Archery/Ice Blaster - am I missing something obvious?

[Linarra]

Hi all,

I feel like this is a good build, but I wanted a sanity check from you experts out there.
Here's my build, and my ideas about it:

General reasoning:

General power cycle:

Single target - Snap Shot/Chilblain/Blazing arrow/Cryo Freeze Ray/repeat.

Aoe: Build up/Aim/Rain of Arrows/Fistful of Arrows/Explosive Arrows/repeat
(I often repeat FoA/EA until BU/Aim are recharged.)
[I have RoA activating on a target for the cycle, rather than having to manually point the target.]

No Hasten: because I can barely keep the single target power cycle on cooldown with just this level of recharge (110%).

Stealth pool gives me good mule powers for LotG Ios.

*I have BU and Aim 5-slotted for the set bonuses [esp Recov and Dmg].

*Same for the Freezing Touch 5-slot. Also an handy 2nd Hold for the occasional Lady Grey MiniHami.

*Same for the 6 slots in Body Armor, though I do like the added Res.

I used to slot Evasive Maneuvers heavily for defense,  but finally realized that EM loses all defense when I attack, Stealth and Hover lose only some defense when attacking, and Maneuvers, Combat Jumping keep the defensive bonuses, so I slotted those more heavily.

I like Ice Patch!! It's surprisingly effective damage mitigation for the enemies I like to fight most (Council, Cimerorans, 5th column, Nemesis)

*I formerly had my Alpha slot as Cardiac, but now that I have my IO sets where I intended, I have switched to Musculature - but haven't tried it yet.

Destiny: Barrier Radial

Interface: Degenerative Core; Lore: Longbow Radial

Judgement: Ion Radial;  Hybrid: Assault Radial

Finally, I mostly run in L50 TFs, many speed runs, Incarnate content, and other stuff where my team often covers the obvious holes, like ranged defense.

 

(The stars indicate where I have particular questions about whether I'm way off base)

 

Thanks for any advice!

20240415 Linarra - Blaster (Archery) leadership exp.mbd

Edited May 27 by Linarra

[Frozen Burn]

Hi and Welcome! 

 

Frigid Protection should be taken as soon as it is available (lvl 10) and no later than level 20.  That is your endurance sustain power.  With 3 Perf Shifters (Endmod, Endmod/Acc, Endmd/Rech) in it and a single +End Perf Shifter in Stamina and the Panacea (or Numi's) in Health - that is all the endurance you will need.  All the other slots you can then use elsewhere and you won't have to go chasing End with set bonuses.  Also, the Stun proc will not work as well as you might hope in that power.

 

Then, you don't have to 5-slot BU and Aim, but rather perhaps 6-slot Tactics for the defense set bonuses.  You should then also have more slots to put into your snipe which does a lot of damage and with fast snipe, you can put that into your ST attack chain (and put earlier in your build).

 

Maneuvers doesn't need a full set of Reactive Def... just do 4 Reactive Def (D, DE, DER, +Scaling Res), the LotG Def/+Global Rech, and the Shield Wall TP prot/+Resist.  Then you can get rid of Infiltration and Grant Invis and pick up 2 more powers that are actually useful to you and not just mules (Ice Sword, Frozen Fists, Aimed Shot, etc).  You should still have plenty of slots left over to put into those new powers as well.

 

 

[Linarra]

Thanks for that advice Frozen Burn, I'll work it out on Mids and the ubiquitous Excel sheet!

[Akisan]

Archery/Ice/Fire blaster main here - I'd also look into Intuition Radial instead of Musculature - yes, it's only +33% damage, but it does pick up +slow, +range, and +hold. Slow is really nice to have with /Ice (especially with the sustain - it caps the movespeed debuff against even level mobs), the +range lets you engage at a 135ft range (80ft base, +20% intuition, +50% snipe buff), and it's a nice bonus for Freezing Touch + 2nd hold.

[Frozen Burn]

28 minutes ago, Akisan said:

Archery/Ice/Fire blaster main here - I'd also look into Intuition Radial instead of Musculature - yes, it's only +33% damage, but it does pick up +slow, +range, and +hold. Slow is really nice to have with /Ice (especially with the sustain - it caps the movespeed debuff against even level mobs), the +range lets you engage at a 135ft range (80ft base, +20% intuition, +50% snipe buff), and it's a nice bonus for Freezing Touch + 2nd hold.

 

THIS!  ^^^  I 2nd this whole-heartedly.  Intuition Radial can be more useful to a lot of blasters over Musculature.  I have it on my Ice/Fire/Fire and many others.