What is the best AOE blaster?

[Zep]

Doing damage over a large area repeatedly.

 

I will posit Fire/Fire. Any agree/disagreements?

[biostem]

I believe AR technically has more AoEs, if you're counting cones...

[SwitchFade]

Do you mean highest DPS to most MOBs concurrently?

 

Always trust Beavis. The answer is always firefirefire.

[Zep]

Dps would be a big part of it and just plain mass ability to, er, ahhhhh, arrest, mobs simultaneously (as we heroes dont kill).

 

I have a scrapper somewhere with 6 or 7 cones but not the same as a Blaster (AR or otherwise).

 

AR what? AR/Fire? AR by itself is not going to hold a candle to Fire/Fire. 

 

Rain of Fire->Fire Ball->Fire Breath = Cleared pack

Build up->Combustion->Fire Sword Circle = Cleared pack.

Inferno = Cleared pack

Hotfeet, consume and Burn all as control, buff and additional AOE damage

 

For AV efficiency:

Flares, Fire Blast (both useable when CC'd), Blaze, and Blazing Bolt for single target rotation.

 

Not sure yet if I will fit in Fire Sword and Aim though Aim is very likely.  

Edited August 17, 2023 by Zep

[biostem]

Another thing to consider is that having fewer AoEs that deal more damage and which you can cycle more frequently would also be better than many separate AoEs that may be harder to properly position or have other drawbacks, (particularly long or clunky casting animations).

[Without_Pause]

Damage type would also matter. I feel like I can always tell when a Fire blaster is on the team. 

[Tacheyon]

I have a Fire/TA...Oil Slick + Rain of Fire + Fire Ball.  Even throw in Glue Arrow to keep them there longer.

 

Finish up with Blaze and Blazing bolt if needed.

[Zep]

Have my now Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster to 47 - I agree other builds are also nice, its just hard to see another build being able to out put as many square feet of damage per min. I could be wrong. 

[Troo]

psy/mental works

[smnolimits43]

I just finished slotting and Played a few TFs tonight.  I slotted the 3 aoes, Energy Torrent, Explosive Blast and Nova, with Sudden Acceleration KB/KD.  My character is Brother Skirmash.  

Lots of fun

[Frozen Burn]

I would say my Ice/Fire/Fire blaster has tons of devasting AOEs.  And if you're talking square footage coverage as well, with 2 rains (and one being your nuke) and bonfire (w/KB>KD proc) - I can affect a great area or devastate a small one. 

 

Also, my DP/Mental has devastating AOEs - built it to be a PBAOE juggernaut.

 

 

[Mack008]

Part of this depends on playstyle.  I prefer to keep my blasters at range, so I avoid PBAoE attacks.  Powersets like AR become a solid for me with Buckshot, M30, Flamethower, and Full Auto all keeping be a bit back from the action.  Also,, Full Auto recharges in only 60 seconds by default, which nicely offsets the lethal damage and 10 target limit.

 

YMMV.

[Icono04]

If Fire/  is not an option because of self-imposed concept limitations, and if focus is only on ranged damage (again because of a self-imposed restriction) - what are the best primaries for AoE damage, besides Fire/ ? Like, what are the top-5 primary powersets for ranged-only AoE damage?

[EnjoyTheJourney]

For ranged AOE a fire / energy / mu blaster is very strong. With a decent amount of recharge and good slotting, then pre-casting boost range and build up or aim with the gaussian +damage proc a sequence of ...

 

fire breath, fireball, electric fences, fire breath, fireball, ...

 

... functions a lot like a nuke, except on a repeated cycle with little downtime. In my experience no amount of mobs can stand up for long against a consistently repeated cycle of these three powers. 

Mu's electric fences only has a 10 foot radius. But, after aim + gaussian proc or build up, fire breath, and fireball a lot of mobs are down anyways. So, electric fences can be focused on whatever is left over. The snappy animation and good DPA make electric fences highly worthwhile, though, for an AOE-focused blaster. Incidentally, boost range makes fireball's range close to 88 feet, which is more than sufficient to hit the ten target cap pretty regularly in busy screens. 

Edited October 23, 2023 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Ringo]

4 hours ago, Icono04 said:

If Fire/  is not an option because of self-imposed concept limitations, and if focus is only on ranged damage (again because of a self-imposed restriction) - what are the best primaries for AoE damage, besides Fire/ ? Like, what are the top-5 primary powersets for ranged-only AoE damage?

Pure ranged with no PBAoE, your top AoE contenders are:

Assault Rifle

Archery

Ice

Beam Rifle

Seismic

Water

Storm Blast

 

Out of those I haven't played Storm Blast.  Seismic needs to be on the ground which interfers with one of the upsides of "pure range" which is hover blasting.  Beam Rifle is a better Single Target blaster with Disintegration spread as a treat.

 

So I'd say the Top 5 AoE ranged primaries are:

1) Water

2) Assault Rifle

3) Ice

4) Archery

5) Seismic

[Snarky]

I have done a LOT of ranged Blasters. 

 

The revamped AR is good, and if it fits your concept you will be happy. 

 

Beam Rifle is so good at ST that I have one set up for Really Hard Way Magisterium attempts.  I was in a SG that ran those weekly.  This was the ranged assassin I used.  It is light on AoE though.  

 

Seismic takes some time getting used to.  There is a significant delay and a longer recharge.  But wow.  That thing is fun.  If you have an earth magic concept you will be happy.  If you have patience.

 

Ice... I have the Ice on Blaster.  But due to the DoT and the strangeness of pairings I think you would like this better as an Ice/Cold Corruptor.  Cold has some of the best debuffs Corr get and the DoT of the two massive rains with Scourge mechanic is fearsome.

 

I have not run Archery Water or Storm

 

I do have a fully kitted out Elec Blaster for range however.  While the damage is not the best, WOW is it survivable.  Especially how I built it.  Full Ranged defense and two "oh crap" you cannot hurt me powers.  

[Ringo]

Previously I would have absolutely ranked Elec as a top ranged set, but with the Shocked mechanic not using Short Circuit just lowers your potential damage output.  

 

Water is very fun, if lackluster in ST.  I'd recommend everyone try it at least once

[Icono04]

Thanks a bunch for the info, guys. For the overview as well as for the detailed pros and cons and hows and whys.

 

The reason for my question is/was that I already have 2 blasters at lvl 50, a Dark/Atomic and an Energy/Ice, both of which are fun to play but kind of underwhelming in damage (at least when built for ranged damage, which how most of my squishy chars are built). So if/when I make another blaster, I want it to have better damage output than its two predecessors. This thread is a big help for that - thanks again. 🙂

 

 

[SwitchFade]

Water.

[honoroit]

^ water is very good aoe, and the snipe replacement isnt too bad, but is what people complain about.

 

fire is extraordinary. dont skip of fire breath due to its cast time. with the artillary set its range is much improved, and it ticks for LOTS.

 

if mobs arent moving, ice rains can be very damagey.  but water just keeps smacking stuff, and with decent damage type spreads.

 

Figs - water bender

[Doomguide2005]

Not sure about being at the tippy top but Electric/Fire Blaster can put out silly amounts of PBAoE damage with the advantage of doing a differing damage type compared to Fire/Fire while draining mobs of endurance.  In the presence of another end drainer this can be very fast and effective even vs +4 mobs.  Largest drawback is it's a lot of DoT damage.

[Nostromo21]

On 8/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, Troo said:

psy/mental works

 

For therapy...? 

[Nostromo21]

On 8/24/2023 at 3:40 PM, Frozen Burn said:

I would say my Ice/Fire/Fire blaster has tons of devasting AOEs.  And if you're talking square footage coverage as well, with 2 rains (and one being your nuke) and bonfire (w/KB>KD proc) - I can affect a great area or devastate a small one. 

 

Also, my DP/Mental has devastating AOEs - built it to be a PBAOE juggernaut.

 

 

 

Wow! My first ever hero on live, Kelvin Ator - got him to mid 40s on live I think. Nice to finally find a kindred GoT soul, long before that even came out he he.