New to blasting! Want to blap meow!

[Gobbledygook]

So, I finally got a blaster past 22, and I am having an absolute, wait for it, BLAST!

I have been toying around with hover blasting, but I want to mix it up in melee range a little as well.

Primary will absolutely be Ice, as it is what the character concept is based off of.

I am thinking of either Ice or Energy as a secondary.

I would like this to be an all around type build. I don't need to farm, but good AoE damage is nice. I do enjoy soloing AV's on my Scrappers and Br00ts, but not necessarily. I plan on running contact/radio mishes after I get out of Outbreak, until I can run TF's. At 22 I will get some lvl 25 IO's, and just equip these until 32 or so, when I will start slotting IO sets. Of course, I want to be exemp friendly, as well. Would it be a better idea to start slotting IO sets earlier? 

With the desire to blap, what secondary would you choose, and why? Would you just slot attuned enhancements? Which defense types do I need to focus on? Are there any skippable powers? Is frost breath any good?

 

Edited to add:

AS I mentioned previously, this is a toon where concept is king, so I would like TP, Combat TP, hasten and Superspeed as mandatory for concept.

 

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Edited January 26 by Gobbledygook

[mistagoat]

Martial is pretty great for blapping and it has a built in bamf TP attack!

It also has a great pbaoe that can take a FF, a "get out of control free" button and the best melee attack in the game, Ki Push! 

I'll add my Fire/Martial build for ideas.Blaster (Fire Blast - Martial Combat) v1.3a Force alt Funky Child.mbd

 

Or if you wanna live in melee, fire is hard to beat! High risk but, oh boy, those rewards!!

[Frozen Burn]

On 1/26/2025 at 2:22 PM, Gobbledygook said:

So, I finally got a blaster past 22, and I am having an absolute, wait for it, BLAST!

I have been toying around with hover blasting, but I want to mix it up in melee range a little as well.

Primary will absolutely be Ice, as it is what the character concept is based off of.

I am thinking of either Ice or Energy as a secondary.

I would like this to be an all around type build. I don't need to farm, but good AoE damage is nice. I do enjoy soloing AV's on my Scrappers and Br00ts, but not necessarily. I plan on running contact/radio mishes after I get out of Outbreak, until I can run TF's. At 22 I will get some lvl 25 IO's, and just equip these until 32 or so, when I will start slotting IO sets. Of course, I want to be exemp friendly, as well. Would it be a better idea to start slotting IO sets earlier? 

With the desire to blap, what secondary would you choose, and why? Would you just slot attuned enhancements? Which defense types do I need to focus on? Are there any skippable powers? Is frost breath any good?

 

Edited to add:

AS I mentioned previously, this is a toon where concept is king, so I would like TP, Combat TP, hasten and Superspeed as mandatory for concept.

 

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

I love Blapping!  It's my preferred playstyle for my blasters.  Ice is a great choice for primary.  But your secondary determines if you're better suited for at range or in melee. 

 

If you want to do AOE damage I'd stay away from /Energy as there are none - it's strong in ST blapping, but no AOEs.  So for blappers with good AOEs, I prefer these secondaries:

• /Fire - So many good PBAOEs and Hot Feet helps mitigate the incoming damage while dishing some out and slowing them.  I recommend Ice/Fire/Fire (my namesake and first toon I ever made back in 2004 at game launch) - it's a devasting AOE and ST combo.
• /Martial - Ki Push is just the BEST power ever!  😄  
• /Mental 
• /Temporal
• /Atomic
• /Ninja
• /Sonic
• /Electric
• /Plant

Take and use your crowd control powers - they help with survivability.  

 

Slot your attuned IO sets as soon as you can so you can get the set bonuses as you level up. 

 

Chasing Defense....  there are different theories and neither are wrong.  You can still chase ranged Defense and then "joust" with your opponents and hop in and out of melee range.  This takes practice and skill, but you're hopping around like a lunatic and mostly at range instead of being "in your face" blapping. 

 

The other way is chasing S/L/E typed defenses as those are the most common damage types.  Most sets lean towards typed defense anyway.  and then you can stand your ground a little more (still kiting and positioning yourself around the mob as needed, but less frenetic movements).  Scorpion Shield is a great power for this style - it's one power pick from the Mace mastery pool. 

 

Layering on Maneuvers, Weave, and Combat Jumping all help.  Tough is a great mule for both of the +Def specials (and a nice toggle to run for the resists as well).  Winter Event sets are great along with your AT IO sets - they make it easier to get close to the soft cap.  

 

DON'T worry if you're not at the soft cap - it's damn difficult to do so and you'll survive just fine if just under it.  You always have inspires to supplement - like ANY blaster should be good at using.  🙂  But this is also where your crowd control comes in, Incarnate abilities help fill gaps, and etc.

 

You CAN make a resistance-based blapper survivable too - like using Fire Armor, Temp Invuln, etc.  You can layer on some defenses too for a more well-rounded approach as well.  Again, your crowd control powers and etc all aid in your survivability.

 

I also personally like to focus on more HPs as well.  Many times, my blaster out lives others as I'm at 1750 to 1848 HPs (the cap) while others are at 1400-1500.  It's just one or two more hits that I can take to let the Preventative Med +Absorb IO proc and/or more time I can get to eat an inspire or get a last hit in on the foe to finish them off.  

 

Good luck and have fun!  Let us know what you pick!

[Deiontre10]

@Frozen Burn would you mind sharing a temporal blaster build that you have?

 

[TTRPGWhiz]

Since /Earth wasn't mentioned, I'll forward it. Blasters are one of my least represented ATs at 50, but my Elec/Earth Blapper is my main. Keeping mobs on their backs with Fault + Tremor while your rains do things and the Freeze Ray + Seismic Smash combo sound like good times. 

[Frozen Burn]

2 hours ago, Deiontre10 said:

@Frozen Burn would you mind sharing a temporal blaster build that you have?

 

 

Certainly!  Here is my Psy/Temporal Build....  Lots of fun and one of my favs!

 

Librarian Archivist - Blaster (Psychic Blast - Temporal Manipulation).mbd