Blapping or is it Blappering??

[WuTang]

If one is planning on playing blapper style, how does one arrange defenses/resistances? I have but one Blaster, and I went the route of hover blasting with him, so this is new to me.

 

My power choices are Dual Pistols / Ninja Training and right now Arsenal.

 

This combo seems very attack heavy, can't imagine all are must haves. I have a Dual Pistol Corruptor so I've got a decent handle on that set, but when combining it with another attack power set...don't know, was thinking about skipping Dual Wield, possibly Empty Clips, and Piercing Rounds, though my current MIDs build still has Empty Clips, but I know it's not particularly strong. In Ninja I've skipped the dart and both powders, but Golden Dragonfly looks skippable as well.

 

Endurance and recharge don't look to be an issue, so I was going to go Clarion for the stat protection. Right now, my defenses are in the 20-25% range, so a medium or large purple will get me over the hump there. Right now, I've got procs throughout which is why my defenses are lowish, going for high damage, resist debuffs, recharge and prayers.

 

I want the Teleport pool. I figured the Leadership pool is useless unless y'all think Maneuvers is needed.

 

Any who on to Blappering...blapping...whatever...  With DP/NT coupled with Combat Teleport will I still need to "joist," or with Clarion can I sit my lazy butt next to the tank and kick ass? I know each pull and each mob type will have different challenges and the playstyle will obviously need to be flexible, but on average will I need to be running in and out or is there a way to build it that would let me stay put? My DP Corruptor also has Time, so I plant him in the fray and go ham...but he also has heals and a stout -toHit debuff aura.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

-WT

[Maelwys]

11 minutes ago, WuTang said:

If one is planning on playing blapper style, how does one arrange defenses/resistances?

In the olden days it was "Push for 45% S/L defense; and run Clarion Core".
I had a Sonic/Elec Blapper for years back on Live that was built that way; and they did pretty well as a "Scrapper lite".



However currently I personally would have a hard time justifying the sort of build compromises that pushing for that much defence requires.

The new Blaster sustains are rather good at letting them survive in Melee range (at least temporarily) and in most cases whenever you're standing next to something that has enough oomph to kill you then you're going to kill it first. Exceptions certainly exist (e.g. constantly surrounded by mobs in an AE farm or on specific TFs) but in those cases I tend to go with "I need more damage" over "I need more defense" ...and maybe keep a Rise of the Phoenix (slotted for damage and recharge + an Overwhelming Force KB>KD IO) in my back pocket...

[Onlyasandwich]

As @Maelwys says, some folks still go for an all-in defensive strategy, but it comes with some major trade-offs - namely in proc damage potential and global recharge.

 

Even the baseline power of blaster attacks is pretty great, so this is by no means bad, but not necessarily the best approach. If you do choose a defense to softcap, I prefer ranged defense these days. You can avoid melee attacks more often than not with jousting and controls.

 

Personally, my survival strategy is in pretty much this order:

• Positioning first - learn how to joust. Combat Jumping is especially useful for this. It looks like you are familiar with the concept. Combat teleport is a great engage or disengage, and excellent for putting you in the right spot at the right time, but not necessarily a jousting tool. Take a look at @Nemu's tips here for a more direct illustration.
• Damage. Focus on taking the right targets out, and the right rotation to nuke the biggest sources of damage quickly. 
• Controls. Blasters have pretty solid control powers in most sets! DP/Nin has two holds between sup. fire and Choking powder. Proc these up and focus them on the nastiest target (can even lock down bosses with both) and a lot of your troubles will go away. If you are going Arsenal Mastery, you even have a third! I don't know that I'd necessarily pick all three, but you can mix and match the best.
• Resist armor. If I'm not pursuing softcap, a resist armor provides a reliable baseline of surety for any hits that do get through. Don't chase other resist bonuses heavily, but grab any low hanging fruit like the resist uniques or easy set bonuses.
• Any defense you can get without sacrificing other build goals. Short of softcap, getting to ~32ish is pretty nice, as it's one small purple away from softcap. Alternatively, just grab the defense uniques, and maybe go for tough/weave if you have room in your build, then be happy with what defense comes out the other end. This will make a difference when solo, and gives you a stronger baseline to stack on for meaningful results when under team buffs.

 

And yeah - if you go for an epic with one, I actually rather like the self-rez options. They can be a good one slot wonder for the preventative medicine proc, and are useful to keep tempo going if something messy happens. Also it's fun 😄

 

 

Edited January 15 by Onlyasandwich

[JJDrakken]

6 hours ago, WuTang said:

If one is planning on playing blapper style, how does one arrange defenses/resistances? I have but one Blaster, and I went the route of hover blasting with him, so this is new to me.

 

My power choices are Dual Pistols / Ninja Training and right now Arsenal.

 

This combo seems very attack heavy, can't imagine all are must haves. I have a Dual Pistol Corruptor so I've got a decent handle on that set, but when combining it with another attack power set...don't know, was thinking about skipping Dual Wield, possibly Empty Clips, and Piercing Rounds, though my current MIDs build still has Empty Clips, but I know it's not particularly strong. In Ninja I've skipped the dart and both powders, but Golden Dragonfly looks skippable as well.

 

Endurance and recharge don't look to be an issue, so I was going to go Clarion for the stat protection. Right now, my defenses are in the 20-25% range, so a medium or large purple will get me over the hump there. Right now, I've got procs throughout which is why my defenses are lowish, going for high damage, resist debuffs, recharge and prayers.

 

I want the Teleport pool. I figured the Leadership pool is useless unless y'all think Maneuvers is needed.

 

Any who on to Blappering...blapping...whatever...  With DP/NT coupled with Combat Teleport will I still need to "joist," or with Clarion can I sit my lazy butt next to the tank and kick ass? I know each pull and each mob type will have different challenges and the playstyle will obviously need to be flexible, but on average will I need to be running in and out or is there a way to build it that would let me stay put? My DP Corruptor also has Time, so I plant him in the fray and go ham...but he also has heals and a stout -toHit debuff aura.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!  

 

-WT

 

Black Scorpion Shield, period.  Combined with Recipes used in melee part of Blapping.  Like Winter Sets, etc...  You'll Soft Cap your S/L/E pretty well.  Blaster Sets have ranged D in them and +Recharge.  The thing about Black Scorpion Shield many folks sleep on on the Forums at least(Many Vets and experienced players know it and take time to get it). 

 

EDIT: Forgot to add the +6% To Hit Buff in CJ -- Kismet.  😛

 

1. They are aware of it but are lazy and settle for inferior ice shield.

2. Are not aware of it and settle for inferior ice shield.

3. Think everyone else is using it, I don't wanna follow trends and then decide to get some resist shield for an AT that has no CC protection and thus resist shields means every F'ng CC is going get em. But hey they are hardcore and rebel against the grain.

4. Honestly have no clue and just pick what they think sounds cool/neat/maybe useful.

 

Blaster (Dual Pistols - Ninja Training).mbd

 

As you can see your S/L/E are soft capped.  Most the game still has a element of S/L/E tied to attacks and CC(Minus specifics like say Pure Psi of the Carnies for example for their CC).  So this will greatly reduce some issues for you. Also if you decided to do more Incarnate stuff.  Barrier will basically cover all that & them some for you & the team as well.

 

I suggest using Fire Bullets majority time. Since Fire dmg is least resisted by most the enemies in the game. 

Edited January 15 by JJDrakken

[Championess]

I have one of these.  Its a blast to play and looks super sweet with all those weapons.  

 

The melee attacks are real good so you'll want to get used to fighting fast and fluidly and being able to survive while doing so.  

 

Generally I like to build in a good amount of defenses melee and range while also aiming for at least 4 purple sets for the 10% recharge bonuses and usually 4 LotG's in defense powers like combat jump, manuevers etc. I'll also look to load procs into the attacks with the more suitable proc rates.  I'll always put 3 procs into Dragonfly then 3 of the pvp pbaoe set with the -res so I get 3pts of kb resist, then I'll look to slot a zephyr and karma for another 8pts which'll make u pretty hard to kb while you're fighting.  I also like to slot 4 procs into LRM since its such a nasty attack.  Then Body Armor you can slot the resist uniques.  As far as the blasts I like to proc out Suppressive Fire along with the Decimation proc so at times it can act as a BU power since DP and Nin lack that.  I also have 4 procs in Executioners and Piercing Shot as well.

 

Real fun character you'll want to move fast from mob to mob into melee so that means no Hover.  You'll also want to be proactive with maybe some extra defense shielding like Demonic, Unleash Potential, Barriers, etc. 

Edited January 15 by Championess

[Biff Pow]

A good thing about Blasters is they have a lot of places to put the Winter IO sets, and they (along with the two +Def Uniques) provide a nice base Defense to build on. 

[biostem]

13 hours ago, WuTang said:

how does one arrange defenses/resistances?

I don't have many "Blappers", but generally speaking, I'd go with a defense-based APP/PPP armor, then combine that with other defense-granting powers, (mainly from general power pools, such as combat jumping, maneuvers, stealth, hover, weave, etc), and IO set bonuses...

[Frozen Burn]

14 hours ago, WuTang said:

If one is planning on playing blapper style, how does one arrange defenses/resistances? I have but one Blaster, and I went the route of hover blasting with him, so this is new to me.

 

My power choices are Dual Pistols / Ninja Training and right now Arsenal.

 

This combo seems very attack heavy, can't imagine all are must haves. I have a Dual Pistol Corruptor so I've got a decent handle on that set, but when combining it with another attack power set...don't know, was thinking about skipping Dual Wield, possibly Empty Clips, and Piercing Rounds, though my current MIDs build still has Empty Clips, but I know it's not particularly strong. In Ninja I've skipped the dart and both powders, but Golden Dragonfly looks skippable as well.

 

Endurance and recharge don't look to be an issue, so I was going to go Clarion for the stat protection. Right now, my defenses are in the 20-25% range, so a medium or large purple will get me over the hump there. Right now, I've got procs throughout which is why my defenses are lowish, going for high damage, resist debuffs, recharge and prayers.

 

I want the Teleport pool. I figured the Leadership pool is useless unless y'all think Maneuvers is needed.

 

Any who on to Blappering...blapping...whatever...  With DP/NT coupled with Combat Teleport will I still need to "joist," or with Clarion can I sit my lazy butt next to the tank and kick ass? I know each pull and each mob type will have different challenges and the playstyle will obviously need to be flexible, but on average will I need to be running in and out or is there a way to build it that would let me stay put? My DP Corruptor also has Time, so I plant him in the fray and go ham...but he also has heals and a stout -toHit debuff aura.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

-WT

 

I play a lot of blappers - it's my preferred playstyle.  And there are several ways to go about it depending on your comfortability, playstyle, and skill. 

 

One way is to still go for capped Ranged defense and "joust" with your opponents - bouncing in and out of melee range - doing hit and run techniques.  This takes timing, skill, and practice.  But can be very successful and is easier to build for.  

 

Another way is to grab as much typed or positional defense as you can - it's difficult to get to full 45%, but that's okay.  S/L and Energy are the main types to focus on as they are the more common damage types.  Close is good enough and in fights you know are tough, a small purple insp puts you well over the cap.  But this allows you to not be like a kangaroo bouncing everywhere and be a little more solid and sure-footed.  (This is my preferred way.)

 

Building a Resistance-based build is possible, but you still want to blend it with Defense as well.

 

Additionally... 

• Inspires are your friend in any case - use them.
• Your control powers are there for your survivability and can help make up for the shortfalls in your defenses, so don't dismiss them.
• Use your AOEs to clear as much of the mob as you can - even your cones can be used in melee range to get a certain slice of the "pie." 
• Rotate through your targets with your ST attacks to kill, mez, or control the high priority targets - mez/control one while you kill another

Lsstly, don't skip Golden Dragonfly - it's a fast heavy hitter and sometimes you can get crits from your stealth. 

 

Here is my DP/Nin build that I love.  It's a beast, highly survivable, and deadly.  Hopefully, it gives you some ideas.  Good luck and have fun!

 

 

Phantom's Sting - Blaster (Dual Pistols).mbd