Best Non-Blaster ranged for fast moving teams

[MeanieDaPooh]

What combination of powersets would be good for very fast moving teams? I play mostly blasters but if I try to play any other archetype, I feel like I'm just doing my best to keep up, and can never really be useful as a debuffer/buffer.

 

What are some useful and fast recommendations for someone that doesn't want to keep playing a Blaster

 

[Lunar Ronin]

Force Field Corruptor.  Two buffs are AoE and last for four minutes.  You get two additional attacks that you work into your rotation.  You also get a toggle that provides very good AoE mez protection.  Just note that the Achilles' Heel of Force Field is endurance.  It is a major endurance hog, so be aware of that and build around it.

[Frozen Burn]

Most Non-blaster ranged ATs mostly have buff/debuffs:  Defenders, Corrupters, Controllers, MMs. 

• You could try a Dominator - they play similarly to a blaster, but utilizes controls with damage. 
• You could also try a Fortunata or an ranged Arachnos soldier
• Maybe a ranged-only Peacebringer or Warshade

[MoonSheep]

i love my mind/fire dom. all ranged powers, fast moving, great damage output and huge impact with permadom

 

i sometimes try making a blaster - which is what i started with in 2005 - but feel like i’m missing half of my AT given i’m a dom main’er thesedays

 

all the benefits of a blaster with an additional strong control power set and mez protection, win win

[MeanieDaPooh]

I do have a mind/psi Dom but he feels very slow to me, maybe I'm just playing it wrong

 

[Shin Magmus]

     I'd make a Poison/Fire Defender, maximally proc out Envenom, Weaken, and Poison Trap (Trap needs 70% acc slotting), then take as much passive automatic support as you can like full Leadership and just go nuts.  In terms of keeping up with the team and killifying everything, while also just noticeably helping your teammates murderize faster, this is one of the best options you can pick.

 

     The "fastest" sets are the ones that either have more toggle/passive support and damage going on, or that can buff teammates out of combat (using the time spent when jumping between groups) to therefore focus on attacking.  Examples of very slow sets include Traps and Trick Arrow: which will not be able to use even half of their powers on a fast team.  For fast sets, you want both a high impact toggle that's always contributing, and a high impact debuff you can throw onto the group (or really even just the bosses in the group) every fight.  Examples of fast sets include Poison (toggle debuff + AoE -res click debuff), Cold Dominmation (4m shields + toggle buff + AoE -res click debuff), and Sonic Resonance (4m shields + toggle buff + AoE -res toggle debuff + single target -res click debuff).  One thing to consider is that really fast teams might not let your powers fully recharge between fights, so powers like Sonic's Disruption Field and Poison's Venomous Gas (but also short CDs on Weaken/Envenom) mean that those powersets will always bring their debuff even when your team is blitzing.  Conversely, some other good sets may have to "skip a fight" because Sleet or Tar Patch haven't recharged yet.

 

     For the actual blasting set, as long as you avoid picking something overtly bad like troll Energy Blast, or set-up based (slow) like Storm Blast / Beam Rifle, then you can throw your AoE attacks out and keep up with the team.  There's plenty of good enough sets for this, although the best results will still be Fire Blast, Ice Blast, Assault Rifle, and Water Blast.  You can also make Psychic Blast and Seismic Blast work (even though Meteor is absolutely terrible) because they have a 16 target AoE which accepts KB sets, meaning you can slot the Force Feedback proc into Upthrust and Psionic Tornado.  That FFB proc is a big deal in AoEs because it's statistically very likely to go off when used against max targets.  Extreme bonus recharge speed will accelerate your gameplay and ensure that the whole "powers not being recharged" thing from the first paragraph happens less often.

 

     As for AT, your obvious choices are basically only Defender or Corruptor.  The other ATs that can used ranged attacks are often loaded with powers that heavily incentivize being in melee: Controllers, Dominators, HEATs, and VEATs.  There are specific 100% ranged attack builds on some of those ATs that can still be decent, but they are generally always worse than using proc'd out Seismic Smash for example.  A 100% pure ranged Huntsman (gun attacks) or Crab Spider is the main viable option here for going fast and having a good AoE -res click debuff in Venom Grenade.  Finally there's Sentinels which are a slap-in-the-face of an AT and are 100% reliant upon taking Melee attacks at level 35 to even get decent DPS.  Sentinels heavily crutch on Melee attacks / Hecatomb even more than Blasters do.

[MoonSheep]

5 hours ago, MeanieDaPooh said:

I do have a mind/psi Dom but he feels very slow to me, maybe I'm just playing it wrong

 

you don’t have to use the control powers in every battle - in some teams you’ll just be playing the role of damage dealer, in others you’ll benefit from the control powers where things become hectic. having the flexibility to choose between the two is great 

 

@Shin Magmus +1 for a poison/fire def, incredibly powerful

Edited October 6 by MoonSheep

[Uun]

4 hours ago, Shin Magmus said:

 I'd make a Poison/Fire Defender, maximally proc out Envenom, Weaken, and Poison Trap (Trap needs 70% acc slotting), then take as much passive automatic support as you can like full Leadership and just go nuts.  In terms of keeping up with the team and killifying everything, while also just noticeably helping your teammates murderize faster, this is one of the best options you can pick.

I've got a Poison/Sonic that's very effective and a lot of fun. Sonic does have a lot of cones (which isn't optimal with Poison), but holy cow can it debuff resistance. I get to -85% res with one stack of Poison and Sonic debuffs.

 

Another option would be a Fire/Kin or Ice/Kin corruptor. Most teams are happy to get Fulcrum Shift (and Speed Boost). Corruptors can leverage Kinetics a bit more than defenders due to their higher damage cap. 

[Snarky]

Corruptors are the only Archetype where every power combo yields an “S” class toon.  
 

I would suggest finding a combo that yoo like the theme of and that has the powers you want

[Ukase]

You've gotten a lot of one-size fits all type suggestions. I'll be slightly more specific. 

Ranged, but not a blaster: Corruptor or defender. 
DPS - if solo, go defender. If teamed, go corruptor. 

Now, the problem with dps and corruptors is the debuffs/buffs (secondary) tend to make one primary a little stronger or weaker than another secondary. 
The ice/cold is fantastic because: 
1. Fast activation/animation times 
2. Typically fast base recharge times

3. The targeted AoE's are great for scourge, and ice/cold has access to blizzard, sleet, and ice storm. 
4. Heat Loss and Sleet are very solid debuffs, as is Benumb. 

Now, is ice/cold the highest dps? No idea, and neither does anyone else! Why? Because how I build mine might out-dps however you built your fire/natty. Or, it could be your skills outdps my ice/cold. But, ice/cold is arguably one of the more popular combos for corruptors for a reason. 

Secondarily, you can do a lot worse than fire/natty. The natty secondary has some nice damage boosting, and nice debuffs as well. And well, fire...again, arguably one of the higher(est) dps primaries for corruptors. Best? No idea for the same reasons nobody can say ice/cold is best. But both are up there. 

From a sheer survivability aspect, natty>cold, because the cold corruptor cannot put the shields on themselves. The natty's buffs are pretty much as good for you as your team. 

For my money, I'm going ice/cold, than fire/natty. And wouldn't you know it, since I have 1000 slots, I've made both. Both are great, and each is better for certain things than the other. 

[JasperStone]

You have been given some great suggestions.

@Ukase ... wow as always 🙂 

 

I have been running a Sonic/ Marine Affinity, which has been lovely.

 

Sonic has a tic of -res, which is nice.

Example: Screech is nice to pummel bosses and AVs with as it has a fast recharge - By bursting forth with this hypersonic Screech, you can inflict high damage and disorient a target. This power applies short Sonic Vibrations, which have a lower resistance for 8s, and prolonged Sonic Vibrations for 15s. By the time it wears off ... the power has recharged, and you hit them again.

 

Marine Affinity is loaded with buffs/debuffs—team and self—which is nice. It's really nice on a team with three other Marine Affinity, and nobody really worries about the green or blue bar much.

• Soothing Wave is a team heal that also hits you, not big green numbers, but enough and debuffs DMG on your foes.
• Whitecap - is a self-teleport that does knockdown and -RES. Nice to use with the nuke in your primary

• Shifting Tides is subtle but can be impactful if you chose the right teammate...usually the tanker - Select either a friend or foe to create a field of shifting tides around them. When attacked, foes within the shifting tides will provide you and your allies a stacking Rising Tide buff that increases ToHit, Damage, and Recharge. Enemies may also take bonus damage, with the odds rising per stack.

So that is a perspective on that combo.

I ran it successfully solo, mostly at level since I am chasing badges. 🙂

 

But ....... 

As @Snarky said ... play what you like.

Edited October 6 by JasperStone

[Mopery]

Fire/Sonic Corrupter.

You toggle an aoe -Res on the main Melee aggro, pop shields every 4 minutes(or zone change for cheat extra buffs), and spend most of your time blasting.

Edited October 6 by Mopery
Punctuality.

[tidge]

Pretty much any AoE/PBAoE should be fine. AoE that require placements may yield suboptimal results, if the team really is "fast-moving".

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, tidge said:

AoE that require placements may yield suboptimal results, if the team really is "fast-moving".

No doubt you're referring to targeted aoe, or "ranged AoE". Still not sure why they changed the labeling on that. 

In any event, if you are going to literally click on the power, and place the reticle with your mouse, yeah, it can seem kind of slow. 

To get around that, I've always used a macro. (well, since I figured out what a macro was, about 4 years ago) 
/macro IS "powexecname Ice Storm$$powexec_location target Ice Storm"

I place the Ice Storm power on tray 2, above tray 1. In tray 1, that's where the macro goes, right below the ice storm icon - mainly so I can see when it's recharged. It fires automatically, as long as I have an npc targeted - every bit as fast as a PBAoE or single target attack. 

[tidge]

16 minutes ago, Ukase said:

No doubt you're referring to targeted aoe, or "ranged AoE". Still not sure why they changed the labeling on that. 

In any event, if you are going to literally click on the power, and place the reticle with your mouse, yeah, it can seem kind of slow. 

To get around that, I've always used a macro. (well, since I figured out what a macro was, about 4 years ago) 
/macro IS "powexecname Ice Storm$$powexec_location target Ice Storm"

I place the Ice Storm power on tray 2, above tray 1. In tray 1, that's where the macro goes, right below the ice storm icon - mainly so I can see when it's recharged. It fires automatically, as long as I have an npc targeted - every bit as fast as a PBAoE or single target attack. 

 

Most of my targeted AoE have macros... my point is that if the team is moving quickly enough, it won't matter that a power like Tar Patch was placed in some other room.

 

Another suggestion: If playing melee, invest in Combat Teleport, and use a macro to BAMF to the next target.

 

/macro_image "E_Icon_Obliteration" "BAMF" "powexec_location target Combat Teleport"

[Snarky]

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

No doubt you're referring to targeted aoe, or "ranged AoE". Still not sure why they changed the labeling on that. 

In any event, if you are going to literally click on the power, and place the reticle with your mouse, yeah, it can seem kind of slow. 

To get around that, I've always used a macro. (well, since I figured out what a macro was, about 4 years ago) 
/macro IS "powexecname Ice Storm$$powexec_location target Ice Storm"

I place the Ice Storm power on tray 2, above tray 1. In tray 1, that's where the macro goes, right below the ice storm icon - mainly so I can see when it's recharged. It fires automatically, as long as I have an npc targeted - every bit as fast as a PBAoE or single target attack. 

with ice blasters and corr i use 3.  drop on myself, drop on target, and the default place wherever i drop the mouse cursor.  Ukase actually wrote those for me.  Thanks!

[Without_Pause]

14 hours ago, MeanieDaPooh said:

I do have a mind/psi Dom but he feels very slow to me, maybe I'm just playing it wrong

 

I would look at Plant/fire. So much of Plant is simply down to using Seeds and then you can blast away as needed.

 

My first thought was going Sent. I have a Level 50 Fire/ea and an Ice/sr in Beta I am testing out. My initial test had me soloing while looking at a second screen the build was so safe. You can essentially have a AoE KD nuke up roughly every mob. 

[Lusiphur Malache]

Be Petty, Arsenal/Kinetic controller, you get the joy of turning them into junkies, then waiting for you to put mobs to sleep, slipping on ice, or puking their guts up.  You'll get to fire off one power at the start of combat and sitting back and adding fulcrum shift, siphon power, and transference every now and again.

[Neiska]

To add another suggestion is an SoA.

 

You support the team just by being there. No effort to buff needed. The SoA maneuvers toggle alone is 16% all defense. Then there’s tactics and assault to.

 

The new  Leviathan pool is awesome on Crabbers. Your venom grenade and acid spew both have -resists that stack, especially for -toxic resist. Then you follow up with Bile Spray for an AoE toxic dot. Then you have spirit shark and your other crabby attacks. And nearly all of your attacks have built in debuffs. Either-res or - defense.

 

Most people build crabbers for recharge for permapets, which is possible but takes a lot to get there, and takes a ton of slots doing it. 
 

But I actually prefer to build my crabbers differently. I build mine for flying and durability. Some don’t realize that you can get up to 85% resistance on a crabber, and it’s pretty easy to get the defense soft cap. You can be pretty dang tough as a crabber, there were times I was tougher than the tanker on the team.

 

So my crabber is a flying artillery piece that both buffs and debuffs with great AoE, but kind of meh single target. Fully capable of soloing +4/8 difficulty, but you don’t have the tools to solo GMs or AVs. You won’t be few big numbers, but you will see a stream of constant AoE damages. Another downside is you have to plan your endurance use carefully as running so many toggles at a time is very hungry on your blue bar. 

 

And a crabber performs well on almost any kind of team. So if you like being a tough flyer with great aoe, buffs and built in debuffs give a crabber a look.

 

PS - just got home and decided to show a screenie of the mids. No holes, End holds up well, fantastic defenses for a flyer, and protects them with both elusive maneuvers and -def debuff protection from Ageless. Lowest resists are 68%. Even has good PSI resistance! This is just her with toggles on, no barrier, no RoP (though she has that too).

 

Note - don't be fooled by the melee/ranged/aoe DEF, that's just Elusive Maneuvers when its on. The actual combat values are 45/45/38.

 

 

I've given thought to trying a build focusing on Toxic damage via venom grenade, artic breath, bile spray, even poison stuff from experimental pool. But haven't figured a build for that yet, but hoping toxic dart might help with the ST dps with all the -toxic resist it would bring into play. But that's a project on the back burner. This is my main Crabby setup and it works fantastic for me.

Edited October 7 by Neiska
Added screenie/PS

[Ukase]

On 10/7/2024 at 9:29 AM, Neiska said:

You support the team just by being there.

You're not wrong. I love having Soldiers on my teams. It's just hard to stick next to them the whole time. (sometimes)

[WuTang]

A Kin Defender has no problem keeping up.

[kelika2]

Go back to blaster

Start slotting for ranged defense

Thunderstrikes in ranged singles

Artillery in ranged AoEs

Mako's Bite in melee (if applicable)

Red Fortune in Weave

Take fire mastery for Phoenix.  slap an Overwhelming Force dmg/kb2kd in it, and 0-2 recharge IOs.  use your inner headcanon irl powers to recolor the shield anyway you want

 

But if you do not want to do that you can try out Corrs

Fire/ice/water blast paired with something like Cold Dom.  ice shield folks and sleet+rain groups.  Or something like Time Manip so you can later on use Soul Master's Power Boost with Farsight slotted up with 3 hami Membranes.  I can go on a huge list about snare/slow pits and rain powers but i dont wanna

[Spaghetti Betty]

I'll throw a +1 for a Dominator! Since you're supposed to view controls as mitigation, you shouldn't feel pressed to use them if mitigation is already being taken care of!

 

Some Dominator secondaries can really dish out some hurt if you invest in them correctly!