy-hitting combination with an assortment of soft-control in Knockdowns and a lot of hard hitting attacks, very hard hitting. Stalagmite and Seismic Smash can easily result in 4-digit hits on a debuffed enemy.

 

And don't think you have to take glass cannons out of the running, some times the right combination of powders can get just the right type of burn! A Mad King Special lives in the realm of BU > Aim perma cycles, taps Force of Nature like candy, and doesn't understand what it means to live below 200% recharge. Here is an example:

Spoiler

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
		|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
		|MxDz;1888;791;1582;HEX;|
		|78DA75944B4F13511480CF74A662814A4B41DEAFCAA3D0072D8222A818B526489B1|
		|049745927EDD04E1CDBA61D14962EFC0D262AAC354657C6B875AF7B1357C6B54A62|
		|E2B69EDE3327DE29E92433F7BBE7DCF36E6F76FF66F797CF996BA0F86F587ABD9EB|
		|B8E5FDBA879B37AD1CC033E81AC5E98DC32CBC5C99DAA913775AB038523CEB1DC1D|
		|BD5C340A8974D9A8150FC838C2BA9DBD6AB552B31369CBC8DB35336FDA07B9AC5E3|
		|6AB7B966E9B957270B35C326A46D94E30F46E572A56E256A596377295DDDC3DD3B2|
		|7A842863E805A3562F99D54EB1C7548C829F4E9BC5928DE9F5A6AB66DEB1CD8A040|
		|E0631D328BEABE07A1A5EFC6800290D3CE0615009FA4063F0120CC3538F80428B1B|
		|7C8741682EE1A2C80114B84036676189601C9609666185200517199C0006DAAAB21|
		|B15EE3703F880820B88D2D9539043C95C131E5012A721A20A58C3BDF77F3E0DAF17|
		|9E93E60CBC607849108043825E386270B25947DB0E399B0E487A9C4831824E48302|
		|C1274438AC17113461F3E45EA9A4FCC046BB98C4B971440E9624D005E937111F77E|
		|39073F3762985B33CA8D18E5468C7323A638877A04A0479E5C0F7C424D48031B354|
		|15913846F64B38BDB9094B7168223CD717B48700E1E83031B14711EA649F208FDF6|
		|4B7ED57EE8579C5F44906050B8171025A3122E0372AB06B821416CE290EC6E88DD8|
		|DC34AF3D7AC62E82DCEE10FC1D5E61F5572E71D81F794F8347C60F8C815845547F2|
		|9D60819B17C2D8637256631C72039709292B6D022E93CD24AC32AC31AC7B9CEE5D2|
		|1788371C272EBC35C9385DB1979EA333CEC591EFF2CE878764C833978484673B0E9|
		|71204D1598783422372D02FB6494821F9ABBC8383C21376FD1362A55AB46451FB1D|
		|A18435C0C69AC69B44491DEE192908D12628B9A45E10C135E8418439CA00FFB9A94|
		|EB4F72FD539AEB3E693446B513374F031FC8B4916F6BEEFB083742FEB313E58A4B1|
		|EA7F9FF3AA98990E6778BC6A3C014551D83BB8A03B715F1173C6E398B7CCC8DFE4B|
		|B0B5E0AEBAB1D0A686641B79AA8DFC7C1BF9721BB92FE0BE6C1BCF4298A02CC8340|
		|5F2185E855B045F5B4F1CCDBBAF93C63F726CF54A|
		|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

 

[FUBARczar]

2 hours ago, Sovera said:

Voltak's point of view is from someone who does four star hardmodes in 30 minutes with three deaths. Not sure it applies to someone who makes a post asking what ranged character to solo with.

 

Sentinels remain a good choice for anyone who is not ready or able to build expensive or complicated, or be ready to drive said builds.

 

 

That does not mean his advice is to be ignored, but adjust the advice to the person being advised.

Teaming with @Voltak on the regular, I would say that his PoV is coming from 4* in 30mins with 3 deaths.  His PoV is coming from a CoX vet who specializes in range characters, especially Corruptors and Defenders with controllers and Dominators right on their heels.

 

Volt does a wide variety of content including soloing.

[FUBARczar]

1 hour ago, Sir Myshkin said:

Anyone can cook, but to cook well takes practice.

 

My favorite ranged build is Ice/Atomic on a Blaster. It can do most of its shenanigans from ranged, two AoE's are TLAoE (one of which is the Nuke), and it can stack up to three abilities with a hold component on top of an AoE that bursts a Mag 2 hold.

 

Seismic/Earth on a Blaster is also looking to be a strong heavy-hitting combination with an assortment of soft-control in Knockdowns and a lot of hard hitting attacks, very hard hitting. Stalagmite and Seismic Smash can easily result in 4-digit hits on a debuffed enemy.

 

And don't think you have to take glass cannons out of the running, some times the right combination of powders can get just the right type of burn! A Mad King Special lives in the realm of BU > Aim perma cycles, taps Force of Nature like candy, and doesn't understand what it means to live below 200% recharge. Here is an example:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
		|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
		|MxDz;1888;791;1582;HEX;|
		|78DA75944B4F13511480CF74A662814A4B41DEAFCAA3D0072D8222A818B526489B1|
		|049745927EDD04E1CDBA61D14962EFC0D262AAC354657C6B875AF7B1357C6B54A62|
		|E2B69EDE3327DE29E92433F7BBE7DCF36E6F76FF66F797CF996BA0F86F587ABD9EB|
		|B8E5FDBA879B37AD1CC033E81AC5E98DC32CBC5C99DAA913775AB038523CEB1DC1D|
		|BD5C340A8974D9A8150FC838C2BA9DBD6AB552B31369CBC8DB35336FDA07B9AC5E3|
		|6AB7B966E9B957270B35C326A46D94E30F46E572A56E256A596377295DDDC3DD3B2|
		|7A842863E805A3562F99D54EB1C7548C829F4E9BC5928DE9F5A6AB66DEB1CD8A040|
		|E0631D328BEABE07A1A5EFC6800290D3CE0615009FA4063F0120CC3538F80428B1B|
		|7C8741682EE1A2C80114B84036676189601C9609666185200517199C0006DAAAB21|
		|B15EE3703F880820B88D2D9539043C95C131E5012A721A20A58C3BDF77F3E0DAF17|
		|9E93E60CBC607849108043825E386270B25947DB0E399B0E487A9C4831824E48302|
		|C1274438AC17113461F3E45EA9A4FCC046BB98C4B971440E9624D005E937111F77E|
		|39073F3762985B33CA8D18E5468C7323A638877A04A0479E5C0F7C424D48031B354|
		|15913846F64B38BDB9094B7168223CD717B48700E1E83031B14711EA649F208FDF6|
		|4B7ED57EE8579C5F44906050B8171025A3122E0372AB06B821416CE290EC6E88DD8|
		|DC34AF3D7AC62E82DCEE10FC1D5E61F5572E71D81F794F8347C60F8C815845547F2|
		|9D60819B17C2D8637256631C72039709292B6D022E93CD24AC32AC31AC7B9CEE5D2|
		|1788371C272EBC35C9385DB1979EA333CEC591EFF2CE878764C833978484673B0E9|
		|71204D1598783422372D02FB6494821F9ABBC8383C21376FD1362A55AB46451FB1D|
		|A18435C0C69AC69B44491DEE192908D12628B9A45E10C135E8418439CA00FFB9A94|
		|EB4F72FD539AEB3E693446B513374F031FC8B4916F6BEEFB083742FEB313E58A4B1|
		|EA7F9FF3AA98990E6778BC6A3C014551D83BB8A03B715F1173C6E398B7CCC8DFE4B|
		|B0B5E0AEBAB1D0A686641B79AA8DFC7C1BF9721BB92FE0BE6C1BCF4298A02CC8340|
		|5F2185E855B045F5B4F1CCDBBAF93C63F726CF54A|
		|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

 

 

The all was for all range.

 

For an ultimate hover blaster one should consider the following secondaries:

T1: Devices, Tactical

T2: Energy, Plant 

 

Worst range synergy 

Atomic, Dark, Mental 

 

[Sir Myshkin]

2 hours ago, FUBARczar said:

The all was for all range.

Technically they asked for two things, something that would solo well and be able to attack “at range consistently”, but not exclusively.

 

there is value in understanding how to keep a build from getting stuck in a corner. There is also value in recognizing that a build will get stuck with a few powers it may not plan on using on the regular, so make them useful choices, and if that choice happens to be something that can hit for 1,000 points of damage, then make it so.

 

There is also no mention of being a “Hover Blaster.” This is an assumption, and a poor one to make.

 

I play my Ice/Atomic near exclusively at range when allowed, but I also am aware the game will not permit me to spend every mission and moment outside of melee, thus the tools in my secondary open up survival options in stacking holds and an additional AoE that is more useful than most on that side. This character also does not fly, it uses SS for movement.

 

When I mentioned Seismic/Earth, again another set that I play at range, with SS as it’s travel, and I “kite” the character in and out of melee a lot to utilize his harder hitting tools.

 

Now if someone truly wanted a pure “maximum all range” character, then I would tell them to choose Dark Blast because it has the greatest range on its attacks compared to any other blast set. As for secondary though my opinion still stands it’s best to choose one that is most accommodating to the primary and keeping the character alive in a wider spectrum of odds while fitting the player’s skills and needs.

[Sovera]

3 hours ago, FUBARczar said:

Teaming with @Voltak on the regular, I would say that his PoV is coming from 4* in 30mins with 3 deaths.  His PoV is coming from a CoX vet who specializes in range characters, especially Corruptors and Defenders with controllers and Dominators right on their heels.

 

Volt does a wide variety of content including soloing.

 

You're missing my point. I respect Voltak's knowledge and understanding of builds and how to drive them. What I -am- saying is that a player at the level of asking which Blaster is best to solo with is not someone who ought to be dissuaded from a Sentinel.

 

There are different levels just like simply blindly copying a meta build will not ensure the same result compared to an advanced player. Which is why I stated it was all good advice (even the part about the Sentinels), but my caveat stands IMO.

[TygerDarkstorm]

13 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

You're missing my point. I respect Voltak's knowledge and understanding of builds and how to drive them. What I -am- saying is that a player at the level of asking which Blaster is best to solo with is not someone who ought to be dissuaded from a Sentinel.

 

There are different levels just like simply blindly copying a meta build will not ensure the same result compared to an advanced player. Which is why I stated it was all good advice (even the part about the Sentinels), but my caveat stands IMO.

I, for one, appreciate these sorts of distinctions. While I respect Voltak's opinions, he plays at a level that is not necessarily obtainable and/or desirable for some of us players. Sometimes asking for an AT that can solo its way to 50 doesn't mean being able to run at +4/x8 and solo AV's/GM's or whatever. Sometimes it just means being able to get through the content from 1-50 without teaming, for which a Sentinel is capable of doing, and a decent option for average/casual players like myself.

 

As Sovera said, it doesn't make Voltak's advice bad or anything, but his advice caters to a subset of players that must be considered when reading his posts. 🙂 He is absolutely the person I would turn to if I ever felt like optimizing a hard mode character and developing elite gaming skills.

 

Part of what makes these threads interesting is the mix of response types it brings, making both Voltak's and Sovera's opinions valuable because they cover different things for different players who might be lurking here and reading out of curiosity. 🙂

[Unclemarty]

For pure survivability, you’re probably looking at a blaster that prefers to stay at range -often discussed as hover blasting. Being at range let’s you build just for ranged/aoe defense and still maintain high survivability. 
 

There are multiple options for blaster primary and secondary that are all ranged. 
 

For killing AV One of the high damage options that I like is ice blast. It has extremely high single target DPA so it can chew through AV regen and whittle them down eventually. 
 

There are videos, builds and examples here on the forms of blasters soloing AV and task forces to give you a sense of what sets are optimal at the high end.

 

For leveling survivability - many people pick fighting for tough & weave. Weave especially helps hit the ranged defense soft cap. Sorcery for rune of protection is also good as an emergency button or as a break free because it offers mez protection.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Unclemarty

[FUBARczar]

6 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

Technically they asked for two things, something that would solo well and be able to attack “at range consistently”, but not exclusively.

 

there is value in understanding how to keep a build from getting stuck in a corner. There is also value in recognizing that a build will get stuck with a few powers it may not plan on using on the regular, so make them useful choices, and if that choice happens to be something that can hit for 1,000 points of damage, then make it so.

 

There is also no mention of being a “Hover Blaster.” This is an assumption, and a poor one to make.

 

I play my Ice/Atomic near exclusively at range when allowed, but I also am aware the game will not permit me to spend every mission and moment outside of melee, thus the tools in my secondary open up survival options in stacking holds and an additional AoE that is more useful than most on that side. This character also does not fly, it uses SS for movement.

 

When I mentioned Seismic/Earth, again another set that I play at range, with SS as it’s travel, and I “kite” the character in and out of melee a lot to utilize his harder hitting tools.

 

Now if someone truly wanted a pure “maximum all range” character, then I would tell them to choose Dark Blast because it has the greatest range on its attacks compared to any other blast set. As for secondary though my opinion still stands it’s best to choose one that is most accommodating to the primary and keeping the character alive in a wider spectrum of odds while fitting the player’s skills and needs.

If you are familiar with me at all,  a true Blaster is a Blapper.  All range blaster is a waste unless it's a /TA or Dev Blaster. 

 

All range, “at range consistently" is a waste of the high DPA melee attacks.  And in the case of Atomic a complete waste of Beta Decay, which is the uniqueness that Atomic has to offer. 

 

Hover blaster was given as an option if they really wanted to play at range.  Thus suggesting Dev and TA because they don't need to be in melee.  

 

What's more, if one primarily plays at range then they build for range, which means they aren't built for melee.  Such builds make melee fighting much riskier, including kiting.  It also means that one is taking and slotting powers that they rarely use.  It's kind of wasteful.

 

[FUBARczar]

6 hours ago, Sovera said:

 

You're missing my point. I respect Voltak's knowledge and understanding of builds and how to drive them. What I -am- saying is that a player at the level of asking which Blaster is best to solo with is not someone who ought to be dissuaded from a Sentinel.

 

There are different levels just like simply blindly copying a meta build will not ensure the same result compared to an advanced player. Which is why I stated it was all good advice (even the part about the Sentinels), but my caveat stands IMO.

All I did was correct your PoV on Volt and add context to your misguided opinion,

"Voltak's point of view is from someone who does four star hardmodes in 30 minutes with three deaths. Not sure it applies to someone who makes a post asking what ranged character to solo with."

 

That's not a caveat, that's a blanket.  

 

 

[FUBARczar]

18 hours ago, Sovera said:

I'd go with Sentinel for soloing. I'm currently leveling a blaster and it's fine, but the one time I tried to fight Knives of Artemis I got stunnedheldstunnedheld within the first seconds of combat. It can be fixed later on, but a Sentinel has it fixed since level 10.

 

Tbh I wouldn't even use ranged for soloing because mobs will just run off once at 20% HP and it's a needless pain to go through.

Using Sovera logic, 

"Sovera's point of view is from someone who can't solo with a blaster. Not sure it applies to someone who makes a post asking what ranged character to solo with in the Blaster sub-forum."

 

I mean who would want to use range attacks to kill runners? 

 

 

[FUBARczar]

6 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I, for one, appreciate these sorts of distinctions. While I respect Voltak's opinions, he plays at a level that is not necessarily obtainable and/or desirable for some of us players. Sometimes asking for an AT that can solo its way to 50 doesn't mean being able to run at +4/x8 and solo AV's/GM's or whatever. Sometimes it just means being able to get through the content from 1-50 without teaming, for which a Sentinel is capable of doing, and a decent option for average/casual players like myself.

 

As Sovera said, it doesn't make Voltak's advice bad or anything, but his advice caters to a subset of players that must be considered when reading his posts. 🙂 He is absolutely the person I would turn to if I ever felt like optimizing a hard mode character and developing elite gaming skills.

 

Part of what makes these threads interesting is the mix of response types it brings, making both Voltak's and Sovera's opinions valuable because they cover different things for different players who might be lurking here and reading out of curiosity. 🙂

As of his advice is only from such a narrow point of view. 🤣🤡

[MaximusPrime]

8 hours ago, Sir Myshkin said:

Technically they asked for two things, something that would solo well and be able to attack “at range consistently”, but not exclusively.

 

there is value in understanding how to keep a build from getting stuck in a corner. There is also value in recognizing that a build will get stuck with a few powers it may not plan on using on the regular, so make them useful choices, and if that choice happens to be something that can hit for 1,000 points of damage, then make it so.

 

There is also no mention of being a “Hover Blaster.” This is an assumption, and a poor one to make.

 

I play my Ice/Atomic near exclusively at range when allowed, but I also am aware the game will not permit me to spend every mission and moment outside of melee, thus the tools in my secondary open up survival options in stacking holds and an additional AoE that is more useful than most on that side. This character also does not fly, it uses SS for movement.

 

When I mentioned Seismic/Earth, again another set that I play at range, with SS as it’s travel, and I “kite” the character in and out of melee a lot to utilize his harder hitting tools.

 

Now if someone truly wanted a pure “maximum all range” character, then I would tell them to choose Dark Blast because it has the greatest range on its attacks compared to any other blast set. As for secondary though my opinion still stands it’s best to choose one that is most accommodating to the primary and keeping the character alive in a wider spectrum of odds while fitting the player’s skills and needs.

Technically they never said "not exclusively" at range, that is a poor assumption to make.

 

As fubar pointed out, it's better to build with a goal in mind.  if one is to blast at range "consistently" then do that.

 

And note to self, don't listen to @Soveraa about blasters.

[MaximusPrime]

Best IMHO:

Blaster

Corruptor

Defender

Controller 

Sentinels

VEATs

 

[Nostromo21]

Wow. Didn't expect a simple post/question to spark this much debate! 🙂

I actually watched Voltak's Dark/Dark Dominator wiping the floor with some 54 Incarnates after posting this - the gameplay, along with several points in this thread, is well above my head & experience with the game lol!

 

To elaborate on some follow-up points: I'd love to hover-blast and never let the mobs get close if I could, but I gather that's a cowardly & inefficient way to play even a Blaster he he.

For context, I have an Ill/Dark troller at almost 40 (I did get a ice/fire blaster to mid 40s back in the day), and that's my highest. I have never gotten a character to 50 & I guess I could easily power through to 50 with the troller (gotta love range+pets+perma-stealth+debuffs!), if it wasn't for my rampant alt-o-holism...I also have a beast/nature MM at 26 & a PB at 22, Widow at 16, WS at 18, all of which I have enjoyed to various degrees. Have tried a couple Defenders more recently - poison/energy Spider-Woman theme hero & a Storm/Dark, also just started a Dark/TM blaster last night after reading some other posts, which I can't comment about yet being only level 4 heh. I do also love stealth, but having tried a few stalkers, you are pretty much in melee range after the alpha, and quite squishy I found with several primary/2ndary combos I tried - taking on more than 3 or 4 mobs was always a hospital sentence for me, and yes, it's probably just my play style, or lack thereof! 😉 All of my other 20 cosplay heroes are under 10...*blush*. My other criteria is getting around quickly & easily - I mostly prefer Flight so usually grab Hover at some point, although I appreciate Teleport to be quicker after trying it on one of the defenders recently - love that hover-in-place-on-arrival was added in until you do something - I don't recall that on live & remember I kept tele-falling constantly :D.

 

However, I am getting on in years, and my reflexes and reaction time ain't what it used to be, ahem, (although I still play Warframe daily), so just keep that in mind please. So, I'm basically an older, time-limited, wannabe power-gamer, who only plays casually but does love all things spandex & this game (may the Gods bless you Homecoming - I was almost inconsolable after Marvel Heroes got shut down!). Thanks for all your help & lots of food for thought so far.

 

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Nostromo21

[Six-Six]

I will second @Sovera's assertion on how forgiving Sentinels are.

I myself learned the game on that AT, and if it wasn't for the Sentinel, I wouldn't be enjoying this game as much. Depending on you how comfortable you are in playing solo and the difficulty settings, you can opt to balance his armour with damage and possibly pick up a few utility powers on the way (elec mastery has an ally heal for Sents). Hover is another line of defense, not just in the percentage having it on gives, but the physical sense that melee can't reach you if you're even 10 feet in the air.

Soloing, you're literally "on your own." and I think this is requires two things to be enjoyable:

One is survivability... this means being able to take an enemy's attacks because some of their attacks WILL statistically hit you. You may also want either an outright mez protection in a form of a toggle or clicky, or a way to shorten the duration of status effects at least. A self heal clicky or some form of "enhanced" HP regeneration. and of course having enough stamina/endurance to live through all of it. There are many different ways to do this, and there is no one correct answer. But take my word for it, running from the hospital table back to the mission door IS NOT fun. defeating your foes is fun, completing mission objectives is fun and not dying to keep on doing them makes more sense.

The second is strategy. (You thought I was going to say damage). When you solo, you have to size up the enemy if you can take him or bypass him. mobs, even small ones, can easily overwhelm little ole you. so be smart. Crowd control becomes very useful (blasters have a good enough selection of these). Some attacks have an extra effect baked into them like holds, immobilise, -to hit. Those become more pronounced when you're on your own. I know I vouched for corruptors earlier, but take into consideration that a lot of their powers are allies-only and cannot be used on yourself, which is a waste of power pick if you're solo.

A quick word on damage. most enemies save for AVs and some EBs can be handled with "vanilla" damage. damage alone won't guarantee smooth sailing. Yes, a dead foe is not a threat, but you just used up your 2 highest payloads, and there are 2 more blokes that were hiding behind a crate. brains will triumph over brawn no matter how much damage you have or don't have.

Finally, the choice really falls on how you play and what you find fun. After you've made your choice of AT and power set, it can still be radically different from the next guy even if that guy picked the exact same AT and power sets. 

one last thing: we're all mostly ancient here. chances you're probably one of the younger ones.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Six-Six

[Voltak]

14 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I, for one, appreciate these sorts of distinctions. While I respect Voltak's opinions, he plays at a level that is not necessarily obtainable and/or desirable for some of us players. Sometimes asking for an AT that can solo its way to 50 doesn't mean being able to run at +4/x8 and solo AV's/GM's or whatever. Sometimes it just means being able to get through the content from 1-50 without teaming, for which a Sentinel is capable of doing, and a decent option for average/casual players like myself.

 

As Sovera said, it doesn't make Voltak's advice bad or anything, but his advice caters to a subset of players that must be considered when reading his posts. 🙂 He is absolutely the person I would turn to if I ever felt like optimizing a hard mode character and developing elite gaming skills.

 

Part of what makes these threads interesting is the mix of response types it brings, making both Voltak's and Sovera's opinions valuable because they cover different things for different players who might be lurking here and reading out of curiosity. 🙂

I totally understand 
I can certainly have some empathy here

@FUBARczar was just trying to qualify.  I understand that, too.  He means no hard and he means to do well, trust me. 

For the reasons and concerns of a novice or average player, I would recommend the Fortunata. 
It is like playing a Sentinel but on STEROIDS.  

My wish is that, with experience and practice, you move on to other things, and sure enough eventually to blasters, the sooner the better. 

Watching blasters or blappers play is a sight to behold. 

For right now, I think a Fortunata will serve you very well. 
That's a flying tank that also controls and kills effectively 
 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Voltak

[TygerDarkstorm]

1 hour ago, Voltak said:

I totally understand 
I can certainly have some empathy here

@FUBARczar was just trying to qualify.  I understand that, too.  He means no hard and he means to do well, trust me. 

For the reasons and concerns of a novice or average player, I would recommend the Fortunata. 
It is like playing a Sentinel but on STEROIDS.  

My wish is that, with experience and practice, you move on to other things, and sure enough eventually to blasters, the sooner the better. 

Watching blasters or blappers play is a sight to behold. 

For right now, I think a Fortunata will serve you very well. 
That's a flying tank that also controls and kills effectively 
 

I am not the OP of the thread, so not the one asking, but thank you for having a much more kind, and level headed reply. You say FUBARczar means well, but his responses have been nothing but condescending for people with different viewpoints.

 

And before he decides to snipe me again and call me a clown: I completely respect and am in awe of what you bring to this game and its players. There are always going to be folks who want to play at the level you do, and it's great that you're here to help people out for that. I had written off /Dark as a good secondary for dominators because that had been the previous consensus until you came through and showed us that it can be quite good. I just happen to be a different type of player--I'm more interested in concept, not optimization and FOTM when it comes to having fun (for me, not saying that applies for everyone).

 

All I meant in my comment is that it is good to have options and multiple viewpoints in these kinds of threads because, unless they specifically mention they're looking for like a 4* HM character, we don't know what their skill level is, or what they desire to achieve with their toon. Even a blaster on a casual player like me can solo to 50 if they're careful about content selection and don't push their difficulty settings way up.

[Doomguide2005]

     I'd say give into that altism.  Try any combo that strikes your fancy.  The one(s) you find heading into 30+ territory ... well now you have your answer.  Now comeback and get another range of opinions on how to make those characters better fit your ideas of a "ranged" blaster mechanically and go from there.