Storm Blast: Mental Manipulation or Ninja Training as a Secondary?

[CrusaderPenguin]

Hi Everyone,

 

I'm looking to get into the world of Blasters, and I really like the look of the Storm Blast set. Problem is, I know next to nothing about Blasters and wasn't sure if Mental Manipulation or Ninja Training would be a better secondary. I like to solo as much as I can, and while I realize that's not always possible with Blasters I was wondering if one of those two secondaries is more conducive to that (or is more synergistic in general with Storm). Am I even remotely in the right direction or are these sets completely incompatible? Thanks in advance!

[Nemu]

Depends on your budget. One of the best things about blasters since their revamp (besides no end crash nukes) is their endurance/regen/absorb sustain which most blasters get at level 20. You'll need a significant amount of recharge to get drain psyche close to perma, but the other blaster sustains are either toggles or clicks that are perma more or less out of the box.

 

Drain psyche also requires you to hit a few mobs in melee range in order to work, so if you are not used to the blaster playstyle it may be more dangerous for you to use this power.

 

If those are your only two choices for secondary I would recommend ninja, it has a stealth component and the sustain does not require you getting into the danger zone and connecting with enemies.

 

If you are open to other secondaries I'd recommend one with a toggle sustain so you don't have to constantly manage one more click power.

 

How you play blasters will also factor into which secondary is more beneficial. Most beginning blasters want to keep at range and hover blast. There are a few secondaries better suited for that play style than the more advanced blasters that can deal damage at any range and have the survival tools to handle themselves in close combat. Tactical Arrow is hands down the best secondary to compliment a pure range play style.

[CrusaderPenguin]

16 hours ago, Nemu said:

Depends on your budget. One of the best things about blasters since their revamp (besides no end crash nukes) is their endurance/regen/absorb sustain which most blasters get at level 20. You'll need a significant amount of recharge to get drain psyche close to perma, but the other blaster sustains are either toggles or clicks that are perma more or less out of the box.

 

Drain psyche also requires you to hit a few mobs in melee range in order to work, so if you are not used to the blaster playstyle it may be more dangerous for you to use this power.

 

If those are your only two choices for secondary I would recommend ninja, it has a stealth component and the sustain does not require you getting into the danger zone and connecting with enemies.

 

If you are open to other secondaries I'd recommend one with a toggle sustain so you don't have to constantly manage one more click power.

 

How you play blasters will also factor into which secondary is more beneficial. Most beginning blasters want to keep at range and hover blast. There are a few secondaries better suited for that play style than the more advanced blasters that can deal damage at any range and have the survival tools to handle themselves in close combat. Tactical Arrow is hands down the best secondary to compliment a pure range play style.

Thanks for the response! What other toggle sustains do you like?

[tidge]

I think @Nemu hit the most salient point: Mental Manipulation's lack of a toggle sustain makes it harder (but not impossible) than other secondary choices to build a higher-performing Blaster.

 

The Storm primary can be a little tricky to leverage, but since solo play was emphasized I don't think the common complaints about Storm will turn out to be that big of a deal.

 

My personal advice in this circumstance (new to Blasters) if you aren't trying for a specific concept would be to pick a secondary (with a level 20 toggle sustain) that either:

1. Let's you stay at range, when you prefer, and/or
2. Has powers that you could either skip or play with different choices as you level up

Plant Manipulation is IMO a good secondary that allows for skipping powers. I'd suggest skipping Skewer, Ripper, and Thorn Burst. The remaining enemy-affecting powers are mostly controls/debuffs.

Tactical Arrow is an "all range" secondary that you don't need to take all of the "attacks", but are worth experimenting with.

[arcane]

I vote Ninja. But if you are personally more interested in AoE focus, that’s when you want to look more at Mental.

 

Pros of Ninja:

- Sustain may not be a toggle but at least you can put it on auto. Better sustain against hard single targets.

- Comes with a power that is Char but better. If you’re like me and consider Char to be mandatory, this fact opens up build options.

- Better T9 melee power. Accepts all sorts of procs.

 

Pros of Mental:

- Sustain will be stronger *if* you are paying perfect attention to it and getting Drain Psyches off in larger groups.

- Higher radius PBAoE attack.

 

All of the other pros/cons are just meaningless distractions compared to these points, IMO.

 

Since you’re pairing with Storm/ (stronger S/T performance than AoE performance), I could see the case for Mental, but both would be fun.

Edited 5 hours ago by arcane

[Nemu]

4 hours ago, CrusaderPenguin said:

Thanks for the response! What other toggle sustains do you like?

I am a seasoned melee range blaster so my favorite is probably not something you want to subscribe to. For beginning blasters looking for a pure ranged playstyle Tactical Arrow is the best secondary to support it. Most other secondaries have at least 1 power that requires close range and quite a few are quite melee heavy.

 

You could theoretically take any secondary and skip all the melee stuff though. Plenty of melee averse players have done that. Nothing wrong with that but it's not something I endorse. If you want to go that route a sustain toggle that doesn't aggro mobs are the most beginner friendly. The secondaries that have those types of toggles include Temporal Manipulation, Sonic Manipulation, Atomic Manipulation, Devices, and Plant manipulation.