Seismic Blast concept and need some help on secondary selection!

[One IV All]

Hi all,

 

So I have a concept for a Hard Light/Shadow Control type of hero. Seismic Blast, at least to me, seems to really shine on a Sentinel (even if it's just because the T9 blast will be up faster 😂). I've played one Sent before, a hovering Elec/Elec/Elec sapper. This will be my first Sent since the revamp, and I have some questions:

 

- Is Seismic Blast best played on the ground? It seems to have a passive that only works on the ground. I'm guessing it wouldn't make a great hover blaster. I'm not married to the idea of hover blasting, I'm just curious.

 

- What are some secondary suggestions that are synergistic? Stone Armor seems like an obvious and good choice. Tough across the board. Bio Armor seems like it could push the damage. Rad Armor has a lot of tools and a great T9. These are just ones I noticed, but I'm open to suggestions either way.

 

Thanks in advance!

[StriderIV]

I’ve had a similar question. I honestly have no idea what archetype Seismic Blast shines on. I’ve heard Sentinel and Defender, but I’m not sure the reasoning.

[drbuzzard]

To be honest, you really need to play seismic blast on the ground. The in game information doesn't make it clear, but there's  stuff tied to you being on the ground. You build up seismic stress which has a couple of effects. One it acts a bit like a mobile ice patch, making melee attackers fall down some of the time. Second, and more important, when it is built up, it makes stalagmite into the hardest hitting single target attacks among all sentinel primaries with a DPAS of 150. 

 

Stone armor has an obvious synergy, and a decent fire proc in brimstone armor. I'm not personally fond of the set since it's typed which is a bit harder to softcap, and it keeps fire/cold as resistance, so you're a bit softer against those. Geode is pretty damn good for an 'oh shit' power though. It's basically hibernate. Personally I like other secondaries, but that's some matter of taste. 

[Seed22]

On 12/27/2022 at 5:24 PM, drbuzzard said:

Geode is pretty damn good for an 'oh shit' power though.

That it is! Won a PvP match actually using it once 😛

 

It is bugged though, and will periodically just end prematurely, hopefully this gets patched soon

[Myamoto Musashi]

FYI, I just posted a build for a Seismic/Invul in case you would like to take a look.

[Mythical Creature]

Seismic blast is best played on the ground, but with limited range and a defense set, there is no reason not to be on the ground. I went Seismic Blast / Energy Aura and I enjoy it. Energy Aura is a really great set it and forget it type of defense. I liked that it comes with a recharge reduction ability and has easy choices to skip (the end drain and the T9). 

 

Since Seismic lends itself to being on the ground and is also smashing damage, I like to pick up the power pool sorcery, as this gives you a blast that is available at low levels that is not smashing damage (it is energy) a travel power without a hover component (you end up wanting to turn it off fast in combat), and the Rune of Power ability, which is how I respond to defense crash or heavy psionic damage. Also an interesting twist, since sentinels try to fix their range issues with global range increases (easily done with ATO's) that is coincidentally also the only way to increase the teleport range of Mystic Flight. My sentinels can teleport far distances using it because they always have at least +50% global range.

 

You could fit this with your theme of light and shadow control because the energy makes you sort of glow (you can be the light source) and shadows are created by putting big objects between a light source and the darkness (which can be your stones).