Best solo blaster in the game...?

[Voltak]

25 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

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.

I can relate. 
I have empathy. 

BTW, pylon time using both dark primary and dark secondary, did you see ?  1:30 mins , that's very very good for dominator. 

I am here to help players. 

I am sorry and I will apologize for Fubar. 

But something I do know about him, you ask for help, he's going to help. 

Fubar is an older member of our chnl and he's nothing but a good helper 

So, I am sure everyone has flaws, but I put my hands to the fire that will help if we ask him. 

In the end,  I am grateful and glad to help you and any other player out. 
I just want the love of the game to spread 

 

[Ukase]

As someone who solos a lot, and on any AT or powerset combo, not all choices will be enjoyable. 

But, it's all subjective. 
When leveling, I found Dominators and Controllers to be just miserable. Their DPS is pitiful, woefully so - again, that's while leveling in the lower levels. When you get enough recharge on the Dom for perma-dom, and you keep that alignment  status for Frenzy, it can be fun. As for the controller, it's hard to beat ill/dark for soloing, but even then, you have to wait until the 30's to feel "super" in any sense of the word. 

An MM...you can solo easily with, but it requires you to pay attention. You can't just blindly mash buttons and hope for success. Playing an MM and playing an MM well are two different things. The latter requires paying attention, and generally involves the use of a lot of macros and/or keybinds. 

The Sentinel...it can be fun, but frankly, if you have the budget, a blaster will survive every bit as well and certainly dish out more damage. 

The Corruptor...is also solo friendly, because the secondary can buff/debuff, depending on your choice and either make your attacks hit harder, or make the npc attacks hit less frequently or not as hard. Depending on your power selections, there's a case to be made, in some circumstances that a corruptor is just as good as a blaster. Just depends on your playstyle. 

When it comes to DPS, that is a messy stat. Powersets with AoE tend to be thought of as the kings of DPS, as they whittle down groups, as opposed to single target specialists which can take down bosses much faster, but can only do so one at a time. 
Blasters often are disregarded due to the woefully inaccurate label of "glass-cannon". I would submit it's the player that is the glass-cannon, not the AT. On live, that case could be made, but on HC, the blaster is quite sturdy with boosted HP over the live version. 1847 Hit points at cap and when you slap on a defensive amplifier to prevent low-mag stuns/holds/sleeps, you're a killing machine, nigh unstoppable unless you're just careless or get easily distracted, or just don't care and enjoy pushing things to the edge. 

The thing about blasters, though, is many of their secondary attacks have you in melee. And the damage from those secondary attacks are less powerful than the primary attacks. So, in some sense, it makes sense to prioritize the primary. But, melee IS ranged. It's just a shorter range. So, there's no reason to avoid melee attacking at all. Now, I understand that some folks want to stay at range. Usually, this aversion comes from getting hammered when in melee. And, let's be candid, the melee defense or resistance of a blaster is nothing to scream about, particularly in lower levels. Fortunately, there are plenty of useful power choices in the power pools that can let you avoid melee if you really want to - and those power selections can increase your survival at range and in melee - like the fight pool and leadership. 

If forced to choose, I always choose fight pool over leadership because Weave gives more bang for the buck than Maneuvers. 
When you toss in an epic armor at level 35, it's not unreasonable to expect melee/ranged defense of 30% without sacrificing a ton of recharge. Then a small purple luck inspiration, and you can go just about anywhere you want and kill 'em all pretty quickly, whether melee or ranged. 

Now, if you're a newer player, or can't afford or determine how to build for survivability with a blaster - go with a Sentinel. The recharge of the nuke for a Sentinel is comparatively fast! And you can have a lot of fun with one. 

In short, there's no wrong way. I'd go blaster, but that's my preference. And specifically, I'd go ice/ice, ice/fire, fire/ice or water/fire, or fire/fire. Water and ice primary are both great for increased survivability at lower levels. 

[FUBARczar]

13 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

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.

 

Nothing but helpful:

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/38055-best-solo-blaster-in-the-game/?do=findComment&comment=504429

 

Also helpful and descriptive.

 

Sovera's comments we're dismissive

"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."

 

Myshkin was being pretentious and nit picky, "technically", "but not exclusively", "This is an assumption, and a poor one to make.", Etc 

 

If they want to be prickly, then I can play that game too.  It's all fun and games.

 

 

[FUBARczar]

2 hours ago, Voltak said:

I can relate. 
I have empathy. 

BTW, pylon time using both dark primary and dark secondary, did you see ?  1:30 mins , that's very very good for dominator. 

I am here to help players. 

I am sorry and I will apologize for Fubar. 

But something I do know about him, you ask for help, he's going to help. 

Fubar is an older member of our chnl and he's nothing but a good helper 

So, I am sure everyone has flaws, but I put my hands to the fire that will help if we ask him. 

In the end,  I am grateful and glad to help you and any other player out. 
I just want the love of the game to spread 

 

Thx Voltak, it all started because I was defending you 😂😂😂 

 

To make it formal, I'm sorry all.  I've already forgot about it.

 

Perfect all range solo blaster: 

Water/Devices 

Caltrops + Whirlpool

Heal 

Ranged Nuke  

 

Elec/Elec 

Good ranged AoE including Nuke 

 

Fire/Tactical 

Fire blast had great ST and good AoE

Fire + Oil Slick

 

[Voltak]

1 minute ago, FUBARczar said:

Thx Voltak, it all started because I was defending you 😂😂😂 

 

To make it formal, I'm sorry all.  I've already forgot about it.

 

Perfect all range solo blaster: 

Water/Devices 

Caltrops + Whirlpool

Heal 

Ranged Nuke  

 

Elec/Elec 

Good ranged AoE including Nuke 

 

Fire/Tactical 

Fire blast had great ST and good AoE

Fire + Oil Slick

 

I got nothing but love for you, @FUBARczar
We go back since I began in the chnl. 

I know what you are made of. 

In the end we just here to help by providing insights from our vast experience in the game. 

[FUBARczar]

On 10/2/2022 at 8:23 AM, Nostromo21 said:

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?

Sentinel is blaster light on the blast side, but I still have had fun playing them.  

 

I think that I have played 10 or so Sentinel's.  Mostly Bio, but also Elec, Regen, and SR. 

 

Sentinel's have strong melee attacks in their epic pools and with the armor you should consider getting up close.  

 

A combo that can be powerful and safe in melee is E/E/E.  And you can choose your preference between Electricity Armor and Energy Aura.

 

But my favorite is Bio for its offensive bonus.  

Edited October 3, 2022 by FUBARczar

[Nemu]

Best ranged AT (for you) depends on a lot of factors that you began to cover some of:

 

You personal playstyle (you did mention hover and fly in your other post)

Your budget - the difference between SOs, IOs and super pimped out IOs, this was not mentioned

The fact that you'll probably never play it to 50, in that case what level do you stop at? Also not mentioned

 

You don't want a glass cannon - If you are just playing with SOs, blasters won't fit your criteria, sentinel is better. You are never going to achieve upper tier performance with SOs anyway so let's drop any pretense that you are going to use it to solo +4/8 ITFs or that top tier builds piloted by top tier players is what people ought to be playing when the subject of best xyz comes up.

 

All the ATs with ranged options come into their own and can far exceed their potential against an SO only build when you start building with sets, purples, catalyzed ATOs/Winters can make a big difference in performance but if you never play to 50 you will never reach those levels of performance. However you can still design a build using attuned IO sets that give you a reasonable amount of survival even on blasters by level 35 without gimping your primary function to do damage.

 

Sentinels just don't get as much of a return on investment with IOs compared to blasters from a damage vs survival standpoint. And other ATs far outstrip sentinels in the additional utility they bring, of course that is not without it's own learning curve and complexities compared to just straight up pew pew pew. For those on a budget or learning the game, or even those looking for a stress free range blasting experience, however, sentinels are a solid choice.

 

I will say though that once you have an understanding of the game and budget to make softcapped blasters and such, it's time to drop sentinels like a bad habit if you really care about performance.

 

So the answer is "it depends on all of your criteria."

 

And as an aside all posts point to the usual ATs but I present to you the ranged hover blasting scrapper. It is better with sets, and it's very endurance intensive, but here it is:

 

 

[Voltak]

51 minutes ago, MaximusPrime said:

@Sovera@Sir Myshkin

 

Like children, you both started crap and then cry when you receive it in return.  😂🤣

 

Seriously grow up.

 

As for the OP 

Not much has been said about Corruptors and Defenders. 

 

I would suggest something that provides yourself benefits such as self heal, +def, +resist, etc.

 

If you choose a set without a self heal then pair it with Dark or Water of course.  One of the best combos and highest secondary in damage is a Water/Storm Corruptor.

 

For other sets I'd recommend

 

Dark Miasma - heal, +def, +res, -res, -tohit, -Dmg, etc.  It's a super all-a-rounder

 

Nature and Pain - best for self healing, +resist, +tohit, +DMG. 

 

Also consider thermal, time and traps.

 

 

I did mention support classes and I will echo what you said. 

There are some great support sets that can be used to solo easily but, most importantly as asked for the OP, can kill from range. 

 I have shared many builds on such previously and provided videos 

I will say again, OP should embrace all of this, make ample use of his slots and play and learn and experiment because what is "best" depends on the driver much more than the vehicle. 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Voltak

[Nemu]

Some of this rhetoric belongs in the general section along with the farming AE threads.

 

Be nice, there's no reason to get worked up over a forum post.

 

More importantly, make that hover blasting scrapper. You know you have to now, because you can't unsee it.

[Doomguide2005]

3 hours ago, Nemu said:

Some of this rhetoric belongs in the general section along with the farming AE threads.

 

Be nice, there's no reason to get worked up over a forum post.

 

More importantly, make that hover blasting scrapper. You know you have to now, because you can't unsee it.

Claws then, of course, RAWR

[KaizenSoze]

There is no top dog, but I have solo'ed some hard stuff with my Elec/Ice/Mace blaster.

 

4x8 Carnies, Arachnos, Dark Astoria. I solo'ed the entire Sister Valeria arc with only two deaths in 1:15.

 

Basically, there aren't a lot of mobs that are resistant to end drain, slows, and knockdown.

 

Elec/Ice has all three.  Slows for safer jousting, end drain, so I get more damage, and once the mobs are completely drained I can move in for heavy melee.

 

Werewolf boss won't stop running around, ice patch.

Fortunata Mistress has a nasty low hp nuke, can't fire it if they don't have any end.

Etc...

[GM Impervium]

Hid some posts.

Tone down the hostility a bit, folks.

[Ceejer]

On 10/2/2022 at 1:23 AM, Nostromo21 said:

the best solo AT/build for killing at range consistently?

 

Armored EnB/EnM/Force Blaster PB/ER/Aim/BU/Snipe killing at extreme range. RF to keep everything at a distance. FoN for the hard fights and PFF when stuff goes left. 

 

Or

 

Fire/Atomic, burn it all to the ground.

 

[Nostromo21]

20 hours ago, Voltak said:

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

 

Thanks mate, a Fortunata certainly sounds like it's worth having a good go at, especially as I have a Widow at 16 already! Will power level her into the 20s & see how I go. I made my "FlyGirl" theme widow originally with just super-flight-speed in mind, but since everyone gets that virtually for free now, I'll have a look at re-specing her from someone's build on the forums that suits my 'play style' heh.

Just looked at her - I 3-slotted Fly & picked Hover and Evasive Maneuvers already lol! That can't be very good, especially with mostly DOs across the board, as it was meant to be a kind of 'solo self-found' build, live & learn...🙄

(I assume that the forum post "Voltak's Fortunata geared for ITF 4 star - tested and proven." is def not for me, as I'm nowhere near there yet...? 😉

 

----

 

Just quickly dusted off my widow & levelled quickly to 18 (i switched her to hero last time I played as I find the CoV maps depressing & prefer playing the hero power fantasy anyway ;). So, I forgot just how damn squishy she was lol! Just no defense/resist or dmg mitigation at this level. Had to exit a couple missions several times, heal & come back. Daymn. She was a little better at 17 when I switched out all those crappy old DOs to 20 SOs. Hope it all changes when I upgrade to Fortunata and can just stay at range...8-/.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Nostromo21

[Sovera]

I come from leveling a Water/Tactical Arrow in the old fashioned way. Wouldn't call it the best solo anything and the damage is not rightly impressive, but surviving (normal +3x8) ITF's when the team was having trouble just really shows how the Sentinel's sturdiness fails to shine.

 

Soloing cysts, spawns, even tanking the last boss when the team wiped. Not gonna say I could do it indefinitely but 45% defense and the small heal of Dehydrate kept me about as safe as the Elec/Bio Sentinel. Not 100% sure I was doing more damage (I need to hit a pylon) but I'm also incarnate-less.

 

That said soloing the ITF Council spawns made me remember why I kept a row of breakfrees since they were chain CCing.

[KaizenSoze]

9 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

Just quickly dusted off my widow & levelled quickly to 18 (i switched her to hero last time I played as I find the CoV maps depressing & prefer playing the hero power fantasy anyway ;). So, I forgot just how damn squishy she was lol! Just no defense/resist or dmg mitigation at this level. Had to exit a couple missions several times, heal & come back. Daymn. She was a little better at 17 when I switched out all those crappy old DOs to 20 SOs. Hope it all changes when I upgrade to Fortunata and can just stay at range...8-/.

Leveling widows can be painful. They are squishy and end hungry.

 

I respect Voltak's build, but it's an all ranged build which is for very hard content. You can easily make a melee Fortunata aka Blood Widow which gives you the best of both world. Solos well except in high star hard modes. Then you need to move to a fully ranged build. You can kill pretty much any even level AV with a built out Fortunata, except maybe at sub 20s. Then EBs are still very doable solo.

[Linea]

• Any Sentinel - They were designed to level well from 0 to 50.  At 50 most players feel like they fall behind other choices, but that is primarily driven by an over-emphasis on offensive dominance in relatively easy content.
• Any Veat - Once you get them to level 25 and can respec into full armor.  And they aren't bad before that, but are definitely much much better after.  Huntsman are my favorite variety.
• (Almost) Any Blaster - once you add Incarnates and reach level 50.  Which is 'oops' if you plan on leveling it 0 to 50 the hard way, and solo.

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Linea

[Voltak]

15 hours ago, Nostromo21 said:

 

Thanks mate, a Fortunata certainly sounds like it's worth having a good go at, especially as I have a Widow at 16 already! Will power level her into the 20s & see how I go. I made my "FlyGirl" theme widow originally with just super-flight-speed in mind, but since everyone gets that virtually for free now, I'll have a look at re-specing her from someone's build on the forums that suits my 'play style' heh.

Just looked at her - I 3-slotted Fly & picked Hover and Evasive Maneuvers already lol! That can't be very good, especially with mostly DOs across the board, as it was meant to be a kind of 'solo self-found' build, live & learn...🙄

(I assume that the forum post "Voltak's Fortunata geared for ITF 4 star - tested and proven." is def not for me, as I'm nowhere near there yet...? 😉

 

----

 

Just quickly dusted off my widow & levelled quickly to 18 (i switched her to hero last time I played as I find the CoV maps depressing & prefer playing the hero power fantasy anyway ;). So, I forgot just how damn squishy she was lol! Just no defense/resist or dmg mitigation at this level. Had to exit a couple missions several times, heal & come back. Daymn. She was a little better at 17 when I switched out all those crappy old DOs to 20 SOs. Hope it all changes when I upgrade to Fortunata and can just stay at range...8-/.

Since you are still in Widow level, your best bet is looking over the Widow threads over there. 
Widows are in their own right a very powerful breed. 
 

[Sanguinesun]

On 10/2/2022 at 3:23 PM, Nostromo21 said:

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?

 

Here's my take on your questions:

 

There isn't such a thing.

 

1. Content in the game, 1-50 and post 50 even, is not a constant in terms of how it can/should be handled by an AT/powerset/build.  There is no "One size fits all" AT or power set choices/builds to provide consistency in the way you're asking.  This contributes heavily to why answers vary between player to player. 

 

2. "Solo" also doesn't account for efficiency of time either.  As an extreme example, a poorly made character can take hours to finish a mission that a well-made one can do in a matter of minutes.   So, they "consistently solo" but at a snail's pace and perhaps consistent debt too 😛.   That's a factor that some people don't consider when they see the plethora of threads by people posting videos downing XYZ challenging content.  They just see something seeming to be advertised as powerful and think "the best" without taking a look at it with a more skeptical eye.  Devil's in the details essentially... when the details are also provided too, mind you as sometimes, they're not made readily available/apparent. 

 

3.  As pointed out already too, even with AT's and builds that players claim to be the best or optimal, it doesn't factor the player's capabilities or more aptly imo, judgement in handling content.  But I also think its important to qualify that as to say that its not as major a factor as some players like to make it out to be but it can be a factor none-the-less.  Some players prefer to use that as a tactic of misdirection from showing their hand so to speak when it comes to builds they use.

 

4.  "Solo" also needs to be qualified by what exactly is desired to solo.  Again not all content is the same and tactics, tools, and strategies change depending on that per points already mentioned.

 

 

So all in all, my suggestion is to look at things dynamically vs consistently.  Doing so then can help open up more flexibility and adaptation to your game play/leveling goals. Plan your choices for content to be tackled solo to better optimize your AT/build choices.  Factor your use(or not) of IO sets in that leveling process and whether changes will have to be made at multiple times (again or not) during that 1-50 progression.     Accept that there will be segments(level ranges) that there will be more challenge to your goals than others.   

 

And lastly, post 50, be flexible and adapt to end game goals you may (or may not) have for the toon.

 

Doing all this then becomes a recipe, over time, that better matches your wants instead of chasing a phantom "best".

[Haijinx]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:20 AM, FUBARczar said:

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. 

 

Personally I think the first comment is True Facts(tm).  The second one is some kind of weird kind of Def/Controller Hybrid or something. 

[Nostromo21]

Yet to get my Fortunata (well lvl 21 Widow) to any place that's not under-powered or squishy as hell.

On a whim, went back to my PB which was parked at 22. OMG! So long-ranged deadly with Squidly, so tanky with Dwarfy, so...stealthy & buffy with Hooman form lol? Granted that's with all 25 IOs, but just a joy to play, so I'm not sure how I will go back to my poor widow....I guess that's why they are called that - most end up getting abandoned after their 'husband' dies too many times? 🤣

Anyway, I think I need to get at least one toon to 50 and play some team endgame finally. It's prob going to be my Ill/Dark troller who is almost at 40, or this PB, if I can stick with it. Alt-o-holism is a real curse and needs to be taken seriously folks! 😉

[Snarky]

I do not know if this is the "best" Blaster for soloing. Depending on your playstyle YES.  This has more tricks (and basically armor as long as you play to your strengths) than ANY Sentinel.  Almost any Blaster out damages it, although recent elec changes alleviate some of this.

 

Pluses, High Ranged Defense (very high) and ALL Ranged attacks.  Play keep away.

 

When that goes south, there are THREE get out of jail free buttons.  Force of Nature isnt a great one, but in close situations it helps. Personal Force Field and Phase Shift are insanely good.  

 

This was inspired by two things. 1) A Sentinel that could actually punch.  2) I saw a fellow on a farm using a Blaster with Elec set and phase shift when he took the heat away from the Brutes Tanks.  Died relatively little.  I think I improved the concept.

 

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Blanker: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 1: Time Wall

• (A) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Recharge
• (7) Trap of the Hunter - Endurance/Immobilize
• (9) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Endurance
• (9) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
• (11) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (11) Trap of the Hunter - Immobilize/Accuracy
  

Level 2: Ball Lightning

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (13) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (15) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (15) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (17) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (17) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range
  

Level 4: Stealth

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (19) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (19) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
  

Level 6: Charged Bolts

• (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
• (21) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
• (21) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (23) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (23) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (25) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status
  

Level 8: Charge Up

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
• (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
• (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
  

Level 10: Chronos

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (31) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 12: Zapp

• (A) Executioner's Contract - Accuracy/Damage
• (31) Executioner's Contract - Damage/Endurance
• (31) Executioner's Contract - Damage/Interrupt
• (33) Executioner's Contract - Damage/Range
• (33) Executioner's Contract - Damage/Recharge
• (33) Executioner's Contract - Disorient Bonus
  

Level 14: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
• (34) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
  

Level 16: Grant Invisibility

• (A) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage
  

Level 18: Phase Shift

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 20: Temporal Healing

• (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
• (34) Preventive Medicine - Heal
• (34) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
• (36) Performance Shifter - EndMod
• (36) Endurance Modification IO
  

Level 22: Time Stop

• (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
• (36) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
• (37) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
• (37) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (37) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (39) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
  

Level 24: Kick

• (A) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
  

Level 26: Tough

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (39) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (40) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  

Level 28: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (42) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
  

Level 30: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (43) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 32: Thunderous Blast

• (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
• (43) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 35: Personal Force Field

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

Level 38: Time Lord

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  

Level 41: Repulsion Bomb

• (A) Bombardment - Damage
• (46) Bombardment - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (48) Bombardment - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge/Endurance
• (48) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (48) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown
  

Level 44: Temp Invulnerability

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (50) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (50) Reactive Armor - Resistance
  

Level 47: Time Shift

• (A) Impeded Swiftness - Accuracy/Slow
• (50) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing)
  

Level 49: Force of Nature

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 1: Defiance 

Level 1: Brawl

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
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[Snarky]

On 10/2/2022 at 9:20 PM, FUBARczar said:

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.

 

While I FULLY agree with FUBARczar on their analysis of Blasters my above build attempts to stand the logic on it's head.  

 

While I (as noted above) will not make any case this is a High Damage BLASTER, I feel a bit of pride in writing what I consider a "Tight" build for a fully ranged damage dealer, with a LOT of survivability.  

 

I have a Beam Rifle/Temporal I use for very hard Incarnate Trials with tough Leagues.  Way more damage, especially ST.  But given the choice to "Solo" the entire game I would pick the crazy Elec build without a second thought.  Because once you start cheating, why go back?

Edited October 8, 2022 by Snarky

[Snarky]

23 minutes ago, Krimson said:

That depends on what you are building four. Out of four Blasters, two of them are very good Blappers, my Beam/Temporal is not a Blapper at all, and my latest Blaster who is Dual Pistols Devices, certainly does not blap but is always in melee because the entire point of my DP/Dev Blaster is to be a Smashing/Lethal farmer who clears via AoE chain. And he does it well. 

 

So more specifcally: A True Blaster is a Damage Monster with several approaches as to how said damage is dished out.

I do agree wholeheartedly with FUBARczar that a "true" Blaster is a Blapper in a very basic regard. They were designed that way.  I actually developed (another) nervous tic every time I opened up the character generation screen and Blaster said "ranged."  Grrrr.  

 

Almost everything in the original game gave Blasters a mix of heavy melee and ranged and building "ranged" characters was an exercise in making the character less powerful.  My above Elec/Temp is an example of that, while taking the vacation from "bestest damage dealer" as an opportunity to use WW2 submarine tactics against entire maps.  I may not get you with the first torpedo....but let me hide a bit and I will finish the job.

 

Your Beam/Temp (and as I said a Beam/Temp is my best Incarnate Trial DPS toon) is a rare exception to the baked in rules that relegate Blasters to being Blappers to be most effective.

[Snarky]

6 minutes ago, Krimson said:

This one needs a respec. I almost never play it. Right now, the attack chain is like three buttons. I designed it for lazy play but it works a little too well.

Here is what I use for "Really Hard Way" Magisterium and all other tough work.  Specifically designed for long range ST damage to avoid "crackle" and keep the pain on a target down range.

 

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Crackle: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Munitions Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Shot

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 1: Time Wall

• (A) Gravitational Anchor - Chance for Hold
  

Level 2: Cutting Beam

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage
• (9) Artillery - Damage/Endurance
• (11) Artillery - Damage/Recharge
• (11) Artillery - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (13) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range
• (13) Artillery - Endurance/Recharge/Range
  

Level 4: Single Shot

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (15) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (15) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (17) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (17) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (19) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 6: Disintegrate

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (19) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (21) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (21) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (23) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (23) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 8: Aim

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
• (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
• (27) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
  

Level 10: Chronos

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (29) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 12: Lancer Shot

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
• (31) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
• (31) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
• (31) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (33) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (33) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  

Level 14: Fly

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
  

Level 16: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (33) Recharge Reduction IO
  

Level 18: Penetrating Ray

• (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage
• (34) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime
• (34) 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 20: Temporal Healing

• (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
• (36) Performance Shifter - EndMod
• (37) Endurance Modification IO
• (37) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal
• (39) Healing IO
  

Level 22: Stealth

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

Level 24: Time Stop

• (A) Superior Entomb - Accuracy/Hold
• (39) Superior Entomb - Hold/Recharge
• (39) Superior Entomb - Endurance/Recharge
• (40) Superior Entomb - Accuracy/Hold/Endurance
• (40) Superior Entomb - Accuracy/Hold/Endurance/Recharge
• (40) Superior Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb
  

Level 26: Piercing Beam

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

Level 28: Maneuvers

• (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
  

Level 30: Tactics

• (A) Rectified Reticle - Increased Perception
  

Level 32: Overcharge

• (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (45) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (46) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage
  

Level 35: Body Armor

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
  

Level 38: Time Lord

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  

Level 41: Surveillance

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO
  

Level 44: Cryo Freeze Ray

• (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
• (46) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
• (46) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
• (48) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (48) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (48) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
  

Level 47: Time Shift

• (A) Absolute Amazement - Stun
• (50) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge
• (50) Absolute Amazement - Stun/Recharge/Accuracy
• (50) Absolute Amazement - Chance for ToHit Debuff
  

Level 49: Assault

• (A) Endurance Reduction
  

Level 1: Defiance 

Level 1: Brawl

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build |
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