Blasters and Mez

[Tankshock]

Is there a way for Blasters to get meaningful Mez protection other than Clarion (or teammates)?  Thanks!

[FupDup]

There's a few options for power picks: 

 

*Melee Hybrid incarnate power (only while the toggle is active, scales based on enemy count in 10 meters)

 

*Rune of Protection from the Sorcery pool (180s fixed recharge)

 

*Martial Combat (secondary set) has Inner Will

 

Otherwise, you'd have to use consumables like Inspirations or Defense Amplifiers from the START vendor. You could try slotting the mezz protection ATO in one of your T1 or T2 powers so you can use it to break free while mezzed. 

[Snarky]

40 minutes ago, Tankshock said:

Is there a way for Blasters to get meaningful Mez protection other than Clarion (or teammates)?  Thanks!

If you run ALL Redside Strike Forces there is a NEW Accolade Power that acts as a breakfree.  It recharges reasonably fast and if you keep a couple extra breakfrees in your tray (i carry 2-4 on Blasters depending on content) you may find yourself just using this in the rare times you are mezzed.  Of course I play Blasters very aggressively, so YMMV.

[Wavicle]

19 minutes ago, FupDup said:

You could try slotting the mezz protection ATO in one of your T1 or T2 powers so you can use it to break free while mezzed. 

 

In my experience this is the wrong way to do it. Rather than putting your ATO in t1 or t2 in the hope that it will break you out, put the ATO in your best attack, such as your Sniper attack, Bitter Ice Blast, Water Jet, or whatever, so that you are more likely to have multiple stacks of the ATO buff and therefore less likely to get mezzed in the first place. The t1 and t2 just have such low proc chances that it really isn't very effective as a strategy.

[Frozen Burn]

Also....

• Combat Jumping provides Immob protection. 
• Acrobatics provides KB and Hold protection.  
• Aid Self provides Stun protection

But trying to work all this into your build only gimps you.  It's just a blaster's life until incarnate powers and Clarion.  Breakfrees are your friend and easy to use and you're even able to take them BEFORE you jump into a situation that you know will mez you.

 

Additionally, take your T1 and T2 primary and T1 Secondary - all 3 can be used while mezzed.  And don't poopoo them for being low tier powers - I can't tell you enough and how often cycling through those three saved my rear-end when I had nothing else.  I always take all three of them just for this reason.

 

 

Edited November 15 by Frozen Burn
filthy typos!

[Wavicle]

Energy Manipulation has protection from Stuns.

 

Atomic Manipulation has resistance to most mez.

 

Martial Combat was already mentioned above, are there any others I'm not thinking of?

[electric_emu]

Outisde of specific secondary powersets, Rune of Protection is your best bet imo.  It has a fixed recharge (180s), but decent uptime and can be used reactively (while mezzed).  It helps significantly and is otherwise useful for keeping yourself alive when you screw up.   Plus it's a great slot mule power.

Edited November 15 by electric_emu

[Tankshock]

14 hours ago, Wavicle said:

Energy Manipulation has protection from Stuns.

 

Atomic Manipulation has resistance to most mez.

 

Martial Combat was already mentioned above, are there any others I'm not thinking of?

-kb from TA

[Uun]

15 hours ago, Wavicle said:

are there any others I'm not thinking of?

Temporal has stun protection

Ninja has fear protection

 

[Thraxen]

High defense. Won’t get mezzed if it doesn’t hit you to begin with. 

[Snarky]

almost all Blaster mitigation is small and fleeting.  

 

it reminds me of something Jackie Chan said.  Hollywood would not let him do Hong Kong stunts.  Like using a woden crate to slow a cars momentum while you jump out of the way.  the crate slows it just enough, the camera does not see the crate.  

 

All Blaster attacks plans have Jackie Chan style safety built in.  We roll into a fight with timing and wooden crates saving our butts...

 

[Wavicle]

On 11/16/2024 at 6:25 AM, Uun said:

Temporal has stun protection

Ninja has fear protection

 

 

There ARE a couple others I forgot:

Earth Manipulation gets Confuse Protection

Sonic Manipulation gets Sleep Protection

[tidge]

I think all the major items were covered, additionally there are craftable (in SG bases) resistance boosts.

 

I don't think of Blasters as needing Mezz protection nearly as much as other ATs (ehem, Controllers) do. Blasters can always 'keep Blasting' but a mezzed Controller is pretty much out of the fight.

 

Since launch, Blasters have possibly gotten more direct improvements than any other AT

• The ability to use Fire (several, albeit low-level) attacks when 'controlled' via Defiance
• Sustains
• Fast-recharging, 'crashless' T9s

Indirectly: I find that Blasters typically have many more options for leveraging enhancement sets... mostly because both the primary and secondary have (useful!) powers that can slot ATOs, Winter/Holiday, and the many different types of Offensive sets.

[High_Beam]

More Gun.

 

I play Blasters as a matter of majority, 13 with the next closest AT being 4 (Dom).  I don't really have too many problems with being mezzed as a Blaster to where I am scrambling for a response; its part of being a Blaster.  2 BFs in the tray and some in E-Mail and we are good.  Where I have heartburn is my other shooter types like my Corruptors and Defenders.  There are always 3 BFs in the tray with them.  Also I know my enemies so I know which are more mezzy and prepare accordingly.

[Jacke]

These two following quotes contain a lot of good points, especially putting the Defiant Barrage Status Protection Proc on one of the attacks that aren't stopped by Mez, usually the Primary T1.  But I'd say always carry Breakfrees just in case.

 

On 11/15/2024 at 11:02 PM, Frozen Burn said:

Also....

• Combat Jumping provides Immob protection. 
• Acrobatics provides KB and Hold protection.  
• Aid Self provides Stun protection

But trying to work all this into your build only gimps you.  It's just a blaster's life until incarnate powers and Clarion.  Breakfrees are your friend and easy to use and you're even able to take them BEFORE you jump into a situation that you know will mez you.

 

Additionally, take your T1 and T2 primary and T1 Secondary - all 3 can be used while mezzed.  And don't poopoo them for being low tier powers - I can't tell you enough and how often cycling through those three saved my rear-end when I had nothing else.  I always take all three of them just for this reason.

 

On 11/15/2024 at 11:13 PM, Wavicle said:

Energy Manipulation has protection from Stuns.

 

Atomic Manipulation has resistance to most mez.

 

Martial Combat was already mentioned above, are there any others I'm not thinking of?

 

 

I disagree with this quote below from @Wavicle, though it is right about needing to be slotted in a Power that's used.  The Defiant Barrage Status Protection Proc has 3PPM (4PPM when Superior), but each stack of +1 Protection only lasts 10.25s.  This needs a Power that cycles a lot to get enough stacks.  And it's going to most likely be only 2 to 3 stacks at most.

 

On 11/15/2024 at 10:56 PM, Wavicle said:

In my experience this is the wrong way to do it. Rather than putting your ATO in t1 or t2 in the hope that it will break you out, put the ATO in your best attack, such as your Sniper attack, Bitter Ice Blast, Water Jet, or whatever, so that you are more likely to have multiple stacks of the ATO buff and therefore less likely to get mezzed in the first place. The t1 and t2 just have such low proc chances that it really isn't very effective as a strategy.

 

 

 

Edited November 18 by Jacke

[Frostbiter]

Didn't I settle this argument once already?

[Wavicle]

1 hour ago, Jacke said:

I disagree with this quote below from @Wavicle, though it is right about needing to be slotted in a Power that's used.  The Defiant Barrage Status Protection Proc has 3PPM (4PPM when Superior), but each stack of +1 Protection only lasts 10.25s.  This needs a Power that cycles a lot to get enough stacks.  And it's going to most likely be only 2 to 3 stacks at most.

 

I wouldn't want to sacrifice the DPS by using my t1 on cooldown. Putting it in whatever attack you already plan to use the most is the best idea. If that HAPPENS to be t1 or t2, then great! That hasn't been the case for me.

[tidge]

My preference has been to use the (Superior) Defiant Barrage in the T1/T2 I took, because I'm pretty much going to 6-slot that set anyway, and since almost every other Offensive enhancement set is probably going to be 5-slotted (with one of those 5-pieces being a %proc) or occasionally franken-slotted(*1) depending on the Blaster's primary/secondary, I feel like the best place for that set is in (a) a power that could be used while mezzed, (b) isn't going to need a particularly good %proc chance anyway (because of the set's recharge boost).

 

(*1) In my mind, it is a balance between the investment of all the other pieces in the Defiant Barrage set and how they contribute to Acc/Dam/End/Recharge and push the ED limits with all six of the slotted versus what else I could slot in a later power. YMMV.

[Crysis]

Defense Amplifier is about the best mez protection you can get in the game, available from the P2W vendor from level 1.  Yes, it’s not cheap, but you really only need it while leveling and then mostly only when solo’ing.  It amps up your defenses, your resistances and also gives you mag 4 protection against most holds.  That plus building for softcapped positional defense of some kind will literally almost guarantee you limited deaths from mezz until you can get your Incarnates.

 

Many will you tell you its “cheating” but if you got the influence to spare, use of any power available to anyone that wants it is no more cheating than a rocket pack.

[Hedgefund]

I'm with Crysis, buy a Defense amplifier and call it a day, at least until Clarion is unlocked and slotted.

[TheMoncrief]

I believe that Blaster mez protection is supposed to be the same as Blaster everything else protection - defeat your enemies, especially the most dangerous ones, very quickly, before they can do anything to you.

 

That said, I am in the "slot Defiant Barrage in your T1/T2 that you can use while mezzed" camp. The proc rate isn't that bad, especially since you can't do anything else while mezzed so you'll be spamming that sucker. Assuming you use that as filler regularly in your rotation anyway, you are likely to have some mez protection up most of the time, and when something gets past it, you can at least do something to A) defeat the jerk who mezzed you, and B) potentially obtain some mez protection. Also carry some Break Frees and/or take Rune of Protection if you're particularly paranoid. Or even consider slotting Clarion if you're doing content where Clarion is relevant.

 

I have rarely died from mez in Homecoming on my Blasters. Compared to live, when mez was so harsh and prevalent that I refused to even play Blasters at all, it is a night and day difference.

[tidge]

1 hour ago, TheMoncrief said:

I have rarely died from mez in Homecoming on my Blasters. Compared to live, when mez was so harsh and prevalent that I refused to even play Blasters at all, it is a night and day difference.

 

Me neither. The most common sorts of mezz that I feel affects my Blasters are the the Malta Taser/Stun Grenades (one of these has a rather long duration) and a few of the AV/GM longish stuns (which seem to be mostly melee attacks).

[Tankshock]

11 hours ago, Crysis said:

Defense Amplifier is about the best mez protection you can get in the game, available from the P2W vendor from level 1.  Yes, it’s not cheap, but you really only need it while leveling and then mostly only when solo’ing.  It amps up your defenses, your resistances and also gives you mag 4 protection against most holds.  That plus building for softcapped positional defense of some kind will literally almost guarantee you limited deaths from mezz until you can get your Incarnates.

 

Many will you tell you its “cheating” but if you got the influence to spare, use of any power available to anyone that wants it is no more cheating than a rocket pack.

Yeah, that's what I had decided on.  Going all out blaster, no defensive incarnates!

 

Defense Amp is dual purpose, helping to hit the soft cap as well. And if he's not earning 2.5 mill per hour, something's wrong.  😉

[Jacke]

On 11/18/2024 at 7:58 PM, Wavicle said:

I wouldn't want to sacrifice the DPS by using my t1 on cooldown. Putting it in whatever attack you already plan to use the most is the best idea. If that HAPPENS to be t1 or t2, then great! That hasn't been the case for me.

 

I know that a Blaster with Beam Rifle wouldn't want to use either the Primary T1 or T2 in their ST attack chain.  Is there another Blast Powerset that has a good ST attack chain without either the T1 or T2?

 

But for such Powersets, if the Proc is put into an attack chain power, there'll only be 1 or rarely 2 stacks.  Either way, it's a pain.  As I've got a Beam Rifle/Devices Blaster, I'll have to think about that (as well check the current build).

[Wavicle]

30 minutes ago, Jacke said:

 

I know that a Blaster with Beam Rifle wouldn't want to use either the Primary T1 or T2 in their ST attack chain.  Is there another Blast Powerset that has a good ST attack chain without either the T1 or T2?

 

But for such Powersets, if the Proc is put into an attack chain power, there'll only be 1 or rarely 2 stacks.  Either way, it's a pain.  As I've got a Beam Rifle/Devices Blaster, I'll have to think about that (as well check the current build).

 

Most Blasters will avoid using their t1 or t2 in a high dps chain.