whats the ultimate cones blaster, AR ??

[smnolimits43]

the title says it all, i never really liked cones, but i would like to give it another try.

[Gobbledigook]

Assault Rifle probably.

[biostem]

I think archery, sonic, corruptor/defender dark blast, and AR all have 3 cones...

[Snarky]

Dark Mental  Dark has 2, then Mental 1.  Add Force of Will, 1 Cone, add Soul Mastery 2 Cones.  6 Cones total

[Meknomancer]

7

 

 

Spoiler

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

CONERIFFIC: Level 49 Mutation Blaster
Primary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Secondary Power Set: Mental Manipulation
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Force of Will
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1:    Scream    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Subdual    
 (A) Empty

Level 2:    Howl    
 (A) Empty
 (3) Empty
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Level 4:    Kick    
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Level 6:    Shockwave    
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Level 8:    Shout    
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Level 10:    Mighty Leap    
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Level 12:    Amplify    
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Level 14:    Tough    
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Level 16:    Concentration    
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Level 18:    Sirens Song    
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Level 20:    Drain Psyche    
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Level 22:    Screech    
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Level 24:    Weave    
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Level 26:    Dreadful Wail    
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Level 28:    Psychic Shockwave    
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Level 30:    Weaken Resolve    
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Level 32:    Hasten    
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Level 35:    Night Fall    
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Level 38:    Psychic Scream    
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Level 41:    Soul Tentacles    
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Level 44:    Wall of Force    
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Level 47:    Dark Embrace    
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Level 49:    Combat Jumping    
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Level 1:    Brawl    
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Level 1:    Defiance    
Level 1:    Sprint    
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Level 2:    Rest    
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Level 1:    Swift    
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Level 1:    Health    
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Level 1:    Hurdle    
 (A) Empty

Level 1:    Stamina    
 (A) Empty

Level 10:    Takeoff    
------------

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[Uun]

You can also add a cone with Elec or Mu Mastery (Static Dischage)

[Gobbledigook]

AR has the T9 cone that others don't. Sonic has some cones also.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Gobbledegook

[Max Firepower]

AR and Sonic both have 3 cones, then Mental has the cone, add as needed from pools.  

 

AR is a set that looks at tight hallways or caves and says "Yup, keeps em all in the cone... works for me!"

[Snarky]

I like cones and recently switched from Dark to Fire as a primary, losing one cone.  But the added flexibility is worth it.  I still have 5 cones. One from Fire, one from Mental, one from Force of Will, and two from Soul Mastery.  But then i have a ranged ball attack for when a cone is just hard to place    My preference is still to get to main spawn lined up in a cone thoroughfare of hate.  With a lot of global +range that makes cones juicy and never running out of another cone.  But the flexibility is really appreciated for when you do not have time to line up the cones

 

Once you have "enough" cones to be virtually endless... 3 5 6 7 ??? You need to start talking about effectiveness.  Overall damage, damage TYPES secondary effect, Knockdown, immobilize, and how that works with your attack strategy   

 

Only then will you be the Master on Cones

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Snarky

[Max Firepower]

That was the name for AR in one of the guides way, way back.  🙂

[Luminara]

[Frozen Burn]

I would lean towards AR over Sonic since 1 of Sonic's cones is a sleep.  AR's 3 cones are all damage cones.

 

Secondaries:  (Ninja sort of has 2, others have 1) 

• /Ninja Training:  Blinding Powder (sleep/confuse cone) and Golden Dragonfly (is sort of a cone in that you can get 2 or 3 foes if they are practically right behind one another).
• /Dark Manipulation:  Shadow Maul (melee cone)
• /Ice Manipulation:  Shiver (-spd, -rech)
• /Martial Combat:  Throw Sand (stun, -percept)
• /Mental Manipulation:  Psychic Scream
• /Plant Manipulation:  Ripper (melee cone)
• /Sonic Manipulation:  Sound Cannon (stun, KB)

For Epics:

• Leviathan Mastery has 2 cones:  School of Sharks (immob) and Bile Spray (toxic DoT).
• Soul Mastery also has 2 cones:  Night Fall (Neg DoT) and Soul Tentacles (immob)

Pools: 

• Fighting (Cross Punch)
• Force of Will (Wall of Force)

 

[Sir Myshkin]

Do you want Range exclusivity, or just access to solid cone work? I think that's one question still unanswered there. Yes AR has three cones, but Flamethrower is kind of a garbage power comparatively to the other two options (long animation, slow DoT, subpar damage comp), given that if we were to pick "best choice for Cones" then I'd probably suggest Dark Blast since the cone options are superior in Torrent and Tentacles both being forms of control (KB/D and Immob) which are key in keeping thing in place for cone maximization, this is something that AR lacks and would have to be compensated for in the secondary--especially considering the fire components are going to make things run. Dark Blast also has the longest range across the board for all of its attacks which means better cones.

 

If Assault Rifle, then I would suggest pairing it with Tactical Arrow, Glue Arrow and Oil Slick will help manage keeping things in cone placement, and Ignite will double up on the fire-tantrums with Oil Slick.

 

If Dark Blast, well then this is pretty flexible, Tactical Arrow would be just as beneficial here, but Plant offers several decent ranged options that would avoid weapons draw, as would Devices which would give Smoke Grenade for more -ToHit stacking. Personally if you were interested in playing Dark Blast, I'd probably suggest looking at doing it on a Corruptor and finding a good secondary to take advantage of debuffs there, versus trying to pull strings as a Blaster. Dark has some good tricks up its sleeve, and its fast DoT favors a Corruptor play style more.

[Snarky]

I liked a LOT of what Sir Myshkin said.  I would say that there are just not enough cones on Corruptor to go there

[Max Firepower]

I did a Bile Spray with Proc'd focus on Dmg, and it was amaze-balls.  I think that may have been a diff't AT, but it was shockingly good - worth checking the math, if you're good at that.  

[brasilgringo]

I made a "Master of Cones" build i run sometimes for fun.  See below.

He likes to shout "Coney coney cones!"\
Went /Energy secondary for Boost Range and how it plays well with cones.

Dark Energy Master of Cones v2 (2).mxd

Edited November 10, 2022 by brasilgringo

[smnolimits43]

thanks for the replies, i think i'm gonna try AR/energy blaster

[Snarky]

I am looking at rebuilding yet another Blaster.  I like the mental cone.  Unfortunately, the care and feeding of the PBAoE sustain Drain Psyche is not fun.

 

I thought Earth, Atomic, Energy, Ice, and Temporal were all good choices for me.  I am still mulling choices.  Energy has a Mag 8 stun resistance.....  But on point Ice has a 135 degree 60 foot cone.  No damage, but this thing is a beast when it hits.  Also Ice has Ice Patch.  Almost all cone sets have to jump in for the PBAoE Nuke.  dropping a slip and fall patch is a great exit strategy.

[aethereal]

On 11/8/2022 at 3:09 PM, Frozen Burn said:

I would lean towards AR over Sonic since 1 of Sonic's cones is a sleep.  AR's 3 cones are all damage cones.

 

Sonic's sleep cone does good damage now (since the second-most-recent page and its sonic blast revamp).  More damage than Buckshot and almost equal damage to Flamethrower, but all up front instead of in a long DoT.

Edited November 12, 2022 by aethereal

[Snarky]

I have been running a Fire/Temp/ForceWill/Soul at 50 all day. 

1) With the amount of recharge (Hasten near perma) you dont need that many attacks

2) Cones, I love cones, they are situational.  If the crowds arent conveniently in a cone throwing a couple Balls is good. 

3) Unless you are on AR or Beam (ST mostly) you will be going in for the Nuke.  Hard to reset for cones and better to just lay down other AoE

4) When crowds are lined up for cones it is beautiful

4a) Crowds rarely line up for cones

4b) Cones are not the hardest hitting AoE, on a fast recharge build they are great as a alternate way to melt mobs that line up for the love

[Mopery]

The original Devs did a great job with the AI, ensuring that as soon as your target is selected and you're just about to fire off that cone, the target quickly moves to the worst possible position... 

[Spaghetti Betty]

I run an Assault Rifle/Tactical Arrow Blaster. TA complements AR's gameplan very well. You really can just hang back and create a killzone from range. Lots of fun on teams.

[Snarky]

7 hours ago, Mopery said:

The original Devs did a great job with the AI, ensuring that as soon as your target is selected and you're just about to fire off that cone, the target quickly moves to the worst possible position... 

I have such the issues with this endlessly.  I am mostly on a Dark Dark Blaster and it is such a pain.  I would say 1/3 of my damage is wasted every Task Force.  There are some ways to get this to happen less often but each is so mob type room type specific to list them would be endless and pointless.  You basically have to practice with cones like training for a sport.   Just keep working like a dog until it “looks easy”