Sonic/Mental help request

[Agorazium]

Hi all! So I will be the first to admit I don't play blasters and it's very possible I'm doing something wrong with this build. But this character feels like hot garbage at L46. I wanted it to be a strong AOE blaster, but the amount of aggro I generate and the speed at which I die while putting out insignificant damage feels really bad to play. I prioritized def/res in my IO sets over damage and procs most of the time, and I wonder if that was a mistake? Any help would be appreciated, I love the concept and costume for this toon and would love to enjoy playing him as well!

 

Mids' export function is giving me an error, so while I try to fix that, here is a screenshot. I'm not attached to any of the powers except Psychic Scream, Shockwave, Wail, and Hover/Fly.

 

Blaster (Sonic Attack - Mental Manipulation).mbd

Edited July 22, 2023 by Agorazium

[Wimbochismo]

Instead of exporting the build, you should still be able to add it to your post as an attachment.

 

From what I can see, there aren't any huge issues. Like you said, there's a lot of ranged defense sets so you should practically be a tank at ranged. Especially running two s/l res toggles and having Drain Psyche regen. Are you dipping into melee too much? Dreadful Wail has a big radius so you can stay at ranged Hovering when using it. It's a mag 3 stun so it should also be your go to for survivability when initiating group fights. Lots of cones and only thing to go into melee for is TK Thrust.

 

I don't usually slot the whole Sudden Acceleration set, doesn't do much for dmg. You're low on recharge so maybe that's it? Your attacks aren't cycling very quickly. Although you have enough aoe variety to partially overcome that.

 

How is your single target dmg feeling? Slotting more into Scream could make it work better. Don't know if Shout is comparable to procced Shocking Bolt. Potential for another full set if you use Shout.

 

In general, Sonic trades some dmg for the -res effect. So long as you're using Build Ups for big aoe's to take out lots of mobs, and when burning single targets - it should still be bursty.

[Agorazium]

7 hours ago, Wimbochismo said:

Instead of exporting the build, you should still be able to add it to your post as an attachment.

 

From what I can see, there aren't any huge issues. Like you said, there's a lot of ranged defense sets so you should practically be a tank at ranged. Especially running two s/l res toggles and having Drain Psyche regen. Are you dipping into melee too much? Dreadful Wail has a big radius so you can stay at ranged Hovering when using it. It's a mag 3 stun so it should also be your go to for survivability when initiating group fights. Lots of cones and only thing to go into melee for is TK Thrust.

 

I don't usually slot the whole Sudden Acceleration set, doesn't do much for dmg. You're low on recharge so maybe that's it? Your attacks aren't cycling very quickly. Although you have enough aoe variety to partially overcome that.

 

How is your single target dmg feeling? Slotting more into Scream could make it work better. Don't know if Shout is comparable to procced Shocking Bolt. Potential for another full set if you use Shout.

 

In general, Sonic trades some dmg for the -res effect. So long as you're using Build Ups for big aoe's to take out lots of mobs, and when burning single targets - it should still be bursty.

Thanks! I didn't know you could do that, I've edited it into the OP.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I do spend a fair amount of time in melee. Drain Psyche seems to not hit targets if I'm hovering above them; Shockwave is finnicky that way too. 

 

I do plan on dropping Static Discharge and redistributing some of those slots into Scream. Shocking Bolt is much quicker to activate than Shout which unfortunately is still not a great power, plus I try to have several different damage types on my DPS toons. 

 

The low recharge is noticeable but workable. My AOE attack chain cycles with no gaps, and if I have a free second on a single target, I can use Howl as filler for the extra -res proc. 

[Nemu]

I would drop static discharge, between psi scream, shockwave and howl you have a full cone chain. That lets you fit in evasive maneuvers for more air mobility.

 

If you plan to take advantage of powers that puts you in melee range you are better off dropping the entire flight pool, pick up combat jumping + super speed and learn to joust. Getting stuck in animation right in the middle of a pack while you are trying to fire off a 2 second AoE is a great way to get yourself in trouble even if you do build for defense. When I see people asking of build help, 90% of the time it's not the build that'll take you to the next level, it's understanding game mechanics.

 

A quick glance at your build tells me that you are probably not at the ranged defense softcap despite the artilleries. You most likely don't have 95% chance to hit +4 mobs either. Recharge looks low for a secondary whose endurance/HP sustain depends on recharge. And as I said you can redirect those slots into static discharge into your other cones. Going 5 slots deep into luck of the gambler just for some S/L resist is also not the most efficient use of slots.

 

For a cookie cutter template I would pick up scorpion shield and build for S/L + Ranged defense. It's possible to still melee blast with pure range defense and a resist shield but that's where mobility becomes even more paramount because you will have to constantly move to trick Mob AI into not meleeing you. If you don't want to do that, then keep a steady supply of lucks, pop one or two before you engage and convert others into purples in your downtime.

 

Here's a quick workup of what a cookie cutter build focused on S/L + Range defense looks like. I always try to keep a healthy dose of slow resist as well, and it's pretty important for Mental Manip. Any slows will neuter the recharge of drain psyche and that's a significant part of your survival on top of your defenses.

 

Sonic Mental.mbd

 

If you want to squeeze more procs in then you'll have to sacrifice defense. A common strategy is to build towards 32.5% defense so that one luck softcaps you. That gives you a bit more room to fit procs in. Just remember if you are going to proc out a hold you still need enough ACC bonuses to make sure it hits.

 

However, based on your comment about catching a lot of aggro, I think you are better off with the cookie cutter template till you learn all the blaster tricks of the trade.

[Biff Pow]

I just levelled up a Sonic Blaster (but /Energy) and really liked the set because it's Controller-ish. I would use Sirens Song to take most enemies out of the fight while I concentrate on the Boss, but to do this you have to use single target attacks. At higher levels I could be more of an AoE Blaster, cycling Shockwave and Sirens Song to both damage and control a group. And of course Dreadful Wail to nuke everyone whenever it's up.

[Agorazium]

10 hours ago, Nemu said:

I would drop static discharge, between psi scream, shockwave and howl you have a full cone chain. That lets you fit in evasive maneuvers for more air mobility.

 

If you plan to take advantage of powers that puts you in melee range you are better off dropping the entire flight pool, pick up combat jumping + super speed and learn to joust. Getting stuck in animation right in the middle of a pack while you are trying to fire off a 2 second AoE is a great way to get yourself in trouble even if you do build for defense. When I see people asking of build help, 90% of the time it's not the build that'll take you to the next level, it's understanding game mechanics.

 

A quick glance at your build tells me that you are probably not at the ranged defense softcap despite the artilleries. You most likely don't have 95% chance to hit +4 mobs either. Recharge looks low for a secondary whose endurance/HP sustain depends on recharge. And as I said you can redirect those slots into static discharge into your other cones. Going 5 slots deep into luck of the gambler just for some S/L resist is also not the most efficient use of slots.

 

For a cookie cutter template I would pick up scorpion shield and build for S/L + Ranged defense. It's possible to still melee blast with pure range defense and a resist shield but that's where mobility becomes even more paramount because you will have to constantly move to trick Mob AI into not meleeing you. If you don't want to do that, then keep a steady supply of lucks, pop one or two before you engage and convert others into purples in your downtime.

 

Here's a quick workup of what a cookie cutter build focused on S/L + Range defense looks like. I always try to keep a healthy dose of slow resist as well, and it's pretty important for Mental Manip. Any slows will neuter the recharge of drain psyche and that's a significant part of your survival on top of your defenses.

 

Sonic Mental.mbd 43.46 kB · 2 downloads

 

If you want to squeeze more procs in then you'll have to sacrifice defense. A common strategy is to build towards 32.5% defense so that one luck softcaps you. That gives you a bit more room to fit procs in. Just remember if you are going to proc out a hold you still need enough ACC bonuses to make sure it hits.

 

However, based on your comment about catching a lot of aggro, I think you are better off with the cookie cutter template till you learn all the blaster tricks of the trade.

Thank you, this is great feedback. You are correct that I don't know what I'm doing on blasters, I watched all your videos and they were really helpful! I'm very familiar with jousting on my tanks/MMs, I don't know why I didn't think to apply it to blasters too.

 

Still tinkering with the build but I did drop Discharge to use those slots elsewhere, and now have him at 37% ranged defense, 20% melee and 70% S/L resist. I never solo, so I build my toons assuming that at least 1 person on my team will have Maneuvers/Tactics.  I'm content with that for now I think, while I focus more on learning to play the AT and  feel comfortable making adjustments. Thank you so much!