Preconceptions and how small tweaks matter

[FFFF]

So I dropped COH back in the day, around issue 19. Incarnates were just announced, inherent fitness was not a thing and mez effects would instantly drop toggles, mostly meaning a swift death sentence on most squishies. Annoyed with this, I played only characters which either had mez protection or where it wasn’t as large of a factor (i.e., Masterminds). 
 

I hadn’t picked up a blaster for probably 15 years. For some reasons my current scrapper experiments weren’t working out so I decided on a Fire/Martial character.

 

Wow. Blasters just rule. It’s been such a silky smooth leveling experience that it’s causing dissonance from what I remember. I remember blasters being fun but frustrating. 
 

Mez effects seem not as bad. My character is almost always fighting from hover and even slept or held, no problem. She stays up and then keeps shooting (hover is even decently fast!) Having stamina at level 1, access to SOs right from the beginning, etc. has largely mitigated most of the early blaster issues. Sure, I’ve been defeated a couple of times but in each case, completely avoidable if I decided to play more conservatively. 
 

I’m eager to try another blaster, but after I get my current one to 50. I wonder how many old vets still retain their old biases from Live. I know I do. The game is the same but it’s not.

[Snarky]

Blasters have come a loooong way.  The changes to AR (just made) are awesome. Once you learn the trick of the "hidden first strike" build up it just gets better. And the Full Auto now is wide and cleans like a room sweeper.