Fire Mastery: Bonfire or Char?

[Massinissa]

So I'm a little ways away from this decision on my Energy/Energy (mostly ranged) Blaster, but I'm a little confused: Do most Blasters that take FIre Mastery go with Bonfire or Char, or do a lot of them get both? I'm not quite sure, thats why I'm asking all of you here. I know fire mastery is very popular on Blasters, and it fits my character concept more than Force does, but I really can't tell if most people pick Bonfire or Char first. 

[Psiphon]

Personally I go with both. 

A Lockdown +2 proc in Char and a kb to knock down in bonfire. 

Edited 20 hours ago by Psiphon
Spelling

[Maelwys]

Both are useful.

 

Char probably gets more use since it's part of the regular attack chain; but Bonfire is powerful wide area CC (and if you're mostly ranged and mainly solo then you can forgoe slotting a KB>KD IO in it and instead simply cast it at your own feet to play keepaway indefinitely)

 

That said... Fire Shield and Melt Armor are good too. And even RoTF has its place in certain "the best defence is a good offence/kamikaze" builds (ideally slotted for damage and recharge and with an Overwhelming Force KB>KD IO!)

[Frozen Burn]

3 hours ago, Massinissa said:

So I'm a little ways away from this decision on my Energy/Energy (mostly ranged) Blaster, but I'm a little confused: Do most Blasters that take FIre Mastery go with Bonfire or Char, or do a lot of them get both? I'm not quite sure, thats why I'm asking all of you here. I know fire mastery is very popular on Blasters, and it fits my character concept more than Force does, but I really can't tell if most people pick Bonfire or Char first. 

 

I generally go with both.  A KB2KD proc in Bonfire is a must as not only does it keep foes where they are, but it also allows more damage taken from Bonfire.  

 

If I don't have another hold to stack with Char, sometimes I'll skip it.

[kelika2]

i never have the extra slots to make either useful

bonfire needs acc these days, and its self defeating without kb2kd.  fantasy world i would 5/6 bombardment set and 1 kb2kd

but char can do decently with 1 acc/mez hami in it and thats what i been doing on most blasters nowadays

 

i mostly want fire shield and RoTP

[Uun]

12 hours ago, kelika2 said:

bonfire needs acc these days, and its self defeating without kb2kd.  fantasy world i would 5/6 bombardment set and 1 kb2kd

6 slotting Sudden Acceleration provides pretty good set bonuses if you have the slots. 

[Frozen Burn]

Additionally, yes, slotting a set in Bonfire is ideal for the extra damage, but the primary use for Bonfire is the control, damage mitigation, and survivability it provides for the Blaster.  So a single Overwhelming Force KB2KD IO is just fine if that's all the slotting you can devote to it.  🙂  And I agree with the above in that a single Acc/Mez Hami-O in Char is perfect.  

[Maelwys]

IMO Epic pool Bonfire with a KB>KD IO simply isn't worth it these days for mitigation purposes if you typically solo.
It doesn't bounce enemies sufficiently regularly anymore to be anywhere close to reliable.
(I've lost count of the times an enemy has simply just walked out of it, or even across it without being Knocked Down...)

If you have a reliable means of SLOWING or otherwise keeping the mobs in place (like a teammate with taunt) then over the course of its 45s duration Bonfire will likely kick in several times on each enemy... so with sufficient mob density (AE Farming? ITF?) it can become a useful means of reducing incoming damage a little; and the DoT damage it deals can contribute a smidge too. But what it won't do is reliably keep a particular difficult foe (like a nasty +4 boss) on its back.

There is one exception to this; and that's if you immobilize an enemy within Bonfire's effect radius. Immobilised enemies bypass the "ReduceIfKD" mechanic and get the full 100% chance for a Knockdown every second instead of 20% chance. Tenebrous Tentacles from Dark Blast and Vines from /Plant Manipulation are best at this, but lots of Blaster secondaries have a Single target Immobilise.

FWIW my favourite "AoE mayhem" Blaster is a Fire/Ice/Fire; and they respecced out of Bonfire in favour of Melt Armor after the i27p7 changes.
They're currently slotted like this:


(I still take Bonfire with a KB>KD IO on my Bot/Kin/Fire MM; but they're using it more as an additional Fulcrum-Shift DoT and mule for the Superior Frozen Blast set; any Knockdown it inflicts is a happy bonus. Plus it opens the way to get Fireball...)
 

Edited 20 hours ago by Maelwys