Approach for Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster

[BurningFury]

Hi all, was hoping the community could share some insights on fire/fire/fire. I’ve levelled my current fire blaster to 39.  My preference is to play in groups over solo. Playstyle would be damage, more damage and damage some more.  Prior to homecoming, I hadn’t played a blaster since issue 9 (and only reached 40).

 

First the real general stuff.  It seems like for slotting, six slots aren’t all that much better than five slots.  Many of the builds I’ve reviewed on the boards seem to limit to five slots. Is that a common rule of thumb?

 

In group, I generally use inferno, rain of fire, fireball, fire blast, blazing bolt and blaze.  I have ring of fire but never use it. Even if I were to run solo, is immobilizing just one mob worth it?  Do folks slot this much?

 

Fire Manipulation seems so-so to me. 

Do you find burn useful? It seems too short lived, requires to be in melee range. I’ve just picked up consume and I’m not sure if I like it or not. Are there blasters that use this a lot?  I haven’t picked up fire sword/fire sword circle.  I haven’t picked up hot feet either.  The only two must have powers seem like build up and cauterizing aura but I’d really appreciate other thoughts on it.

 

For flame mastery, I plan to take bon fire, fire shield and rise of the phoenix.  I ran a task force with someone who had bon fire and it seemed handy to keep mobs away from you.  Would knockback to knockdown make that more useful?  Fire Shield seems a good choice.  Rise of the phoenix is a concept thing.  It seems amusing to pop back up and fight on.  And who cares about debt post incarnates anyway?

 

Pools would be standard with Speed, Flight, Fighting and Leadership. I like flight, everyone has hasten and minimal defense seems common sense.  Leadership for tactics and assault seems a good idea.

[Frozen Burn]

Hi!  Welcome to Homecoming and back to the game!

 

Fire Manipulation is one of the best secondaries out there.  It can do a lot of damage, but yes, you have to be in melee range - and you can survive there too!  I see SO many Fire/Fire/Fire blasters struggle, run, and faceplant or just deal low damage vs. what they could be doing because they don't utilize the tools given to them in /Fire Manipulation.  A triple-Fire blaster can be a PBAOE juggernaut, but you need to be comfortable in melee range. 

 

Blasters in general are the embodiment of "A strong offense is a great defense."  This includes utilizing your secondary powers (both attacks and controls).  And then add on top some decent defensive set bonuses and/or pool powers, and you can be very survivable.

• Ring of Fire 
  • Yes, an immob can be handy as a blaster to keep a pesky melee foe off you, even at higher levels. 
  • It does more damage than Fire Blast - so it's worth getting and slotting for damage, if you take it.
  • Because of Defiance and as a T1 secondary, you can use it when you're mezzed (along with T1 & T2 Primaries).  I can't tell you how many times having 3 attacks and 1 of them being a control has saved my life while being mezzed.  I always recommend taking these 3 powers, especially as you're leveling up.  Once you're an incarnate (and if you only play endgame content), you can get Clarion Destiny for permanent mez protection and respec out if you want.  Or if you wanted some other Destiny, still having 3 attacks while mezzed is still useful.
• Fire Sword - great finishing move and great for slotting the Winter's Gift Melee Set for the defense set bonuses.
• Combustion - lame.  This is the only power in the set that is not worth taking, imo.  Animation is too long for the damage it doesn't do.  Others may disagree.  
• Fire Sword Circle - Great PBAOE attack.
• Consume - optional power.  It's not as necessary anymore now that we have Cauterizing Aura.  But I like to take it and slot it for damage as another PBAOE.  It's also good for those times when your Endurance gets sapped or drained by enemies.  You can quickly refill and get back into the fight without having to wait for Cauterizing Aura to refill your bar.
• Burn - Great power for slotting and proc'ing.
  • Put it on a foe that's immob'd, or held by Char and let them roast.  
  • If you get bonfire, put the KB>KD proc in it to make your foes flop on the ground, drop a burn patch on them, especially bosses and EBs to whittle them down.
  • Casting it also releases you from any immob on you, if you don't have that protection from elsewhere.
• Hot Feet - amazing power!  On paper, it seems "meh" - i used to think that too.  but in use, it's amazing. 
  • Your foes don't like their feet burning and they run from you - slowly!  It's a great defensive power that does decent damage and can hold procs.
  • Foes will still attacks you, so some defense set bonuses and/or pool powers are useful (Fire Armor, Tough, Weave, Maneuvers, Rune of Protection, etc).
  • Highly suggest 6 slotting for damage with one of the -DmgRes procs in it.  
  • It has -Fly component to it, which is very handy. 

Slotting - you are correct, not everything needs to be 6 slotted.  Most attacks can be 4 or 5 slotted.  You really only 5 or 6 slot for the set bonuses.  Many of the Winter's Gift sets and the AT sets have really great defensive set bonuses at 5 and 6 slots.

 

As a triple-Fire blaster, consider this PBAOE goodness while you wait for Inferno to recharge:  

• Cast Bonfire (with KB>KD proc and slotted for damage - without the KB>KD proc, Bonfire is not as useful and does not use deal as much overall damage)
• While they're flopping on the ground, jump in with Hot Feet, Rain of Fire, Burn, Fire Ball, Fire Sword Circle, Consume (slotted for Damage), Blaze/Fire Blast/Ring of Fire/Fire Sword/Blazing Bolt as necessary between PBAOE powers recharging.  Things just melt and die rather quickly.  
• Next mob, Inferno is back
• Next mob, repeat destruction with Bonfire and your PBAOEs.

Leadership Pool - Tactics and Assault are not necessary.  Aim and Build Up already give you lots of +ToHit, so Tactics is not really needed and I'd rather take a power that would give me more defense.  Also, Aim and Build Up already get you to the damage cap (or close enough), so Assault isn't really needed or that useful for blasters and is a wasted toggle and power pick, imo (it's better for other ATs who are further from the damage cap).  Maneuvers is far more useful (especially stacked with Weave, Combat Jumping, etc) and is only 1 power pick to get it too.

 

...i hope this helps!  Good luck!

Edited July 16, 2023 by Frozen Burn

[Wimbochismo]

I have a Fire/ Blaster, but not a /Fire.

 

Slotting is on a case-by-case basis - mainly on what bonuses you're going after and what stats the power itself needs with slotting. For instance the Decimation set. You really only need the 5 slots because that's where the bonuses are, and the 6th slot proc barely ever goes off. The recharge it provides is 62% so it works well with a quick recharging power. However, I would not put it in an attack with a very long recharge, other sets provide more rech. If you can swing 5 slots for the bonuses you want though, it can save a slot.

 

I rarely ever use the immobilize on Blasters. It's nice to have as a set mule and early power picks can constrain you to take it, but it's not necessary.

 

My recent thoughts on Blasters are to go with ranged defense almost every time. There's usually only one or two powers from the secondary with a dpa worth going into melee for. In that case you can play ranged and then joust in to land a higher dpa melee attack. 

 

Highest dpa single target is Blazing Bolt > Blaze > Fire Sword > Fire Blast. You could probably switch the immob for Fire Sword. Now you can stay fully at ranged (Blazing, Blaze, Blast) and/or when the mob is on a tank or held etc the higher dpa rotation is (Blazing, Blaze, Sword).

 

As you've noted, you already have a ton of strong aoe in Fire/. Inferno, Rain, and Ball are really great. You could pick up another aoe in /Fire, but it looks like some of the options are lower dpa. Since you're going Fly and potentially Hover, Hot Feet isn't really necessary. I'm not sure if you need to detoggle Hover or just fly next to the ground for Burn. It looks like some aoe's are quite proccable. Personal preference on how much aoe you want, nothing looks exceptional, though. Beware of some longer cast times.

 

Cauterizing Aura is most of what you need for sustain. If you can't fix end issues with it, Consume could help. Can also proc it out as an attack.

 

Most of the time I use Bonfire as a knockdown patch. I only 1 or 2 slot it with KB-KD and a FF +rech proc.

[Onlyasandwich]

23 minutes ago, Wimbochismo said:

Now you can stay fully at ranged

I broadly agree with you on ranged defense slotting priority for blasters (assuming you are bothering with defense), as even pbaoes can be jousted.

 

However, if you're not staying in melee to use hot feet and/or burn, there isn't much point to taking the /fire secondary other than theming. This is what makes the secondary stand apart from others beyond just another handful of good dpa melee attacks and build up.

 

My own fire/fire went for S/L as a compromise, bolstered by scorpion shield. I don't know if this would be nearly as effective these days with the attack typing changes, however.

 

This does get me interested in a respec, however! I'll share my own take later on.

[Onlyasandwich]

I did a first pass at how I would respec my own Fire/Fire, and thought I'd share in case you share some of the same goals.

 

Highlights of this build:

• Heavy recharge focus - just shy of perma hasten.
• Power choice is focused on ease of use in pbaoe range. All aoes can just be thrown out without need to worry about positioning cones. Although Burn is great, I didn't pick it here, instead favoring larger aoes for simple application in more spread out situations. 
• Ranged defense at 33.75, within a small purple of softcap. This provides a strong layer that should make a meaningful difference in solo play, and gives room for team buffs to contribute something useful as well.
• Moderate S/L/F/C resist, all within the ~50% range.
• Max hit chance against +3's.
• 85% slow resist, suitable KB protection.
• Moderate proc focus in relevant powers to maximize damage. We could drop the proccing and slow resist to pursue a more traditional ranged softcap, but would sacrifice significant damage, and slow resist is quite valuable.

 

Anticipated playstyle:

 

As @Frozen Burn mentioned, alternating Inferno and Bonfire is the way to go. Inferno will blow most every mob away, while Bonfire provides strong control so you can get through your aoe rotation. Hot Feet keeps them slowly running away from you in pbaoe range, so less likely that melee attackers will thwack, keeping most hits targeting through your ranged defense.

 

With Hot Feet and the fighting pool, we are putting solid pressure on even the Blaster sustain's superior recovery. However, between this and Consume as a backup, you should be fine. Optional to leave Evasive on during combat.

 

File:

Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd

[BurningFury]

This was very thoughtful, and I greatly appreciate the work on this. It always amazes me how well some folks understand the game mechanics that they can produce some interesting and effective builds. You provided something here that retained things important to me. I am excited to try this out.

The slotting is interesting.  At first it seemed odd for fire blast and fire sword being slotted post 40 for the most part.  But fireball, rain of fire and fire sword circle well slotted by 20 and make this playable for any flashback missions.

You saved a ton of slots with Tough, Weave and Fire Shield.  My originally planned build was heavy in those. I was thinking that all the emphasis was a waste and not buying much.  Your approach confirms what I had suspected. Enough so that I need to revisit one of my other heroes.

I’ll be on this evening to respect and try this out.  Thank you so much!

1 hour ago, Onlyasandwich said:

I did a first pass at how I would respec my own Fire/Fire, and thought I'd share in case you share some of the same goals.

 

Highlights of this build:

• Heavy recharge focus - just shy of perma hasten.
• Power choice is focused on ease of use in pbaoe range. All aoes can just be thrown out without need to worry about positioning cones. Although Burn is great, I didn't pick it here, instead favoring larger aoes for simple application in more spread out situations. 
• Ranged defense at 33.75, within a small purple of softcap. This provides a strong layer that should make a meaningful difference in solo play, and gives room for team buffs to contribute something useful as well.
• Moderate S/L/F/C resist, all within the ~50% range.
• Max hit chance against +3's.
• 85% slow resist, suitable KB protection.
• Moderate proc focus in relevant powers to maximize damage. We could drop the proccing and slow resist to pursue a more traditional ranged softcap, but would sacrifice significant damage, and slow resist is quite valuable.

 

Anticipated playstyle:

 

As @Frozen Burn mentioned, alternating Inferno and Bonfire is the way to go. Inferno will blow most every mob away, while Bonfire provides strong control so you can get through your aoe rotation. Hot Feet keeps them slowly running away from you in pbaoe range, so less likely that melee attackers will thwack, keeping most hits targeting through your ranged defense.

 

With Hot Feet and the fighting pool, we are putting solid pressure on even the Blaster sustain's superior recovery. However, between this and Consume as a backup, you should be fine. Optional to leave Evasive on during combat.

 

File:

Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd 43.57 kB · 2 downloads

 

[Onlyasandwich]

13 minutes ago, BurningFury said:

I’ll be on this evening to respect and try this out.  Thank you so much!

Welcome, and I'd love to hear how it goes!

 

You can ignore the levels slots were added. Just add as you see fit when leveling. It's all the same in the end. You don't lose slots when exemping - the enhancements just scale down.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[BurningFury]

43 minutes ago, Onlyasandwich said:

You can ignore the levels slots were added. Just add as you see fit when leveling. It's all the same in the end. You don't lose slots when exemping - the enhancements just scale down.

 I didn't know that. That's handy to know too

[Onlyasandwich]

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on my respec!

 

I did optimize the build further a bit for a better ST chain. Notably, Fire Sword is now pretty much on par with Blaze and Blazing bolt, giving you three super heavy hitters to blitz down bosses.

 

I gave it a whirl on a +2 x 8 Fire farm (pretty favorable conditions I know) and it was lovely. None of the powers felt wasted, and I was able to keep a continuous flow of destruction whether focused on ST or aoe. The Hot Feet dance worked as expected. Endurance was quite manageable, though I did pop Consume a couple times after many back to back rotations.

 

Once I get my Alpha slotted and pumped a bit I'll try it in more challenging content. It's already living up to what I want out of it.

 

Edit: +3 x 8 with bosses was also fine. +4 was pretty hit and miss - doable but with death. Perhaps this will improve with incarnates slotted out. 

 

Newest spec:Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[BurningFury]

On 7/16/2023 at 9:36 PM, Onlyasandwich said:

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on my respec!

 

I did optimize the build further a bit for a better ST chain. Notably, Fire Sword is now pretty much on par with Blaze and Blazing bolt, giving you three super heavy hitters to blitz down bosses.

 

I gave it a whirl on a +2 x 8 Fire farm (pretty favorable conditions I know) and it was lovely. None of the powers felt wasted, and I was able to keep a continuous flow of destruction whether focused on ST or aoe. The Hot Feet dance worked as expected. Endurance was quite manageable, though I did pop Consume a couple times after many back to back rotations.

 

Once I get my Alpha slotted and pumped a bit I'll try it in more challenging content. It's already living up to what I want out of it.

 

Edit: +3 x 8 with bosses was also fine. +4 was pretty hit and miss - doable but with death. Perhaps this will improve with incarnates slotted out. 

 

Newest spec:Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd

 

 

I hit 50 a few days back.  I went with your revised build and am having a lot of fun with this.  Hot Fee and Bonfire are much more than I expected.  Grateful for the advice as they are very effective.  Fire swords are pretty good too.  So, I don't stay ranged as often as originally planned but the playstyle is tons of fun.

 

Still grinding for enhancement influence/merits.  I made a minor tweak ... Overwhelming Presence KD went to Rise of the Phoenix.  Apparently, that has knockback.  So Sudden Impact is in Bonfire.  

 

For added fun, I have Pyronic Judgement.  Ion seems like the choice for the entire player base, but Pyronic is pretty good.  At tier three it will evaporate minions (lots of them) and at decent range.  I am looking forward to upgrading to pyronic core final judgement.

 

I started to do my own farming at +2/+4.    My biggest issue is not seeing an elite boss in the pack until it's too late.   Outside that, I can move from pack to pack relatively well.  If I do fall, Rise is useful.

 

Edit: Any particular AE missions you like?

Edited July 21, 2023 by BurningFury

[Onlyasandwich]

On 7/21/2023 at 11:36 AM, BurningFury said:

Any particular AE missions you like?

I don't typically run AE all that much myself. If I'm stress testing a build I'll just type in "smash" or "fire" and see what comes up, and pick from the results.

 

Nothing wrong with mitigating the KB of Rise! However, I had it as is for the mule slot on the PM absorb proc. Typically if I'm rezzing the KB isn't that big of a deal, or even desirable.