Psy/Mental Blaster Help/Critique

[impilicious]

Not sure how good this build is; probably dogcrap since I suck at putting together builds? I'd like some help getting it more survivable and/or murdery.

Blaster (Psychic Blast - Mental Manipulation).mbd

[Uun]

I'm sure you have a concept in mind, but I would highly recommend pairing a different secondary with Psychic Blast. There are quite a few factions and types of foes that heavily resist psi damage (Carnival, Vanguard, Malta/Council robots, etc.), and it can be very frustrating to fight them without another damage type.

[tidge]

I have a Psi/Mental Blaster that I chose specifically for the attack animations. Don't judge me, the concept didn't really work with anything else! The problem with damage typing as mentioned by @Uun is real, so this build uses a LOT more %damage than I would normally recommend for a Blaster.

 

I don't have a MIDS or a text version, but here is a screenshot from my personal spreadsheet builder to show my choices:

 

[Jacke]

On 12/12/2024 at 3:27 PM, Uun said:

I'm sure you have a concept in mind, but I would highly recommend pairing a different secondary with Psychic Blast. There are quite a few factions and types of foes that heavily resist psi damage (Carnival, Vanguard, Malta/Council robots, etc.), and it can be very frustrating to fight them without another damage type.

 

I've not played it, but I suggest taking with Psychic Blast the Blaster Secondary Martial Combat.  It's T3 Power Reach for the Limit puts a 0.67PPM Proc on all attacks that provides a 15s buff for +15% ToHit and 37.5% Damage, with the Damage buff being doubled for Toxic and Psionic Damage.  There's no current Blaster Primary with Toxic Damage, but Psychic Blast would benefit from that very much.

 

https://cod.uberguy.net/html/power.html?power=temporary_powers.temporary_powers.reach_for_the_limit&at=blaster

 

 

Edited December 15 by Jacke

[impilicious]

I honestly just don't grok Blaster slotting (or slotting in general, but I'm getting better at least on melee) so was hoping someone could point out any egregious flaws in my slotting for general content. I'm aware Psionic is something like the second-most resisted damage type at later levels, but concept wins, I just want to make the concept as best as it can be.

[tidge]

19 minutes ago, impilicious said:

I honestly just don't grok Blaster slotting (or slotting in general, but I'm getting better at least on melee) so was hoping someone could point out any egregious flaws in my slotting for general content. I'm aware Psionic is something like the second-most resisted damage type at later levels, but concept wins, I just want to make the concept as best as it can be.

 

Blasters in this era pretty much only have one weakness (getting hit and taking damage), but they can pretty much overcome that by dishing damage reliably. They get some time of sustain (so that Endurance isn't much of an issue), they have fast-cycling attacks that do a lot of damage, they can make (some) attacks while mezzed ... and there are plenty of powers (and insps) to deal with being mezzed... and they have access to many other types of powers to fill gaps (in concept, as well as strategically). They also have access to several different self-rezzes if things go pear-shaped.

 

I write all of the above because a Blaster is probably one of the easier AT to slot:

• Blasters can use a wide variety of really good sets in both primary and secondary (for example: not all AT can slot the ATO in either primary or secondary powers)
• Blasters can get a perfectly viable attack chain without taking too many attacks.

My attitude for Blasters is: Get global recharge bonuses from attacks (which will also make them hard-hitting). 5-slots of most Very Rare sets gets a 10% global recharge, if the power has a "long enough" base recharge time, maybe it gets a sixth %damage piece, maybe not.

 

I typically pass on Hasten because (by level 50) it usually only shaves a few seconds off of the longest-recharging power that I use regularly.

 

The most common issue I have with building Blasters (and many other ATs) is getting enough reliable AoE to potentially damage lots of enemies at once. This is obviously a way to clear spawns quickly, but for me I seek out AoE because the RNG will regularly dole out a LOT of misses (even if the final ToHit is at the ceiling) , and missing against a single-target feels a lot worse to me than missing one-of-three critters with an AoE.

[Onlyasandwich]

There is much I would do different in a ground up build, but I'll provide some general thoughts:

• Skipping TK blast and Scramble minds isn't great. These are some of the premier powers in the set. TK blast is outstanding DPA with good control, and Scramble is solid aoe damage with a really excellent control effect. Likewise with TK Thrust.
• Psionic Tornado, if chosen, should be slotted as an attack.
• Weave is way overslotted.
• Procs aren't very useful in Bonfire.
• The build overall lacks focus. You have invested heavily into 6 slots of some sets, but those final bonuses aren't really stacking towards anything meaningful. For example, the full avalanche set can be useful if you are building towards melee softcap, but you aren't focused there.

 

 

[Uun]

1 hour ago, impilicious said:

I honestly just don't grok Blaster slotting (or slotting in general, but I'm getting better at least on melee) so was hoping someone could point out any egregious flaws in my slotting for general content. I'm aware Psionic is something like the second-most resisted damage type at later levels, but concept wins, I just want to make the concept as best as it can be.

• Drop Mental Blast for TK Blast. Much better DPA and does smashing damage. Slot kb>kd if that's a concern. 
• Switch Extreme Measures for Sting of the Manticore in Psionic Lance.
• Drain Psyche requires accuracy. Slot Touch of the Nictus instead of Numina's.
• More slots in Psi Tornado.
• Drop World of Confusion. It's hot garbage. It only affects minions and has a 1.5s duration vs a 4s cycle time. If you do keep it, it needs accuracy.
• Switch Rectified Reticle for Adjusted Targeting in in Concentration and Tactics. Rectified Reticle caps at lvl 20. You don't the +perception piece if you're running Tactics (switch to tohit/end). 
• Switch Obliteration for Superior Blaster's Wrath in Psychic Shockwave.
• Take TK Thrust. One of the highest DPA attacks available plus it does smashing damage. Slot kb>kd if that's a concern. 
• Bonfire requires accuracy (the epic version isn't autohit).
• Drop the slots in Kick. You're leaning heavily into melee and S/L defense, which is an odd mix. You want to focus on positional or typed, not mix them. Stop chasing S/L defense (i.e. 4x Kinetic Combat in Kick) and go for more ranged defense (add the 6th Mako's Bite in Mind Probe and 6th Defiant Barrage in Dominate Will).
• Too many slots in Tough. Drop the 4x Aegis for Gladiator's Armor res and res/end. 
• Drop Weave to 3 slots.

[tidge]

5 minutes ago, Uun said:

• Drop World of Confusion. It's hot garbage. It only affects minions and has a 1.5s duration vs a 4s cycle time. If you do keep it, it needs accuracy.

 

A thousand times this. The only positive thing I think I can say about World of Confusion is this: It was the one power that got me to take a HARD LOOK at pretty much every enemy-affecting PBAoE self-toggle in the game.  In my experience, there are very few of them that end up performing as well as I hope they will; almost all of them require build choices to make them work.

[Onlyasandwich]

I put together a quick version of how I'd approach this combo. It definitely isn't 100% optimized, but is more or less where I'd go.

 

Some notable changes:

• All your aoes do much more damage now.
• I chose a defense type to focus on (ranged defense). I didn't hit softcap, but achieved a meaningful number that is one small purple away from softcap, and will easily softcap in many teams with outside buffs. I generally prefer a ranged defense focus on blasters even if going into melee. Your controls will go a long way towards keeping melee at bey, and Drain Psyche is very powerful as well of course.
• More optimal ST attacks, all with higher damage now to boot.
• Force Feedback is in both your aoe and ST chains, allowing it to benefit you in all situations. Note that I have procs disabled in the FFBack powers to more accurately review global totals.
• Some extra fun powers like Rise of the Phoenix and Melt armor added to the mix.
• Lower end consumption.
• Lots of Knockback protection (easy to get on the way to low hanging ranged defense bonuses)
• Higher global recharge.

 

S/L resist is a fair bit lower. However, you should find that the controls in your attacks bridge the gap nicely for most mobs. Getting a Juicy Drain Psyche also solves most survival issues.

 

Blaster (Psychic Blast - Mental Manipulation).mbd