Looking for some input for Beam/MA

[Sykar]

As the title says I am looking for some input about Beam/MA blaster on whom I have a blast, pun intended. The character is inspired by a comic character, though won't be a carbon copy, and apart from those two I want to incorporate from the power pools and epic pool:

 

Concealment: Infiltration, Stealth, not sure if the other powers are worthwhile

Fighting: Boxing, Tough, Weave

Munitions: Body Armor, Surveilance, LMR, maybe Sleep or Cryo though unsure if they even have a niche or occasional use

Leadership: Assault, Maneuevers, maybe Tactics

 

Question is what can I safely skip. So far first power in Beam and Throw Sand from MA seem to be likely choices. I am a little unsure about Aim, is the accuracy boost neccessary? Damage boost seems to be rather small and those buffs tend to have a bad uptime even with a lot of recharge. I am really unsure about MA powers Reach for the Limit, Reaction Time and Inner Will. How worthwhile are they? Reaction Time would be thematically fitting for sure but the description leaves me a but puzzled how effective it is.

 

Overall the theme I am going for, kinda cybernetic special forces team leader, is the most important to me, even if the powers might be not the best fit for blaster.

Edited April 19, 2023 by Sykar

[InvaderStych]

7 hours ago, Sykar said:

I am really unsure about MA powers Reach for the Limit, Reaction Time and Inner Will. How worthwhile are they? Reaction Time would be thematically fitting for sure but the description leaves me a but puzzled how effective it is.

 

You definitely want all three of those powers from /MC.

 

Reaction Time is /MC's "Sustain" aura, meaning it grants large amounts of +Recovery in addition to its other effects. On critters that are effected by -spd/-rech it makes for a nice "I'm faster than everyone" feel. I don't remember the %, but it is significant. Close to or equal with the aura in /Ice. Whatever the aura/click is on a blaster that gives love to the blue bar, pretty much almost always take it. I can't think of a case not to, but I'm sure if I said always someone would come along with an exception. 🤣

 

RttL - its basically a lightweight to-hit and damage buff that has a chance of occurring with each attack. It could be a better power if it stacked, particularly compared to a traditional Build Up, but don't skip it, imo. Besides, it can't slot anything so free slots for other things.

 

Inner Will - Definitely take this power.  If you put it on Auto it will trigger when you are either Mez'd, clearing it like a break-free, or when you drop below half health with a little heal.  Manually it can only be used under either of those conditions anyway.  I never found a satisfactory way to bind that with auto-hasten in the traditional fashion, but I never finished a respec with Hasten on that toon anyway.

 

Ki-Push is too OP to skip. Hard to imagine skipping SK but I suppose it could be done since Beam is kinda range-y. BoS is way too fun to skip, and DT is a good follow up from that. I guess it depends on how you're playing as to how many kicks. 😉

[Sykar]

I love all the kick powers and use them a lot. I want to use this character quite a bit in melee though not to the same extent as a scrapper.

[Uun]

You don't really need both Infiltration and Stealth. Slot a stealth IO in Infiltration and you're invisible to everything except snipers, eyeballs and drones. Alternatively, take Stealth and use Athletic Run for mobility.

[Captain Fabulous]

Assault is pretty useless. Skip it. Maneuvers and Tactics are good. The only time sleep powers are viable is if they're AoE and you slot with a ton of procs, otherwise pretty useless and skippable. Cryo is also skippable since you don't have another hold to stack with it. You'll want pretty much every power in Martial Combat. They're all good. Throw Sand is a good damage mitigator, so I wouldn't skip it. Follow up with Eagles Claw, Lancer Shot, or Overcharge and you can stun bosses. As said previously you don't need Stealth. Infiltration + Stealth IO will make you invisible to most critters.

I always question the usefulness of Aim. Some people say it's awesome and should never be skipped and some people say it's hot garbage. Almost 20 years later and I still can't decide LOL. Personally I would take Hasten before Aim.

[Sykar]

So my Blaster is level 26 and finally got Overcharge which is a total joy both gameplay wise and visually. At the moment I am going for this power selection, not worrying about slotting for the moment since I will save up a few of my respecs to experiment later in late 40s and at 50.

 

 1 Ki Push
 2 Charged Shot
 3 Cutting Beam
 4 Storm Kick
 5 Infiltration or Stealth
 6 Burst of Speed
 7 Dragon Tail
 8 Disintegrate
 9 Boxing
10 Tough
11 Weave
12 Lancer Shot
13 Penetrating Ray
14 Piercing Ray
15 Overcharge
16 Reaction Time
17 Reach for the Limit
18 Inner Will
19 Body Armor
20 Eagles Claw
21 Surveillance
22 Manoeuvres
23 Tactics
24 ?

Edited May 8, 2023 by Sykar

[Uun]

21 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

I always question the usefulness of Aim. Some people say it's awesome and should never be skipped and some people say it's hot garbage. Almost 20 years later and I still can't decide LOL. Personally I would take Hasten before Aim.

Aim slotted with a Gaussian's +BU proc is very useful, if for nothing else than using before your nuke. It's more important with secondaries like Martial and Ninja that don't have Build Up.