Blaster that doesn't get CCed to death?

[Kitaal]

I really want to play a blaster, but every time I try, I reach a point where I get spam cced with stuns or knockdowns or whatever and killed before I can do anything.

 

I've tried just carrying a bunch of break frees but that annoys me.  So I thought I'd ask if there is any blaster build that has adequate CC protection? 

 

Sorry if this is a really ignorant question.

[PeregrineFalcon]

Try a Sentinel.

 

Slightly less damage than a Blaster, has a great Inherent Power that will reduce the damage resistance of a boss, Mez Protection and armor that's almost as tough as a Scrapper.

[lemming]

Yep. It takes a bit of practice, but if you're solo, you learn to target those that cause issues and remember your first couple powers in your primary and the first secondary can be used even while held.

 

Early levels are a little tougher, though usually less holds being tossed about.   Carry a few breakfrees and plan your battles.

 

Peregrine has good advice as well.  Sentinels are pretty sturdy.  They don't have as much burst damage, but they can wear down most targets nearly as quick.

[ZorkNemesis]

Generally no.  There are some powers that give status protections (for instance Burn in Fire Manipulation gives Immobilize protection and Wild Fortress in Plant Manip. has Confuse protection) but a Blaster would usually have to heavily invest in pools for status protections and that's not really viable.  Rune of Protection is the best option if you want status protections but it requires two other powers in the Sorcery pool to get and can't be up 100% of the time due to a non-enhancable recharge.

 

Blaster's best status protection: kill them first.  Use your powers to prevent then from acting and kill them before their statuses can go off.  Use your nukes to alpha strike, abuse knockdowns if you have them, some sets get weak AoE controls that can help with set ups or when things get hairy.  And don't forget that if you do get controled, Blasters can still use their T1 and T2 primary powers and their T1 secondary at any time so you can still fight even if you're encased in a block of ice.

 

Worst case scenario if you're really struggling, the Defense Amplifier from the P2W vendor gives some status protection.  As long as you're not getting focused with controls that they get layered to hell it should give you plenty of leeway to work with.

 

If you're worried about being knocked over, look into a Blessing of the Zephyr or Karma knockback protection enhancements.  You can slot one in a travel power or defense boosting power and knockdowns will never be an issue again.  Very, very few enemies do more than Mag 4 knockback so this would cover pretty much anything that isn't Diabolique or a Fake Nemesis.

 

Edited February 5 by ZorkNemesis

[Uun]

There are a few blaster secondaries that have limited mezz protection. Martial Combat/Inner Will removes status effects, but it's a click on a 180s CD. Temporal/Time Lord provides stun protection. Tactical Arrow/Gymnastics provides KB protection. Atomic/Metabolic Acceleration provides mezz resistance (reduces duration). 

[HelenCarnate]

As Uun pointed out there are some options but they are more of a bonus for taking that set rather than something that is needed.  Inner Will is only reactive meaning you can't hit it before a fight you know will have stuff that will mez you.  Time Lord you get very late in the set with level 30 being the earliest you can take it and only helps against stun.  Now that combined with Acrobatics can also get a little protection against holds and knockback but that also pretty much forces you to take super jump as your travel power and adds an extra end draining toggle.

 

While leveling solo, that is just something you have to deal with when playing a non melee character.  Once you get to higher levels you can basically eliminate it with incarnate stuff and/or high enough defense that you just rarely get hit, but solo leveling sadly the main option is pack around a few BFs, take both your first 2 powers so you can still attack and learn what mobs do what so you know who to target first.  Also, most sets have some bit of control in them so use your own knockbacks and holds on those targets.  

 

I will say for KB, most of the KB in the game can be handled with a single -4 KB IO in your travel power.  There are things that will still knock you back but they are rare and mostly dealt with by not standing next to things that are about to explode. 

[Derek Icelord]

Yes, technically all of them.*

 

You can combine the Blaster inherent of having access to your first 2 blast powers even while mezzed with the Defiant Barrage Chance for Status Protection proc in one of those first 2 powers. Get mezzed, keep blasting, and the proc will eventually trigger and free you. Most critter powers are low magnitude, so just one stack of the proc is enough to free you. And since you should be spamming your blasts anyway, there's a decent chance you'll have a stack or two before a critter casts a control power on you as well.

 

It also helps a lot to build for 45% DEF to S/L, as that will keep the majority of attacks from landing in the first place.

Edited February 6 by Derek Icelord

[JJDrakken]

18 hours ago, Kitaal said:

I really want to play a blaster, but every time I try, I reach a point where I get spam cced with stuns or knockdowns or whatever and killed before I can do anything.

 

I've tried just carrying a bunch of break frees but that annoys me.  So I thought I'd ask if there is any blaster build that has adequate CC protection? 

 

Sorry if this is a really ignorant question.

 

Join a Patron Badge Mish Team(Redside. Requires you at least change your Alignment to Vigilante). Then when you get Badge, get Black Scorpion Patron Powers. Get Black Scorpion Shield.

 

It offers Defense vs S/L/E.  A lot of the original content CC stuff has element of one of those 3(Also ranged). Tied to them. It will help you avoid a lot of the CC coming at you.

[Lunar Ronin]

1 hour ago, Uun said:

There are a few blaster secondaries that have limited mezz protection. Martial Combat/Inner Will removes status effects, but it's a click on a 180s CD. Temporal/Time Lord provides stun protection. Tactical Arrow/Gymnastics provides KB protection. Atomic/Metabolic Acceleration provides mezz resistance (reduces duration). 

 

Also Sonic Manipulation's Sound Barrier at level 20 provides sleep protection.  A very underrated power set.

[Kaballah]

Post 50 you can just use Destiny/Clarion, which remains available when exemped down to 45. gearing for ranged def is also a massive help (some people prefer s/l def as mentioned earlier) although be aware a couple of the dumbest CCs with the longest durations are AOE, e.g. there's a Malta stun grenade with a duration of around 45 seconds. Clarion really fixes everything though if you mostly do 45+ content, it can be fired while CC'd and the T4 version gives essentially permanent status protection vs all types.

 

  

17 hours ago, ZorkNemesis said:

If you're worried about being knocked over, look into a Blessing of the Zephyr or Karma knockback protection enhancements.  You can slot one in a travel power or defense boosting power and knockdowns will never be an issue again.  Very, very few enemies do more than Mag 4 knockback so this would cover pretty much anything that isn't Diabolique or a Fake Nemesis.

 

 

adding to this, Blessing of the Zephyr 2-piece bonus is 1.25% ranged def which can be stacked up to 5 times if you have, say, hover/fly/evasive maneuvers and/or like combat teleport/teleport/fold space, if you can spare slots for this and value the extra speed/range or KB protection

Edited February 6 by Kaballah

[StarseedWarrior]

On 2/5/2024 at 2:35 PM, Kitaal said:

I really want to play a blaster, but every time I try, I reach a point where I get spam cced with stuns or knockdowns or whatever and killed before I can do anything.

 

I've tried just carrying a bunch of break frees but that annoys me.  So I thought I'd ask if there is any blaster build that has adequate CC protection? 

 

Sorry if this is a really ignorant question.

I recommend a sentinel no matter what you do a certain at may get cced more then others, you can also try going corrupter to stay at ranged with crazy dps.

[Troo]

[EnjoyTheJourney]

The strongest anti-mez combinations for blasters are ...

1. martial combat secondary, for inner will, paired up with rune of protection from the sorcery pool and the unique blaster IO that increases mez resistance. Get a good amount of recharge into inner will and good global recharge for better uptime for inner will. Can take combat jumping to have really high immobilize protection. Can also pick up melee core hybrid incarnate for even more mez protection at 50, if you'd like, for both martial combat and the next anti-mez option ... 

2. energy manipulation for energize, which when cast proactively gives solid protection from stuns. Then layer on combat jumping (solid immobilize protection), acrobatics from the leaping pool (strong anti-knock protection and -2 to incoming hold magnitude that goes up to -3.7-ish IIRC while power boost is active). There's still a sleep hole in this combination and slotting the unique blaster IO that increases mez resistance is worthwhile for this build as well. You'll want good recharge in power boost to make it as close to perma as you can. 

The second option above (energy manipulation) is a bit more complicated to make work in part because it has multiple powers involved and in part because you need to click a fair amount for power boost, which has a short duration. Martial combat is the easier-to-use option out of those two choices because it involves less clicks and protection provided is relatively broad. But, you're more likely with martial combat than with energy manipulation to have time intervals in which no anti-mez skills are available. For example, inner will and rune of protection might both be recharging for a martial combat blaster when mez happens, while the energy manipulation blaster would have a permanent sleep hole in mez protection and occasional weakness to holds (when power boost is not active), but would have very stable protection against stuns and immobilization. 

For either option you'll still probably want a few break free inspirations to handle stacked mezzes affecting your blaster or to cover holes in mez protection provided. For both of these options I've found from experience that barrier is likely to be a better destiny incarnate pick than clarion, as clarion just doesn't seem to be needed.  

Edited February 7 by EnjoyTheJourney

[Akisan]

Something else you can try - Leaping Pool, take Combat Jump, Super Jump and Acrobatics.

Combat jump stops most immobilizes, SJ is a solid travel power, and the often-overlooked acrobatics stops most holds/KBs in the game, at least until you can afford the IOs that stop the KB (a surprising number of Holds are 2 mag, like Malta Gunslingers' cryo rounds & DE fungi bombs)

 

Edit - sleeps can be annoying too, but since they're broken by any HP change, you can often get out of them with a heal proc or 2 (panacea, power transfer, entropic chaos...)

Edited February 14 by Akisan

[Shred Monkey]

Martial Combat has "Inner Will."  This give you 60 seconds of status protection but has a long CD so it's not possible to have it up 100%, However, if you set it to auto, it doesn't fire until you get mezzed, thus you get protection when you most need it, and then it generally lasts for the rest of the fight and more.  If you combine this with really high ranged defense which will make most mezz powers miss to begin with, you'll be very close to immune.

[Braddack]

 

 

weather news.mbd

 

This Build has 96 % Imunity. quite good.

Edited February 20 by Braddack

[Snarky]

Have you tried a Tank?  Maybe get laser beam eyes and have “pew pew” as your battle cry!

[Hedgefund]

Here's a suggestion that requires some inf.  Whether it's "too much" inf or not is up to the individual player but the Defense Amplifier from the P2W vendor (it's still called P2W as of this moment) provides 4 points protection to everything.  The cost is (Your trained level)^2 * 1,000 inf for an hour of usage.  You can buy 8 hours at a time, so at level 1 that's 1,000 inf for an hour and 8,000 inf for 8 hours.  At level 40 it's 1,600,000 inf per hour.

[Snarky]

On 2/5/2024 at 12:35 PM, Kitaal said:

I really want to play a blaster, but every time I try, I reach a point where I get spam cced with stuns or knockdowns or whatever and killed before I can do anything.

 

I've tried just carrying a bunch of break frees but that annoys me.  So I thought I'd ask if there is any blaster build that has adequate CC protection? 

 

Sorry if this is a really ignorant question.

in all serious i have a number of Blasters who never get CCd.  never.  But i have a very different play style and build approach.  If you want a fire/fire/fire blaster more power to you.  carry break frees and run leadership tactics.  maybe rune of prot if you can fit it.

 

I doubt you run the sets i run that are the most safe.  Beam Rifle and Elec, both with Temp second and built for range.  pure range.  lot of range.  i can post those builds, but the concept is... most enemies just mez those around them.  or really even attack those around them.  damn lazy.

[Perfidy]

On 2/5/2024 at 2:35 PM, Kitaal said:

I really want to play a blaster, but every time I try, I reach a point where I get spam cced with stuns or knockdowns or whatever and killed before I can do anything.

 

I've tried just carrying a bunch of break frees but that annoys me.  So I thought I'd ask if there is any blaster build that has adequate CC protection? 

 

Sorry if this is a really ignorant question.

It's not ignorant, and I am fairly certain at some point, most folks that play a blaster have encountered this problem. 
There are a lot of ways to solve it! Some solutions are not as good as others, and there's bound to be some subjectivity as to how good each solution is. You're probably hoping for a toggle, but while some sets mitigate mezzes differently, to my knowledge, other then teaming, or using clarion when you're level 50, or using the break-free, you aren't going to find anything that will completely mitigate holds/stuns/mezzes, etc in the same fashion the armor's available to melee will. 
 

The powerset secondary, Atomic Manipulation is probably the closest thing in my mind that a blaster is going to get to ease the duration of these mezzes. 

1. The best defense is a good offense. When get held/mezzed enough to get defeated, take that time before you hit the hospital or rez until you identify what/which npc held you. In my experience, it's usually a CoT mage, a Tsoo fighter of some sort, an illusionist, or potentially a stun from any number of melee npcs. 
I don't know what kind of blaster you're playing, but each one should have some tool to be pro-active about getting held. In the case of ice primary, it's freeze ray and bitter freeze ray. And candidly, it's also bitter ice blast. And blizzard. If they're dead, they're not mezzing you. Anecdotally, I will open with bitter freeze ray and follow up with freeze ray since BFR has a longer activation time on bosses that mez. Or sappers, or freak stunners. You get the idea. They're now held. I can follow up with Bitter Ice blast and they're dead. I've dropped ice patch to cover me if the rest come to bash my face in - they slip and bounce until I can deal with them individually. 

2. The best defense is a good defense. If you're soft-capped to attacks, only 5% of the mezzes will reach you. So, that's worth considering as a mitigation technique. It's not at all easy for me to get these numbers before level 50, but the closer I get, the less mezz I have to deal with. 

3. P2W is your friend. There's a thing called "Defensive Amplifier". It's a buff that you buy from p2w, by the hour. The higher your level, the more it will cost. I believe it caps at level 50 at a cost of 2M per hour. For a level 50, this is literally chump change. Complete a mission and sell the drops, you've covered the cost. But, if you buy 8 hours at level 1, and top off at the start of each gaming session, you'll find it's much, much cheaper. 
If you've the resources, buy some hero packs, as they are randomly found within. You'll also have a chance at other types of amplifiers, like the Survival and Offensive Amplifiers as well as ATOs and a plethora of other goodies. 

4. Misery loves company. Find a teammate with the sonic powerset for Clarity. Or Traps powerset for the Force Field Generator. You get the idea. 

5. Lastly, as already suggested, make a Sentinel that has armor built in to protect you. The damage isn't as good, but if you're dirt napping as a blaster, your damage is going to be better than that, lol. 

 

[IronJuke]

On 2/20/2024 at 3:08 AM, Braddack said:

 

 

weather news.mbd 42.94 kB · 14 downloads

 

This Build has 96 % Imunity. quite good.

That is a nice build.  The use of Force Pool made me rethink my Storm/Ice Blaster a bit.  

Blaster Storm Ice Manipulation Force.mbd

[Derek Icelord]

On 2/20/2024 at 4:08 AM, Braddack said:

 

 

weather news.mbd 42.94 kB · 18 downloads

 

This Build has 96 % Imunity. quite good.

 

Unfortunately that's not immunity. Status resistance reduces the duration of a status effect, protection is what prevents the status from affecting you in the first place.

[Braddack]

1 hour ago, Derek Icelord said:

 

Unfortunately that's not immunity. Status resistance reduces the duration of a status effect, protection is what prevents the status from affecting you in the first place.

sorry i miss spelled that, englisch isnt my first language.

[tricon]

I usually build my blappers this way. 

 

Early lvls use Defense Amplifer. Just buy the maximum hours at lvl 1 it"s vey cheap at the beginning and a bit expansive later on, So you havve some status protection. Later I would add Rune of Protection from the Sorcery pool . It will give you even a higher status protection with res for 60sec duration and you can use it as break free if you are under the effects of cc. In the endgame I will go with Hybrid Melee Core +resist/regen or Melee Radial Embodiment +def/regen, it has a duration of 120s and offers even a wider range of status protection. 

 

Now you can juggle with these 2 powers and you can skip Clarion from the Destiny and use something else like Barrier or Ageless

 

 

Here is an example of a Radiation/Atomic/Ice Blapper

 

Quote

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[Latex]

My favourite character is my Blaster and I've never quite understood the focus on being immune to CC, or 'Status Resist' it's a trap to build for imo, build for +DEF. Or if you really want to risk it, proc-build for more damage, though I personally like clearing entire mob packs solo, so I build +DEF.

You have https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Defiance for one which somewhat mitigates the punishment for being CC'd.
If you have a very strong desire to not get CC'd go /Martial.
To avoid 95% of CC's go with a Hover Blaster with Ranged positional DEF capped (45%) though if you want to do Hardmode content you're going to need more than 45% Ranged Defence.
Playing in teams goes without saying really, you're a Mage from other MMO's in essence, a glass cannon (until you have a thought-out IO Set build).
Carry a few Break-Free inspirations for the rare chance you do get CC'd.

Stack all of this up and you won't really worry about being CC'd.