SnipeFu's Definitive Guide to Energy Blasters V3.0

[SnipeFu]

Hello Again Heroes! I guess it’s time for version 3.0 of my guide as there is yet more content I wish to add to make it even more complete. FYI I am a level 50 Energy/Electric Blaster, this guide is all my opinions so feel free to critique and discuss as you wish. My goal is writing this guide is to give those interested an outline of the power set, what it does, and what you can expect to accomplish using the Energy Primary. What I have purposely avoided doing is giving a cookie cutter outline of what is the optimal build, I believe the game is more enjoyable when one makes their own, well informed, decisions.

The energy blaster primary is geared towards single target attacks with some limited AOE damage built in as well. I believe that every power in this primary is good and has its use. Some are more controversial than others as to efficacy. Later I will also talk a bit about pool powers, knock back, and basic tactics of the Energy Blaster. The Energy Primary also has some of the sweetest audio and visual effects in the game. It definitely has a very superhero feel to it. This can be evidenced by the fact that I have started yet another energy blaster and so has my cohort and fellow SG leader, MsKnight aka Energy Star, who I would like to thank and give major credit to for the development of this guide. If nothing else you will have a lot of fun playing this set.

Damage dealt by an energy blaster is split ( I believe 80/20 and 60/40 on others) between energy and smashing damage. All of the attacks have these two elements. This can be good or bad depending on what villain group you are fighting. Some enemies will be resistant to smashing but not energy and vice versa. On the other hand some enemies may be weak to energy, like Freakshow, and this will make taking care of them easier.

A quick note on slotting. The slotting recommendations I make here are geared towards heroes levels 22 and up, meaning when Single Origin Enhancements are available. In the earlier levels when only Training Enhancements or Dual Origin Enhancements are available, I highly recommend adding extra accuracy enhancements to powers over damage. Blasters in general have an easier road to travel for the first 30 levels of the game and can hunt enemies several levels above their own. Accuracy takes a big hit when fighting enemies that are higher levels so it is important to make sure you do what you can to land those blasts. The usual one accuracy enhancement in a blast should be two or even three accuracies at the lower levels. This will help things move along faster as endurance is a big issue in the lower levels and missing only compounds that fact.

Power Bolt – this is one of the two “bread and butter” attacks in Energy. It yields decent damage (approximately 60% of the damage power blast does) and recharges fast enough. Coupling power bolt with power blast, both moderately slotted, will 1-2 an even con minion easily. Slotting this power with one accuracy and five damages is the most balanced approach. I recommend slotting this and Power Blast early on as they will stay with you throughout your entire career as an Energy Blaster. There are energy blasters who don’t take this power at all because they feel that more damage can be done focusing on power blast, power burst, and snipe. This is possible, and slightly harder to master since you’re giving up a ranged attack, but can be worked effectively if you choose to. My opinion is to take it and slot it early.
Cost: 6
Activation Time: 2
Recharge Time: 4
Range: 80
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 5 damage
Devices Slotting: 6 damage
Brawl Index: 2.2222 Energy + 0.5556 Smashing

Power Blast – This is number two in the “bread and butter” attacks. I would slot this the same as power bolt. Again, with these two attacks you can mow down minions with no problems. Slotting these two as early as possible is a good idea.
Cost: 10
Activation Time: 2
Recharge Time: 8
Range: 80
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 5 damage
Devices Slotting: 6 damage
Brawl Index: 2.7778 Energy + 1.7778 Smashing


Energy Torrent – This is the first of two AOE attacks in the Energy set and in my opinion the best one. It has several uses. First off it does decent damage when properly slotted. I suggest slotting this with 1 accuracy, 1 cone extension, and 4 damages. Some people opt to go 1 accuracy and 5 damage which is also great. Since I usually use this power to either knock enemies away from me or to combo with Aim+Buildup+ Energy Torrent + Explosive Blast to drop minions I know I’m at the damage cap with 4 damage SOs, so I like to give myself the extra angle in case I don’t set up perfectly or the enemies are very spread out.

*NOTE* for all except devices blasters. 4 damage SOs + Buildup + Aim will have you right next to the damage cap of 400%. Devices does not get Buildup and has targeting drone so slotting for this secondary is totally different.

I would sacrifice 1 damage SO in energy torrent for cone extension because you will hit many more mobs and for the damage cap reason stated above. The knock back of energy torrent is wonderful for getting mobs off of you when they close in. I believe Energy Torrent has a 60% chance to knockback when it hits. I will also discuss how to drop even con minions with an energy torrent, explosive blast combo in more detail later. Energy Torrent is also a great mob finisher for when you have a lot of mobs at low health. My opinion is to take this and slot it when you can to the max.
Cost: 12.5
Activation Time: 1
Recharge Time: 8
Range: 40
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 1 cone extension, 4 damages
Alternate Slotting: 1 accuracy, 5 damage
Devices Slotting: 1 cone extension, 5 damages OR 6 damages
Brawl Index: 1.8333 Energy + 0.8333 Smashing


Power Burst – I think this is one of the more misunderstood powers of the set, and is therefore not as popular as it should be. Power Burst is a short range blast so you have to be close to the mob to fire it off. The plus side to it is that it does fantastic damage and has great knock back. If a mob is getting close you can fire this off and unless they are conning red or purple, if you hit, they go flying away. Using the “jousting” technique with this power makes it even more awesome. After snipe (and nova) this is the highest damage dealing attack in the set. I suggest slotting this with 1 accuracy and as many damages as you can fit into your build. Some people opt to put a range enhancer in here and that is also a good idea if you are looking to shoot it off from a bit farther away, however the range added is fairly minimal. One range enhancement in Power Burst will boost the range from 20’ to 24’. Mastering the jousting technique can eliminate the need for range. Again the more damage the better, but even poorly slotted this attack does significant damage. This is an attack that can one shot minions if used in conjunction with either aim or buildup and fairly slotted.
Cost: 12
Activation Time: 2
Recharge Time: 10
Range: 20
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 5 damages
Alternate slotting: 1 accuracy and as many damages as you can fit OR 1 accuracy, 1-2 Range enhancers and 1-4 damages.
Devices Slotting: 6 damages
Brawl Index: 3.1111 Energy 2.1111 Smashing


Sniper Blast – As my name may suggest I am partial to this attack. This is your damage dealer. It is a great opening attack if you are soloing and a great starter attack in a group after agro is taken by someone else. It has a +20% chance to hit which is almost like having 1 accuracy SO built in. In V1.0 I suggested not putting in an accuracy enhancement in this power. I have found that I like to hunt things a few levels above me and I was missing more than I wanted to, I have therefore put 1 accuracy in this power and am very happy with it. Note, if this is used strictly as an opening attack on your build which may be the case you will most likely be using the Build Up + Aim combo which will way over-cap your accuracy.

The way I have slotted this is 4 damage SOs, 1 accuracy, and 1 interrupt reduction SO. I know interrupt reduction is not such a popular SO but I have put it in for these reasons: with a 6 second animation time it is very easy to interrupt this power and like this it is only a good/dependable opening attack. Firing a snipe off in a battle that has already taken off becomes very difficult unless all the mobs are held. What interrupt reducers allow me to do is ensure that the snipe will go off after only 2 seconds or so even if I am hit during the rest of the animation. Taking into consideration the significant endurance cost of this attack and the damage potential, it is a very nice way to go. Also after the first 2 or so seconds I am free to move around the battle as I wish to place myself for the follow up attack. The interrupt reducers basically make snipe a viable attack to be used in combat. For those who don’t need an accuracy enhancer 2 interrupt reductions in snipe will leave almost 0 interrupt time, I have tested this, the interrupt time is negligible with 2. If you need to save slots in your build, stick in 4 damage SOs and use it as an opener. You may opt to slot this differently; it all depends on your play style.

Snipe can also be used for “pulling.” Taking into consideration where an enemy is standing and facing in relation the rest of his mob one can manage to kill or pull one enemy from a pack without causing the rest to notice. This technique is an art and takes practice to master but can come in extremely handy under certain circumstances.

Note: Orange con minions will be one shotted using Build Up + Aim + Snipe. That is the maximum damage for one shot. Reds will be left with a sliver of health. Buildup + Snipe can also drop an orange minion with no resistance to energy or smashing.

Note: The current Hamidon strategies have people with snipes placing 6 range enhancements in to allow snipers to be out of Hamidon’s range. This may change with the new Hamidon, but is still useful to know in case you choose not to 6 slot Snipe.

Cost: 16.5
Activation Time: 6
Recharge Time: 12
Range: 150
Accuracy: +20%
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 1 interrupt reduction, 4 damages
Alternate slotting: 2 interrupt reductions, 4 damages OR 1-6 damages OR 1 accuracy, 5 damages.
Devices Slotting: same as above without the accuracy enhancements.
Brawl Index: 5.5556 Energy + 2.1111 Smashing

Aim – nuff said. 100% accuracy boost and a 62.5% damage boost. Slot this with recharge reduction, because the more often you have it the better. This power does NOT need accuracy to hit buffs, but if you have the slots you could and should at least 3 slot it with recharge reductions to make it come up faster. With 4 recharge reductions in this and in build up you can pretty much cycle through the two alternatively and have one of them up all the time. This is very nice to have in battle. This power lasts for 10 seconds.

Battle Plan: When entering a battle one must assess whether the fight will be fast or will take time. A fast battle calls for a Buildup + Aim alpha strike combo to maximize and front load all the damage. A drawn out battle should call for alternating between Buildup and Aim cycles as over time alternating will cause more damage per time than combining the two.

Note for Devices Blasters: You can easily opt not to take this power as all your accuracy is in your targeting drone, however the 62.5% damage boost can and will come in very handy for things like alpha strikes.

Cost: 6
Activation Time: 1
Recharge Time: 90
Accuracy: +100%
Damage: +60%
Recommended Slotting: 3-4 Recharge reductions
Alternate Slotting: 1-6 recharges


Power Push – Another one of the more misunderstood attacks of this set and probably the most controversial and the most fun. This attack does negligible damage. What it does have is a +40% accuracy built in and will knock most foes on their tushies. Why is this good? Let’s say you are taking on a freak tank; the last thing you want is for this guy to hit you. Well if you rotate Power Push in to the cycle of attacks every time he gets up, he will be down the entire time and you won’t have to worry about being hit. This power will also save you when things get ugly and you need a few more seconds to escape/finish off an enemy. This power allows you to chain knock back enemies so it can be considered a pseudo status effect or a defensive power if used properly. Now, some people don’t need this or want it. That is fine. It is by no means a necessary power in the set. It is very nice to have. I know very good energy blasters who have no use for it. It is totally up to your play style to decide. I suggest taking it and slotting in 1 accuracy enhancement so you make sure you hit those big bad boys when you use it. The recharge, with perma-hasten, on this power is fast enough to do chain knockbacks and to cycle two attacks in or a snipe between each push.

Taking a boss out of a fight is a great tool and since blasters have so very little defense to begin with anything that can stop an enemy from attacking can be considered quite useful.

Note: knocking back level 1 enemies with this power = fun. I have managed to send one over 80 yards on the test server with this power 4 slotted for knockback.

Cost: 10
Activation Time: 1
Recharge Time: 8
Range: 70
Accuracy: +40%
Suggested Slotting: 1 accuracy
Brawl Index: 0.5556 Energy + 0.5556 Smashing


Explosive Blast – Of all the powers in this set I would say this one is the weakest. Having said that, it can be used to your advantage, when used properly. I use this power in only two ways. The first and most important is as a follow up to Energy Torrent. When Energy Torrent and Explosive Blast are fully slotted and in combination with Aim + Build Up, you can take down even con enemies. The downside to this combo is knock back. After Energy Torrent everyone pretty much goes flying and your targets are spread out. Most of the time with your follow up explosive blast, you will miss a few guys that flew out of the range of explosive blast. I have this slotted for 1 accuracy and 4 damage. The other time I use it is on the rare occasion when none of my other blasts haven’t cycled in. It does less damage than Energy Torrent but can still knock foes back. It is a nice power to have in your back pocket and allows you to do some AOE clean up detail. You can easily skip this power if you wish, after all Energy is by no means an AOE centered power-set, and Explosive blast in particular has high end cost and a long recharge to boot.
Cost: 17.5
Activation Time: 2
Recharge Time: 16
Range: 80
Recommended Slotting: 1 accuracy, 4 damages
Alternate Slotting: 1 accuracy, 1-5 damages
Devices Slotting: 1-6 damages
Brawl Index: 1.1111 Energy + 1.3889 Smashing


N O V A – The end all and be all of the Energy set. Monster damage and a +40% accuracy bonus make this a devastating AOE attack. You want to take this power at 32 and at the very least have it 4 slotted as soon as possible i.e. level 33. Nova has a chance to hit each mob 4 times. It is all based on to hit numbers that are included below but if you DO hit you will hit for at least two (one energy one smashing) with a chance for 2 additional hits. Always use this with Buildup and Aim allowing you to cap both accuracy and damage for maximum effect. Most people like to slot this with two to three recharge reduction SOs as well. I have done this too. The sooner this is up the better. Taking out +4 minions is easily achieved this way. One of the best Energy blasters I know ( MsKnight, w00t!!1!) uses 3 damage and 3 recharge, this allows for quicker recharge and still does insane damage; with that set up all you need to hit the damage cap is some red pills. Always use this with Buildup and Aim and don’t put any accuracy into it. Some have said this is a very situational power, I however say a wise blaster can use this in just about any situation. It can be used as an alpha strike or a team saver when things get hairy.
Cost: 11
Activation Time: 3
Recharge Time: 6 minutes
Range: ~20
Accuracy: +40%
Recommended Slotting: 4 damages and 2 recharge reductions OR 3 damages and 3 recharge reductions.
Devices slotting: Same as above, but taking out +4 minions without Buildup will be a tad harder. Throw a trip mine in there and you’ll be golden, OR 6 damages.
Brawl Index: 2.7778 Smashing + 5.5556 Energy + 4.1667 Energy * 0-2


And there you have it folks. Energy blast.


Some thoughts on knockback. This concept has sparked very heated debate for and against its usefulness. Both sides have very valid points. Some people, especially tanks and scrappers, can really get annoyed by knock back because an energy blaster will knock mobs they are engaging back resulting in them not being able to hit their targets or losing any defense bonuses they may gain from mobs being in melee range. You must learn to manage knock back in a team setting so it helps more than it hurts. Knock back is a tremendous resource when properly managed. If I am on a team with people who are being hindered by my knock back I simply hover above the mobs I attack. This way I knock them DOWN rather than back. Another energy blaster has suggested moving to the opposite side of your team so knocking mobs back will hurl them towards the team rather than away. I’ve tried this and it can work as well. I will also use my AOEs much more sparingly. Some people will complain about knock back no matter what and to those people I would just say….well never mind. My personal experience has been positive, I have only on 1 or 2 occasions in 50 levels had someone complain about it. Otherwise, if you learn to manage your knock backs well, you can keep entire mobs on the floor for most of the battle.

Used in a team setting, when for example, your team is being overwhelmed, a good energy torrent will send the mobs flying away allowing your teammates a few seconds to recover and HULK UP! (TM Legion of Freedom battle cry) for the remainder of a fight. Used against bosses in a team setting, you can completely take that boss out of the fight. When soloing, however, knock back is probably the most useful for an Energy Blaster, you don’t run the risk of aggravating anyone, and an enemy on his butt can’t attack you.


I will also talk about power pool choices, but this is so dependant on the player’s personality. Please take all of these recommendations with a grain of salt and make sure whatever you choose suits your play-style and allows you to have fun. The test server is an amazing tool for things like this where you can test different powers without committing to them and be able to gauge how much you like them. Use the test server, it is your friend. One note: I do not consider myself a power gamer nor do I try and give people cookie cutter guidance. Having said that…….

As always Hasten and Stamina are pretty much required for you. These allow a blaster to blast longer and faster. I highly recommend going perma-hasten, meaning 6 slots in hasten with recharge reductions so that it’s always on. This effectively doubles your recharge rate on all powers and is like slotting two recharge reduction SOs in all powers. Stamina should also have 6 slots on endurance recharges in it because endurance is always an issue for a blaster and the more you have the better. Are they absolutely required? Most certainly not. Will it make your character much more effective? Absolutely.

Since you will most likely have hasten picking up super speed is a great travel power to pick up and doesn’t require you to open a new pool. The advantages are that super speed is one of the fastest ways to travel and it gives you a stealth bonus. I also recommend picking up another travel power later on in the game for vertical movement as super speed can be cumbersome in many areas due to its lack of vertical movement.

My other two pools are concealment and flight. From the flight pool I only have hover and it is six slotted for flight. I won’t go into lengthy detail as to why I do unless someone asks but basically it acts as a second travel power, has very little end drain, is easier to maneuver than flight, has no accuracy minus, has a defense bonus, is great for chasing runaways, and let’s you be out of melee at all times, and saves me from wasting a power on flight. 6 slots is a lot but hey, it works for me. It’s also much easier to dedicate those slots in a respect trial post level 30 which is what I suggest if you are considering to 6 slot hover. If you’re thinking of five or four slotting it, that’s ok for combat, but not for travel as the difference in speed is huge between each SO. It also enables me to move in all directions during battle, so if I want to set up for an energy torrent explosive blast combo, I hover down to shoot and back up once done.

The concealment pool is another great idea for all but devices blasters. Stealth stacked with super speed makes you invisible to all but a few enemies in the game and can be invaluable for setting up things like Nova right in the middle of a group. Stealth provides a base 7.5% defense bonus and that’s also as good as it gets defensively for a blaster as far as pool powers are concerned. Fully slotted for defense that number bumps up to 16.5% defense. You can also pick up grant invisibility which allows you to have a power that helps in a team setting and phase shift is another fantastic tool for many reasons. Stealth however is the determining factor to go into this pool.

The leaping pool is a great alternative to the flight pool with combat jumping, super jump, and acrobatics. This pool will grant you vertical movement, a small defense bonus, and some limited status and knockback protection.

The teleport pool is a good pool for more team oriented blasters as recall friend is very handy and teleport will give you a fast travel power and the vertical movement lacking in super speed as well.

The medicine pool is another nifty pool that gives you great team tools like heal other, Stimulant ( which grants status protection), and a rez. Heal self can also decrease down time between battles significantly.

Presence. This is not a pool for blasters unless you really like going to the hospital.

Fighting. This pool has some powers that will grant you added defensive bonuses but at the cost of running lots of toggles and picking up a melee power which doesn’t help a blasters cause much. Blasters interested in upping their defense as much as possible do take this pool and some say it helps a lot. I however don’t recommend going this route. It can be done nevertheless.

Leadership – This is another nifty pool for teams as you can up your teams defense, damage and accuracy. Running these kinds of toggles can kill your endurance very easily and blasters do not receive the full benefit of this pool. Defenders and then controllers receive the greatest bonus from this pool and it is a much better tool for them.


Strategy and Tactics. This again is very dependant on your style but I will try and lay out some ways of going about combat based on what you’re facing.

Monsters and AVs – these battles require, and I mean require, you to be at a safe distance blasting as fast as possible. One melee hit from an AV or Monster can easily drop a blaster and I’ve had this happen to me many times. The most damage an energy blaster can do to this type of enemy will go something like this:

Aim, Snipe, bolt, blast, bolt, Buildup, Snipe, bolt, blast, bolt, Snipe, bolt, blast, bolt. Repeat ad nauseum. This is literally non-stop blasting and the cycling of buildup and aim allows for maximum DPS (damage per second)

Bosses – the easiest way to drop a boss for an energy blaster, assuming they are not resistant to knockback, is to cycle power push in to your stream of attacks every time it comes up as this will keep a boss down the entire fight. After a power push you have enough time to activate snipe before the boss gets up and then you can hit blast or power push again right away. Otherwise after power push you can cycle any of your other attacks in between applications of the push.

Large groups of even cons – Buildup, Aim, Energy Torrent, Explosive Blast. Done. This is enough to drop even cons that do not resist energy. If there is an Lt or two or even a boss in the mix here, follow up with single target blasts until they are down.

Small groups of +1 to +3 mobs (no bosses) – Buildup, Snipe the first. Bolt, Blast, Bolt the second, Burst bolt the third. This should be enough to handle this kind of situation with minions. Lts will require more shots of course. If an Lt has status powers I recommend Buildup, Aim, Snipe, Burst, Blast them first to make sure they are out of the way fast.

Large groups of minions up to +4 – Buildup, Aim, Nova. Done.

Again these methods are very subjective. Please experiment on your own to find your style and best effectiveness on the battle field and use these methods as a guideline, if you choose, on how to go about battles.

I do recommend cycling Buildup and Aim for any occasion where an alpha strike will not finish off the whole pack, as cycling those gives you much higher DPS than using them in tandem. For a fight that will only last a few seconds then Buildup plus Aim is the better way to go.

Synergy with Secondaries

Devices – devices is a great secondary for any blaster AT. It is the Swiss army knife for a blaster. Powers like targeting drone, cloaking device, trip mines, caltrops and smoke grenade make for very safe and powerful blasting. The only downside is that a devices blaster is a slower moving blaster as these things take time to set up. Nevertheless it is extremely effective and fun.

Energy – is probably the best synergy with the energy primary. Tons of self buffs and some very strong melee attacks. Power Boost, Conserve Power, Boost Range are all really nice self buffs whereas Total Focus is the most damaging attack in the game and can stun bosses in one hit. Bone Smasher is also a strong melee attack and a great follow up to Total Focus. This combo also makes for a good blapper.

Electricity – Not a whole lot of synergy here but some pretty good tools for the late game. Power Sink and Shocking Grasp are amazing tools. Power Sink can completely drain mobs of endurance while fully recharging your own. Shocking grasp is a very nice single target hold. Lightning field can be picked up in the late game after Power Sink is slotted and can allow you to basically tank mobs after power sinking them. In the early game it is not so great. Havoc Punch and Thunder Strike are also very strong melee attacks and can allow one to blap very effectively as well.

Fire – Probably the least amount of synergy here. Mostly melee attacks with one power that allows you to recharge end.

Ice – Ice secondary has great tools for holding and slowing down mobs. Ice patch, Shiver, and Frozen Aura all allow you to either hold or slow mobs. The only downside here is that most of them are close range and can put the energy blaster in danger. With some finesse and technique this can also be an effective blaster.

Well that’s as much as I can possibly think of for the time being. I hope this guide helps those interested in the energy blast set. Any and all comments and questions are welcome. Please remember that the most important thing in this game is to have fun and that if you’re not having fun you need to rethink your AT, set, or style and if that doesn’t work well maybe a different game will. Good luck heroes!

[MothTwiceborn_NA]

Thank you very much!

That was exactly the info on Snipe I was looking for!
When I slot snipe next time, I shall definitely put an interrupt reducer in it. I will say however, that if you have knocked an opponent down (and there are no others nearby) you can usually get snipe off before he fires again, even without interrupt reducers. So again, more choice as to how you want to slot it.

BTW, you mention a "jousting" technique - seeing as jousting normally consists of riding up to the other guy and using your momentum to smack him on the way past ( :-) ), I'm not sure what this technique is in CoH terms - could you give us a runthrough of the technique you're talking about?

[Ancient_Root]

What a great guide, thank you much for writing this. I hope to learn with every guide written!

[dave_p]

You have activation times of 2 for both Bolt & Blast? Is that right? I haven't played my en/en blaster for a few months, but last I checked, it was 3 for Bolt and 1 for Blast.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
One of the best Energy blasters I know ( MsKnight, w00t!!1!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Awww Thanks Snipey!

/e blushes

Snipe touched upon how to use different powersets/pools together, ex. Build up from most secondaries, Hover and the Concealment pools, but how about some other opinions on synergy? Like someone who took the jumping pool and uses SJ & hover to attack and combat jumping for defense? Or the altruistic blaster w/ group fly who can keep his non-melee teammates out of melee range while attacking? Lets hear some ideas!

FYI if you want to take part in a Hamidon raid around L50 you'll need to have snipe 6 slotted. For the raid it'll need to have range enhancements on it, otherwise you'll be defeated
after every shot.

Oh and BTW, here's my additional take on Nova (since Devs are looking at AoEs)...not EB or ET b/c frankly they aren't nearly powerful enough to be an issue. Nova is great. It is great fun. But it's probably on a par w/ thunderous blast and inferno in damage albet higher on the "HaHa that was cool!" scale. It balances with a long recharge time, openness for attack while activating (w/out stealth +SS), the endurance drain, and the variable damage ((States posted how this works) to mobs in a group), there is a balance that should not require a nerf.

For fun tho, use it on a group a top a roof in Bricks w/ you teammates standing at ground level looking up. We may not get preciitation in Paragon City, but we can make it rain!

[JuryDuty]

I have to tell you, I've been using your guide from day one and it's spot-on. Thank you for taking the time to write it! Excellent work!

[SnipeFu]

The Jousting technique invovles basically running past an enemy and clicking say a melee punch or power burst as you whiz by, you will only be in melee range of the foe for a split second but you will hit them anyway as you zoom past. Doas that make any sense? It's kinda early and my brain isn't full functioning.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

By the way, we invite anyone in game to play with us and/or chat. Snipe's a bit busier than I (lil' baby snipe-ettes). Even those of you on different servers, if you create an alt on Virtue or move a character when server moves come available. Doc Vortex just joined our SG (Legion of Freedom, we're a bunch of LoF'ers) after playing several alts on a different server and is having a great time!

[JuryDuty]

A suggestion and a question...

Suggestion: For each power above would you add a line under Range: that says Suggested Slotting: and then list your suggested slotting? You may even have to do a couple of these for each one as sometimes it depends on the build, but I think that would be nice for a quick reference.

For instance for Energy Torrent:
Suggested Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 1 Cone Ext, 4 Damages
Suggested Slotting (Device Blasters): etc, etc.

Question: Why hover 6 slotted instead of Combat Jumping/SJ/Acrobatics? These are so strong for defense, I kinda thought they were crucial to all Blasters. You have me wondering if I could dump all three slots for one Hover... I mean, with Hover 6-slotted with something can you get over all walls, etc?

Thanks again for your excellent guide.

[Thorny_Toad]

Another addition to "Jousting" - If you can time it right, hit jump right as the animation starts going. Most (all?) attack powers require you to stop and execute the animation. However, if your airborn, you'll continue along your path. It works even better with ranged attacks, no matter how short the range is.

With Super Speed and Super Jump, I've been able to hit melee attacks, and land 100 yards away right as the animation finishes.

If you can't picture what I'm saying, look me up in-game sometime, and I'll be more than happy to demonstrate.

[Jedi_Zife]

[ QUOTE ]
I know interrupt reduction is not such a popular SO but I have put it in for these reasons: with a 6 second animation time it is very easy to interrupt this power and like this it is only a good opening attack. Firing a snipe off in a battle that is already taken off becomes next to impossible unless all the mobs are held.


[/ QUOTE ]

Interrupt reduction SO is not needed. I had 3 of these in my Zapp for my Electrical Blaster and you could not really notice a difference. They have been removed and are never going back.
For one you are Enegry you get knockback so use it. You knock the Mob(s) on there butt and then you use your Sniper attack while they are getting up.
Even if they do stand up and shoot you your attack is past the time it can be interrupted 98% of the time.

And if your opening with your Sniper attack why in the world would it get interrupted?

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hover 6 slotted (speed does increase w/ level, as I found when I exemplared this weekend from 47 to 20 for the Positron TF) gives you a vertical movement power to suppliment SS, and is helpful in the 40+ Shard zone.

SJ gives you the horizontal and vertical movement powers, and is incredibly fun, but using the SS+Hover combo prob. sacrifices defense for making you invisible when adding stealth. I'd say it's a playstyle apples v. oranges difference. Both offer benefits! If you're curious wait until you get another respec then before you choose your power copy yourself onto the test server.

[Jedi_Zife]

[ QUOTE ]
Hover 6 slotted (speed does increase w/ level, as I found when I exemplared this weekend from 47 to 20 for the Positron TF) gives you a vertical movement power to suppliment SS, and is helpful in the 40+ Shard zone.


[/ QUOTE ]

That's wounderful infomation but why you noticed the difference in speed for Hover from lvl 47 to 20 is because you don't have SOs in hover anymore when you EX down :p you may not even of had Hover fully sloted by the time you got to lvl 20.

[VA_Belle]

FAN-tastic! Thanks ever so much, you've provided some great insights!

:cool:

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
That's wounderful infomation but why you noticed the difference in speed for Hover from lvl 47 to 20 is because you don't have SOs in hover anymore when you EX down you may not even of had Hover fully sloted by the time you got to lvl 20.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good, but slotting stays the same when you exemplar down. Statesman posted to this b/c the programming involved to alter the enhancements down would've been rather involved (and they seem to have better uses for their time! :)). So all things being equal, a character (fully slotted) exemplared down will be more effective than a regularly leveled character. Also it's been noted that base Fly speed increases with level, so I was pointing out that base hover speed increases as well.

Also, I believe Snipe mentioned the difficulty in using sniper shot during a battle due to the (long) interruption time, so his point I think was that it was more useful, as you said, during a fight!

Good feedback!

[dave_p]

[ QUOTE ]
Interrupt reduction SO is not needed. I had 3 of these in my Zapp for my Electrical Blaster and you could not really notice a difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just to clarify what you may already know (apologies in advance if this is the case), interrupt reducers don't reduce the animation time. Your Zapp still actiavates for 6 seconds, but with interrupt reducers, you can be hit, move around, etc after about 2-3 seconds or so. I agree with the rest of your post and don't advocate them myself, but there are people who like to hit cap with BU+Aim with their snipe attacks and use interrupt reducers instead of damage for maneuvering or whatever.

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I know interrupt reduction is not such a popular SO but I have put it in for these reasons: with a 6 second animation time it is very easy to interrupt this power and like this it is only a good opening attack. Firing a snipe off in a battle that is already taken off becomes next to impossible unless all the mobs are held.


[/ QUOTE ]

Interrupt reduction SO is not needed. I had 3 of these in my Zapp for my Electrical Blaster and you could not really notice a difference. They have been removed and are never going back.
For one you are Enegry you get knockback so use it. You knock the Mob(s) on there butt and then you use your Sniper attack while they are getting up.
Even if they do stand up and shoot you your attack is past the time it can be interrupted 98% of the time.

And if your opening with your Sniper attack why in the world would it get interrupted?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Zife. Part of what you say is true, however if you are fighting more than one enemy at a time AND want to use a sniper attack, then an interrupt reducer comes in very handy. If you are fighting only one mob then you ar eright knock back will handle the job for you.

There is a huge difference in interrupt times with 1 or 2 interrupt reducers in a snipe attack. 3 seems to be overkill because I tested with two and the interrupt time was down to less than a second.

[Vyndicator]

You don't group much do you Ziffe. What he's saying is sniper is one of your most damaging attacks, granted. But once you've attracted the attention of a pack of villains, the chance of getting off sniper without interruption is slim. Even in a group setting this happens. Unless the tank has the FULL attention or you have an awesome controller.

[Jedi_Zife]

[ QUOTE ]
You don't group much do you Ziffe. What he's saying is sniper is one of your most damaging attacks, granted. But once you've attracted the attention of a pack of villains, the chance of getting off sniper without interruption is slim. Even in a group setting this happens. Unless the tank has the FULL attention or you have an awesome controller.

[/ QUOTE ]

Spelling my name right would be nice for one and I group lots just not in groups bigger then 4 unless for TF or SG needs me.
I was solo for about 2 months do to my friends playing Lineage 2 hence I know a lot about powers and snipe. My point is that you can get Snipe off in the middle of battle because if there is a will there is a way and you can do it without interrupt enhancements.

But if your planning on using Snipe as a first attack on a big group and then use 2-3 other powers and use Snipe again while there is 4 or more left in that group and you are in the mobs attack range. You do that you deserve to get interrupted.

[roberto1]

Great guide! I've got energy blast on my Defender, and I must say I enjoyed reading about the set from a Blaster's perspective. Defenders can't get Buildup, but we CAN get things like Enervating Field, Accelerated Metabolism, Siphon Power, and Fulcrum Shift to improve our damage output.

My only real comment to the guide is regarding your description of Hover/Fly. I've been using a set of binds developed here one the forums (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=faq&Number=1699712&Forum=A ll_Forums&Words=best%20hover%2Ffly%20bind%20ever&S earchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=422333&Search=true&where =sub&Name=&daterange=1&newerval=3&newertype=m&olde rval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#Post1699712) that give me excellent mobility during combat. This has saved me from having to 6-slot hover to make it a viable travel power. The additional power slot is worth it, I think, as those 5 enhancement slots might be better spent elsewhere (especially at lower levels when slots aremore precious).

Cheers!

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
Great guide! I've got energy blast on my Defender, and I must say I enjoyed reading about the set from a Blaster's perspective. Defenders can't get Buildup, but we CAN get things like Enervating Field, Accelerated Metabolism, Siphon Power, and Fulcrum Shift to improve our damage output.

My only real comment to the guide is regarding your description of Hover/Fly. I've been using a set of binds developed here one the forums (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=faq&Number=1699712&Forum=A ll_Forums&Words=best%20hover%2Ffly%20bind%20ever&S earchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=422333&Search=true&where =sub&Name=&daterange=1&newerval=3&newertype=m&olde rval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#Post1699712) that give me excellent mobility during combat. This has saved me from having to 6-slot hover to make it a viable travel power. The additional power slot is worth it, I think, as those 5 enhancement slots might be better spent elsewhere (especially at lower levels when slots aremore precious).

Cheers!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well it was a personal playstyle decision for me mostly. I suck at binds and moacros, I can't even get my battle call to get out =S

I saved one power slot vs 5 enhancement slots and never have to wonder like I did back when I had fly, "why am I missing so damn much? Why is my end gone? OH DAMN! I forgot to switch to hover!"

The hover thing was just a suggestion. Many people love it others don't.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
Well it was a personal playstyle decision for me mostly. I suck at binds and moacros, I can't even get my battle call to get out =S

[/ QUOTE ]

MsKnight looks around...sheepishly presses the F10 key...grins then runs away... :D

So THAT'S why I haven't seen you say "HULK UP!" since the Bastion TF! :D

Runs away again...

[SnipeFu]

Yeah somehow F10 was replaced with READY! and I don't know how to get it back again.....

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
Hover 6 slotted (speed does increase w/ level, as I found when I exemplared this weekend from 47 to 20 for the Positron TF) gives you a vertical movement power to suppliment SS, and is helpful in the 40+ Shard zone.

SJ gives you the horizontal and vertical movement powers, and is incredibly fun, but using the SS+Hover combo prob. sacrifices defense for making you invisible when adding stealth. I'd say it's a playstyle apples v. oranges difference. Both offer benefits! If you're curious wait until you get another respec then before you choose your power copy yourself onto the test server.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but would you mind posting a link to how to copy yourself to the test server? I want to try this. Also, once copied, is it easy to reconfigure your powers?

[SnipeFu]

Character Copy Tool (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=661540&page=0&view=collap sed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#661540)

This will copy your character to the test server. Visit the training room forum as it has all the info you need. You need to download the test server first and that takes a good hour or two.

Also your character will copy exactly as is, you can not change3 anythying unless you have a respec. What most people do is complete the respec trial, select respec as the prize, log out, copy the character to the test server, try all the new things they want, rinse and repeat as necessary.

[Eulogy]

Wow! Amazing thread for its detail and options. I was already using power burst with the jousting though I didn't know it was called that because it's the only real way to get the blast off and not be in melee range long enough to get hit. I would like to add that my favorite opening attack has to be snipe, but when I face a boss, it's total focus all the way. My god that power is awesome! I have it six slotted, five damage, and 1 accuracy. What I like to do is use aim, joust the boss with total focus, use power burst, power blast ( hopefully still with aim up), then hit build up and snipe, by this time the disorient usually wears off so then I use whatever blast is up, and that usually finishes them off if not sooner. I have noticed that I can take on bosses like this without them even getting a shot off. The disorient on total focus is amazing almost 100% if you hit...some bosses resist albeit rarely, and that damage of that attack is insane. :cool:

[SnipeFu]

Thanks for the wonderful responses.

I noticed something very peculiar last night. I ran herostats for the first time and just tracked the damage output of my powers over time. I used torrent and explosive blast together almost all the time and in the end it told me that EB did more damage than ET. I know that as a general rule ET outdamages EB, I see the damage numbers over the enemies, but I will investigate further and report.

[Fury_]

wow...i thought i was the only Energy/Electric blaster ever good to see i'm not alone :)

Comments: i pretty much agree with everything you put except snipe, i have 1 acc and 5 damg, and it's part of my attack cycle, i find the time for a mob to get back up is about equal to snipes warmup time, i usually run Aim+Buildup-->Snipe-->Burst-->Blast-->Bolt-->Push-->Snipe etc

also i have burst 1 acc 2 range and 3 damages and it's still amazingly powerful and usable outside the risk of most PBAOE effects. with 1 range i had issues staying away form oppresive gloom/any AOE dmg aura etc. 2 fixed that right up.

And i can't stress how useful Stealth/SS combo is for an energy blaster because positioning is EVRYTHING. also the safety of not aggroing extra mobs when you toss one of them into a pack is useful.

I love energy by the way and Power pushing a level 1 when you have vanguard on is like punting a football. :)

Fury level 44 Energy/Electricity Blaster

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
And i can't stress how useful Stealth/SS combo is for an energy blaster because positioning is EVRYTHING. also the safety of not aggroing extra mobs when you toss one of them into a pack is useful.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the truth. Getting Stealth/SS has completely changed my game and made it SO much better. I wouldn't ever do without it.

[GladDog]

Wow I built my Blaster (as far as primary & power pools) almost exactly as you listed. I am going to change a few things at my next (Epic pool) respec.

I am going to try the 6 slotted Hover thing. I spend most of my time super speeding nowadays, I only need flight for hill climbing, so to speak. So I will drop Fly & try your method. I have one more respec if I don't care for it after a few weeks.

I am going to replace the acc I have in Nova with a dam, so it will be slotted dam/dam/dam/dam/rech/rech. When I Nova reds they have a sliver of life if I don't have aim & build up ready, this may fix that.

I am going to CONSIDER getting Power Push. I will try it on test after respec, but I have avoided this one for a while.

Now, I disagree on Explosive Blast. It is a great power in my book. Slotted acc/dam/dam/dam/dam/dam, it is very effective when combined with Energy Torrent for mob killing. It just requires proper angle on the attack. It is also good as a 4th 'nuke' in certain situations, & it has a fast animation so you can fire the next attack quickly.

[Warspite]

Just wanted to say that Snipe-Fu is a damn fine En blaster and you would be hard pressed to find a better person to write this guide. I recently teamed with him (second time, but the first was a loooong time ago) after sending out a broadcast request for help to take down a +1 Nemesis (the AV) and he just said 'As long as you keep agro I'll kill him' - well, I did, and he did, extremely quickly. Nice to see someone that knows what they are doing at work (working with a non-provoking tanker can tax an En blaster), and writing a guide like this.

Warspite
Lv 44 Inv/SS

[Airhammer]

[ QUOTE ]
hence I know a lot about powers and snipe. My point is that you can get Snipe off in the middle of battle because if there is a will there is a way and you can do it without interrupt enhancements.


[/ QUOTE ]

I concur. I have always been able to get off at least one or two snipe shots in a battle without interruption.. Of course I also use hover to my advantage in battle as well.

[PlasmaStream]

Being a level 50 NRG/NRG blaster. I am enjoying reading over this and finding almost everything here accurate. I go with Ms KNight on the 3dmg/3Recharge on Nova. With Hasten I nova ever 2 minutes and 30 seconds. without the Recharges it was close to 3:30 between uses.

I found that the recharge time on it outweighs the slightly decreased damage which can easily be compensated by Red Skittles as i like to call em. I do also use SS + Stealth to manuever. But have kept both fly and hover both however have movement speed in them.

The only reason I can see to Keep fly is , impatience in my case, and my own personal use of GROUP FLY in the Shadow Shard, with 2 Movements in it, it has a pretty good flight rate, and if you Auto follow one of your group members instead of them following you no outdistancing.

on Build up/AIM/Sniper,

I compiled this data here one night at 3am when I was bored in a Portal mission with nice squishy no ranged attack werewolves, in an attempt to better my effeciency

LVL 44
Sniper
DMG 45+
DMG 45+
DMG 45+
DMG 45+
DMG 45+

Damage Solo
White Con LT, Beta Werewolf
253 E, 96 S
Damage With Build Up
White Con LT
344 E, 131 S
Damage with Build Up/AIM
358 E, , 136 S
Damage with AIM
309 E, 117 S


Now this is the same test with 6 damage
LVL 44
Sniper
DMG 45++ x 6
Yellow Con: LT / Nemesis lvl 44
Damage Solo
354 E / 135 S = 489
Damage With Build Up
430 E / 163 S = 593
Damage with Build Up/AIM
430 E / 163 S= 593
Damage with AIM
422 E/160 S = 582

Don't pay as much attention to the actual numbers as we are dealing with different levels of Resistance to damage, ((the werewolves i was targetting had dark armor on them))

Mostly pay attention to what the Cap is and how much difference there is between using Build up AND AIM, vs Just build up.

What I found is that I can instead with a few red skittles, Cycle my build up and AIM. Build Up Sniper, and follow up shot as needed. then AIM and follow up shot which is usually needed, Rinse and Repeat

Hope this adds something to the excellent posts above

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
Being a level 50 NRG/NRG blaster. I am enjoying reading over this and finding almost everything here accurate. ..I do also use SS + Stealth to manuever. But have kept both fly and hover both however have movement speed in them.

The only reason I can see to Keep fly is , impatience in my case...

[/ QUOTE ]

So you feel the ease of maneuverability with fly outweighs the speed and defense of combat jumping/sj/acrobatics?

[PlasmaStream]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Being a level 50 NRG/NRG blaster. I am enjoying reading over this and finding almost everything here accurate. ..I do also use SS + Stealth to manuever. But have kept both fly and hover both however have movement speed in them.

The only reason I can see to Keep fly is , impatience in my case...

[/ QUOTE ]

So you feel the ease of maneuverability with fly outweighs the speed and defense of combat jumping/sj/acrobatics?

[/ QUOTE ]

In my case? yes. But it is also a matter of playing style. Being a roleplayer ((::waits to be crucified::)) I found flight made more sense to the character when I first began play.

In retrospect as I look over all the levels, and listen to alot of people that I know and leveled with. With my current build..as it was, never Respecing (except onceto remove bone smasher)). I can only say this:
I have never hit the debt cap
I have never recieved more than 2 Bubbles of Debt (close but not quite)
My debt has never exceeded 300K at any one point in time.
If you snipe the thing that can hold you while you are stealthed then it can't hold you.

Over all. It is all about play style. by all means Acrobatics/SJ/CJ is ideal for ultimate defense, but i run with 3 slotted Stealth, 1 Defense in hover and have little problems. 3 slotted swift more than compensates for the stealth decrease in speed and then some.

My choice was Hover/flight. Both of which only post 42 began to get Slots for speed.

So ultimately, its an opinion of which you feel better suits your play style and character. Just sayin what worked for this gal.


Edit: It should be noted a few of my choices will probably change when the Epic Power Pools are fully published and I have time to analyze which will fit the build of the character. At current, epic fire manipulation sounds likely. It depends on the two unlisted powers, but rise of the phoenix would be a nice addition.

[SnipeFu]

Warspite, thanks for the compliment bro. You were pretty damn good at tanking that AV yourself it was great teamwork.

Plasma Stream, thanks for the great info. I'll see you on top of the lvl 50 mountain soon!

Jury Duty, as far as the combat jumping/SJ/Acrobatics ticket is concerned I feel this way about it. Remember this all my opinion. Taking 3 powers to get some protection is not really worth it. Acrobatics only really protects against KB and similar things. Super Jump ios not the best travel power for a blaster, and combat jumping gives you a 5% defense and is not useful otherwise really. Hover gives you the same 5% defense bonus and protects against KB, you don't get Knocked down, you just do a little flip and are ready to keep blasting really quickly. I feel that for a blaster SS and FLight are by far the best travel pool powers.

[deadboy_champion]

This is a well written guide Snipe-Fu

Just curious when I tested out Aim I got a 62.5% Damage Boost. I tested vs. 2 sets of opponents neither of which had any known resistances to Smashing and/or Energy.

It's in this thread (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1707491&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#1707491)

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
A suggestion and a question...

Suggestion: For each power above would you add a line under Range: that says Suggested Slotting: and then list your suggested slotting? You may even have to do a couple of these for each one as sometimes it depends on the build, but I think that would be nice for a quick reference.

For instance for Energy Torrent:
Suggested Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 1 Cone Ext, 4 Damages
Suggested Slotting (Device Blasters): etc, etc.


[/ QUOTE ]
DONE!

also added a little more info on nova's damage structure.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Snipe! Wherever did you get that insightful information on Nova? Whoever found that should get some gold stars! :D

[SnipeFu]

but i already gave you five stars knight! heh thanks for getting the info on nova :)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

TY!

[Boom_Slinger]

[ QUOTE ]
Another addition to "Jousting" - If you can time it right, hit jump right as the animation starts going. Most (all?) attack powers require you to stop and execute the animation. However, if your airborn, you'll continue along your path. It works even better with ranged attacks, no matter how short the range is.

With Super Speed and Super Jump, I've been able to hit melee attacks, and land 100 yards away right as the animation finishes.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a great tactic! I use it to keep all the the baddies bouncing towards my melee teamates, instead of away from them :), I just thought Id add that if timed right you can skip the animation for build-up, the trick is to get it to execute while your in mid air ;)

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A suggestion and a question...

Suggestion: For each power above would you add a line under Range: that says Suggested Slotting: and then list your suggested slotting? You may even have to do a couple of these for each one as sometimes it depends on the build, but I think that would be nice for a quick reference.

For instance for Energy Torrent:
Suggested Slotting: 1 Accuracy, 1 Cone Ext, 4 Damages
Suggested Slotting (Device Blasters): etc, etc.


[/ QUOTE ]
DONE!

also added a little more info on nova's damage structure.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you! This makes it even easier to remind yourself of what to slot at a glance. Best thread ever! :)

[BaddyXXL]

Hey snipe, I must say this is an excellent guide. One thought I imagine but am not clear on, do interrupt reducers reduce the actual animation time on snipe or just the period in which you can be interrupted?

If it reduces animation time it makes interrupt reducers a more viable slotting option when used as an opener or even in combat. With build up and/or aim as you would have more time to fire off some more attacks that will be boosted by these buffs.

[SnipeFu]

unfortunately baddy it only reduces interrupt time, but that is still pretty sweet considering how easy it is to be interrupted within the 6 second time frame and that you're free to move around after 2 seconds for the rest of the animation.

[Draticus]

Very nice guide. I haven't used my Energy blaster much since just before issue 2 came out, but with epic PPs I think I will try some respec options, this guide has given me a couple of things to try out (mainly interupt time reducer on snipe)

On the subject of Acro/SJ/CJ, this is my current setup mainly because CJ gives you added resistance to imobalize and costs very little end, plus I like to ping about a bit during combat, and Acro also gives you some protection against holds (very useful in the 40+ game). Oh, and I love SJ, it is just fun :)

The BIG advantage of hover is keeping out of mele range outdoors, and makes target selection very easy. Main problem is it isn't so good indoors.

When I respec I am torn between the two. Hmm

[BlueWolf]

tagging for favorites and thanks for the info.

[Blitz_Ace]

wut/where can i find a good ene manip guide to go with this build?

[Blitz_Ace]

hello?

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Pulsewave's Energy Manipulation Guide (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1489202&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#1489202)

Here ya go!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Here's something to consider (I use this in my own build). If you use Aim + Build-up before you attack (initially), you'll reach the damage cap w/ only damage SO enhancements and will have rather high accuracy. For attacks you normally only attack with initially (including "alpha" strikes) you won't need necessarily 6-slot these.

Example: As energy is primarily a single-target damage dealer, our AoEs are not powerful enough to quickly defeat villians (excluding Nova). To mix things up I attack even-con-ish large groups (of minions). I begin w/ a 1-2 combination of energy torrent and explosive blast (after aim + build up), as neither of these are singularly powerful enough to suggest taking on such a group. After this 1-2 combo, the regular attacks (energy bolt, blast and burst) are enough to take care of the remaining health on the mobs.

One doesn't need ET or Expl Blast again (and if Aim & bu aren't recharged, they aren't worth it imo). So what does this mean? If one only uses these in conjunction w/ aim & bu, then 4 slotted these two powers with damage is good enough...leaving you with 4 enhancement slots you can use elsewhere. Total Focus and Bone Smasher can be slotted similarly, however I've found that I use TF and BS twice in a fight w/ an even-con boss, so i like to have a 5th slot for accuracy, but it still allows 1 enh slot free for TF and BS in lieu of 6-slotting!.

These freed up slots (6 in my usage) allow me to fully slot conserve power, hover, hasten & stamina in addition to the usual slotting for the main attacks (snipe, nova, energy blast/bolt, etc) while giving me some extra slots to up the defense in stealth, which I usually have on during combat anyway.

[Blitz_Ace]

im already lookin at that, but is that a good guide to use? he had an elec/ene when he made that

[Blitz_Ace]

eh?

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Give a person a chance to play the game! :D

It's a good guide. Energy as a secondary can be looked at as independantly as energy as a primary. Both guides offer numbers as well as observations (and user feedback) allowing one to make up their own mind as opposed to churning out carbon copy characters. You'll be able to make a character/build that you'll enjoy playing, and that's as good a guide as I can think of.

[Ryker_XXX]

Hey Snipe, just wanted to say thanks for the great guide... took me 31 levels to find it but its been real helpful. :)

And this is to all blasters who think about giving up, pull up a chair and listen to my tale.

Up until this weekend, I thought I was happy with my character as I could be. But, this changed after respecing. This respec has breathed new life into my game. And thanks to this guide and some well thought out changes, I'm happily playing better after a brief excursion into the unknown.

Last night was another eye-opening experience, as I was on a team with just SG members. It's something I like to do. The group was made up of 3 blasters and 1 defender. The defender was Sked to me and I had the other two blasters hang back just to see how the mission looked. BTW, the other blasters were lvls 28 and 26, the defender was lvl 20. All could heal.... funny huh. But anywho, after a little problem in the beginning of everyone trying to fight, (after being told not to) I wanted to really test my build and see how much was too much. Go figure huh. LOL. I ended up being able to take on the entire mission just fight by myself and only getting heals when I needed them. Even with a defender before the respec I couldn't do this, so this guide is worth while. During the mission the lvl 26 looks at me and says, "Wow, I didn't know a blaster could solo like this." I typed back to her, "one, I've got you guys healing so don't go trying this without a good healer, but yeah I was doing this earlier and I can solo many of my missions if I wanted too. But I tend to be more hesitant when by myself and make sure to bring along plenty of inspires. ;)" She laughed and we talked a little bit about builds then went back to finishing the mission. I did point out to her that I use concealment, fitness, flight, and speed pools. And I loved how this new build has worked out.

So I wanted to say thanks to everyone on here for helping me out, and post a good-old-fashioned war story.

And here's my build for the most part... forgive me if I don't show all the slots cause I'm at work. Here you go....

Energy Primary
Power Bolt (4 slotted, 3 dam, 1 acc)?
Power Blast (4 slotted, 3 dam, 1 acc)?
Sniper Blast (5 slotted, 3 dam, 1 acc, 1 interupt)
Aim ?

Energy Secondary
Power Thrust (1 slot, 1 dam)
Build-Up (3 slots, 1 hit buff, 2 recharges)
Conserve Power (3 slots, 1 hit buff, 2 recharges)
Boost Range (1 slot, 1 recharge)

Fitness
Swift (2 slotted w/ run enh)
Hurdle (2 slotted w/ jump enh)
Health (5 slotted w/ health)
Stamina (6 slotted w/ end recovers)

Flight
Hover (2 slotted w/ 1 def buff, 1 end cost)
Fly (5 slotted w/ fly)

Speed
Hasten (6 slotted w/ recharges)
Super Speed (1 slotted with run)

Concealment
Stealth (2 slotted w/ 1 def buff, 1 end reduc)
Grant Invisibility (2 slotted w/ end reduc)
Phase Shift (2 slotted with end reduc)

As you can tell I rebuilt this character into a ranged player, and I'm having more fun that before. I'll update this later with more slots when I have a chance.

It's nice to have new life into an old friend....

As always see below :)

[JuryDuty]

Looks good! Though I think your Energy Primaries could by slotted a lot more with damage, in place of stuff like Phase Shift for now. And you definately have got to get Nova. Wow--love it.

That said, you're convincing me once again to drop CJ/SJ and get Hover/Fly. Just looks like a stronger build.

[Ryker_XXX]

I know but im not really wanting nova... it doesn't fit with my character and how I play. I wanted Phase Shift and had to drop air superiority and CJ for it and Grant Invis. I've been tweaking this build since day one and ran across Snipe's guide by accident, and thought might as well. I also dropped EB but plan on gettin it back mainly cause i used it as a follow-up to snipe on small groups and I miss having it. Besides I'm leaving room for the Epics so I'm being cautious with my choices.

I did try 6 slotted hover but it wasnt fast enough for my needs, and ended up just keep fly slotted the way it is. The combination of slide and sprint get me around pretty well unless i need to get either by fly (which I use for locating mobs, badges, etc.) and ss (general travel).

I do plan on slotting the primaries more for damage, just tweaking the secondaries to get where I want.

But thanks Jury, and have fun.

As always...

[Airhammer]

How come no one slots range enhancements.. I find range to be an incredible help when I am playing.. the ability to shott from really far away helps me tremendously.. I can easily hover above people.. out of range.. snipe em.. move in a little closer.. shoot em and zoom back out.. wait till I get hover six slotted.. yeaaaaaaaaaaaah..

[EnergyStar_MsK]

I've been planning my next respec to sync the recharges on my buffs, so I created a template in Excel. Thought I'd share the results in case anyone else was wondering. 1st column is the # of SO enhancements, and all other numbers in seconds.

# SO US CP Nova BU PB/BR
0 780 600 360 90 60
1 585 450 270 68 45
2 468 360 216 54 36
3 390 300 180 45 30
4 334 257 154 39 26
5 293 225 135 34 23
6 260 200 120 30 20

With 6-slotted Hasten
0 780 600 360 90 60
1 384 295 177 44 30
2 330 254 152 38 25
3 289 222 133 33 22
4 257 198 119 30 20
5 232 178 107 27 18
6 211 162 97 24 16

Notes:
1st row across is base recharge (no SO enhancements)
US = Blaster EPP version of Unstoppable
CP = Conserver Power
Aim and Build Up have the same recharge and duration
PB = Power Boost
BR = Boost Range

The formatting got hosed when I pasted into here, this is the best I could to in the time frame I have.

[Ryker_XXX]

I don't use range enhancements anymore is due to the fact that I have boost range... another very good power to pick up. I'm working on getting it to recharge faster so I can use it more often. That also frees up a slot to add more damage to the power.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Thanks. I'm thinking of getting boost range in lieu of using mya last 2 enhancement slots for snipe shot (in anticipation for a Hammi Raid).

[SnipeFu]

Man I've been away for two weeks and I gotta say there is some amazing info going up here. Thanks to all who are particpating.

[GravitoBandito]

Well, I replied to previous versions of this FAQ, but they've been abandoned.... I'm not going to re-type the things I said, especially since SnipeFu might start the thread again and abandon this one.

Better to edit your posts than to start new threads....

[SnipeFu]

Bandito, I will try as I did in this thread to only update this one rather than start a new one so if you like we'd all appreciate your comments

[SnipeFu]

Nevermind gravito I will do you the favor:
[ QUOTE ]
Good guide, but I have a different take on Snipe.... I've got my Energy/Dev up to 35 now, and when I solo missions I use Snipe on at least 50% of the mobs. Maybe it's because I have Cloak and Smoke, but I walk through missions as fast as Snipe will recharge. No risk, unless you miss or draw, which happens rarely....

My point- I easily use Snipe quicker than Aim recharges. No Buildup, but I imagine the same would be true.... I 6-slotted it for damage, and it takes out most +2 minions, some +3. Even cons are a joke.... You may hit the cap with 4 SO + BU + Aim, but if you put those extra damages in you won't need BU or Aim.... I could put recharge enhances into Snipe, but it comes up quickly enough for me to decide on a target and get my timing w/o waiting very often.

Don't be afraid to make use of Power Burst- It'll get you through a lot of fights. Slotted, it's almost enough to take out even minions without Aim or Buildup. If you're uncomfortable with the shorter range, practice drive-by blasts with Hurdle/CJ/SS- They only expose you for a split second, effectively increasing the range of the Burst to wherever you land.

Keep in mind that Nova has a ridiculously long recharge time when you're trying to grind out experience. On top of that, it's situational for large groups of minions.... If you've got other powers that you use multiple times in every fight, 6-slot those before you even look at puting damage into Nova. You'll have BU or Aim or both, so Nova will either hit/kill or miss completely.... Extra damage doesn't help too much til you can 4-6-slot it and kill LTs.

One thing I wish I'd realized- Better to 6-slot 2 powers than to 3-slot 5 powers. Concentrate on a core attack sequence, get a solid cycle going, make it powerful, and build from it. Energy is _awesome_ when used well.... The best bet is to find your own playing style, suited to your secondary, and let the rampage flow.


[/ QUOTE ]

And the second one:

[ QUOTE ]
My snipe has gone into the crapper since I posted my previous reponse.... I can't reliably kill even-con DevEarth. I'm Science lvl36, so that's who I want to be hunting right now for the 35+ drops.... Between my slight enhancement downgrade (35++ at 36 is only +1, when I'm used to +3) and some of their resistances, I'm a little slower....

So, as a counterpoint to my above- Definitely get recharges into Aim or Buildup by the time you hit 35, so you can reliably hunt 36-38. If you want to start hitting DevEarths, you'll need Snipe because they don't sit still waiting for you to line up Energy Torrent at those levels....

Of course, I can still go smack the hell out of other +3 spawns if I just want the exp. This is a special case for late-ish game....


[/ QUOTE ]

better? :p

[Airhammer]

I currently have three SO's in Hasten and three in Build up. I figure once I get Hasten Perma and four SO's in Buildup and Aim should work really well. I just hope I have enough slots to use with that and need to six slot stamina and I really want to six slot hasten..

[GravitoBandito]

Thanks Snipe_Fu- I take back all the mean things I said about you. :)

Now that I think about it, though, I didn't really say anything about you. I was just kind of a [censored] because I was bored and sick.... Sorry!

I still don't really buy all of the talk about Interrupt Reducers and Range Enhancers in Snipe.... I suppose that when combined with good teammates, you'll be able to hit the cap with their help.... I suffer from solo-itis, though, so I'm going to opt for one-shot power everytime.

As an aside to the talk of wolves, I had a Scrapper 8 levels below me in Bricks ask the other day if I could herd for him. Not could I provide a Nova for him- Could I run around and gather mobs for him to kill. I laughed for a good minute or two on that one, while I tried to figure out what game he'd been playing up til then....

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Well since I post a bit on my observations and occasional opinon I thought I'd put my post where my money is and post my build. Actually the build I'm posting is what I'll be going with when Issue 3 comes out, but I made notes about what I'm changing and the reasons why. Ironically the best thing about the new Force of Nature power is that it made it easy for me to decide to go in this direction (I tried other EPPs, but Force Mastery was the most in-line with my character concept and animations). In my build I strove to make best use of my slots with how I generally use my powers while having the broadest selection of targettable groupings to have fun and keep my play varied. I sincerely hope that this will not be the cause of cookie-cutter builds toward and away from my build, as it's my opinion that the best aspect of SnipeFu's and Pulsewave's guides are that they aren't templates but give players enough information to create the hero they will have the best time playing! Good luck Heroes!

Brawl/Acc
Rest/Recharge
Sprint/Run
Power Bolt/Acc/5 Dam
Power Thrust/Acc
Power Blast/Acc/5 Dam
Build Up/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)
Swift/Run
Sniper Blast/Acc/5 Dam*
Power Burst/Acc/5 Dam
Hasten/6 recharge
Super Speed/Run**
Hover/6 Fly Speed
Hurdle/Jump***
Stamina/6 End
Aim/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)****
Power Push/Acc
Stealth/Def
Conserve Power/6 recharge*****
Power Boost/Recharge
Nova/3 recharge/3 Dam
Bone Smasher/Acc/4 Dam******
Total Focus/Acc/4 Dam******
Personal FF/2 Defense Buffs*******
Temp Invulnerability/2 Dam Resistance*******
Energy Torrent/4 Dam********
Explosive Blast/4Dam********

*If it were not for needing 6 slots for range for the Hammi raid, I would save a slot or two here. Note: if you had a power to spare but needed slots and you have energy manipulation as a secondary, you could use Boost Range instead of 2 slots.

**I will be dropping my 2nd run speed enhancement for this build

***Dropped Health for Hurdle. Health regenerates at a speed that decreases time between battles, but not at a rate helpful in-battle. Hurdle will help overcoming objects while running in super speed.

****Upped this from 3 recharges so as to sync with Build up and Power Boost. PB, with one recharge SO has a 30 second recharge. Since PB has a duration 5 sec longer than BU or Aim I activate it first, then BU then Aim.

*****No changes here, but it’s close in recharge to my slotted Nova, which was very helpful when I used it in leveling.

******Previously I only had damage here as I used them as an alpha-strike combo on a boss right after buffing with BU + Aim (and later adding PB). I noticed however that after this combo I would still need to cycles through my usual attacks (Bolt, Blast, Burst) and still they’d be standing. W/o PB they’d usually recover from disorient by now (problematic as I’d be using Power Push on the other boss in the typically Peregrine Island 2-boss groupings). Adding PB as a buff helped by doubling the base stuns (TF and Bone) but I found I frequently missed w/ my 2nd round of TF-Bone. I was/am very tempted to further slot PFF and TI instead of the 5th slots here, but I use this combo often and it is always necessary when facing this grouping, and the consequences of missing both (or even one) are considerable, so I added the 5th slot for accuracy.

*******This is where I’d like to add more enh slots into. I gave up Grant Invisibility and Phase Shift for these powers. TI is better personally than GI, but in teaming GI is a great help. The weight of this concern will depend on your playstyle. For me, several of my SGmates have GI so my usual teams are not too badly affected (heh we’ll see if everyone respecs it out!). PFF is a far cry from Phase, but others can buff me through it and it does have an activation time one second faster…and it has a nice look to it! Since it’s an “Oh-crud/runaway” power I’d be most comfortable with it fully slotted, but alas that cannot be.

********These are only slotted with 4 Dam as 99% of the time I use as an alpha combo with Aim & BU, so accuracy is high and damage is capped.

The current testing version of Force of Nature, without it’s mezz resistance made this a fairly easy build to decide upon, so ironically that’s the best thing about it (FoN). Even the previous blaster EPP version of US was marginal enough for me to have serious reservations about taking it.

Please note that this is my endgame build for L50. In leveling up I had phase earlier (mid 30s I think) to avoid debt and ET and Expl Blast right after Total Focus as it enabled me to hunt larger mobs of blue or white, thereby increasing my target selections and increasing my rate of XP. Also, my selections through L20 (stamina) was primarily concerned (after my basic attacks) with travel powers and end in the anticipation of exemplaring to do the Cavern of Transcendance and the Faultline Trials (although I'm not holding my breath as to when the Faultline one will be available). The Hollows and Faultline both have topography which make hover useful as a suppliment to SS, and at least the strat guide has it that the Faultline trial might be a long battle, so end was a concern, hence stamina.)

I highly recommend taking PB around the same time as TF (and Bone) as it’ll double your base stun time. Very helpful in taking on boss groupings in the upper levels (as they pair up). If 2 bosses have Lts or minions around I stealth, SS, buff up, TF+BS one boss, go nova, take care of the remnants. Usually I’m left with just the two bosses, one near defeat. Plus PB increases your defenses, so is an easy way of helping you earlier in game rather than slotting stealth or hover for a measly 20% increase on their low defense bases.

Lastly, what the build does most importantly is allow me to have fun playing the game, most notably by having four primary ways of initially attacking (typically used in conjunction with Stealth and SS or Hover)

1. Snipe (for long-range, good for the two War Hulk boss duos in the 40+ game)
2. Nova
3. Total Focus/Bone Smasher melee combo (good for Fake Nem/War Hulk boss duos)
4. Energy Torrent/Explosive Blast (for larger groups of minions at range)

[SnipeFu]

Knight you pwn. I think it's time for you to write the Energy/Energy guide.

[Times]

I'm going to see if I can respec to optimize my energy/energy blaster at level 30 - can someone post a complete optimized build for e/e blasters at that level for me to use as a template?

[SnipeFu]

did you miss the post directly above yours? Knight's build is as solid as they come for energy/energy.

[Times]

Yes, as a matter of fact, I did miss his post. Thanks. :)

[Ryker_XXX]

Okay guys I need some help figuring out something, I am currently trying to figure out how fast blast and bolt recharge at with hasten 6-slotted. I'm also trying to figure out if adding a recharge enh will speed them up to be on par with Ice and have a higher rate of fire.

Any help would be appreciated and thanks....

As always see below....

[SnipeFu]

bolt is 4 seconds and blast is 8 seconds so with perma hasten you're looking at about 2 and 4 seconds. No need to really speed that up as you can chain them pretty well as each has a 2 second animation time.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

With perma-hasten you'll have a straight 1-2-3 combo of bolt-blast-bolt. You'll then have a 1-2 second downtime that you can use either for a buff (ex. BU, Aim, CP or PB) or another power (ex. Power Burst for damage or Power Push for damage avoidance).

Now if you buff for an alpha-strike using sniper shot you are faced with a dilemna I go back and forth on. The 10 sec duration of BU/Aim is enough for that 1-2-3 combo, but only 1 or (maaaybe) 2 shots after snipe (due to the longer animation time). So you can either string that 1-2-3 bolt-blast-bolt combo, giving your weakest attack that buff...or fire off blast right after sniper shot...you get a bigger impact from the buff...and you can immediately fire off bolt...but then you have that downtime (from blast really) for a cpl of seconds when you won't be dealing damage. I use both, but probably more often go the "blast" route.

[SnipeFu]

my most damaging single target alpha strike is BU+Aim the Snipe, Power Burst, and Blast. it's where stealth+SS comes in really handy. That combo can cream just about anything not a boss.

[SnipeFu]

my most damaging single target alpha strike is BU+Aim the Snipe, Power Burst, and Blast. it's where stealth+SS comes in really handy. That combo can cream just about anything not a boss. I can fire 2 shoys after snipe and the BU+Aim combo.

edit: If you que your attacks before the previous one finishes you can reliably get off 2 attacks after a snipe. I almost always do unless I screw up on my timing.

[JuryDuty]

MSKnight, your build is a perfect complement in this thread!

Curious--why waste an AIM slot in Snipe? I always use snipe with BU/AIM anyway, so I say why not put in 6 damages?

Also, can you post your thoughts on each of the Energy Epic powers? I'd love to hear what they each do, how effective each is and how you'd slot them and why...

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
MSKnight, your build is a perfect complement in this thread!

Curious--why waste an AIM slot in Snipe? I always use snipe with BU/AIM anyway, so I say why not put in 6 damages?

Also, can you post your thoughts on each of the Energy Epic powers? I'd love to hear what they each do, how effective each is and how you'd slot them and why...

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks! I'll address your questions in bullet summary:

-Snipe: why slot with aim? Yes with BU+Aim it's near perfect accuracy, but w/ 4 dmg SOs it's also at the damage cap. So If it's just used as an alpha strike anything more than 4 dmg enh are unnecessary. I only added 2 extra slots as it's generally regarded that snipe 6-slotted for range is necessary for a blaster to take part in a Hammi raid.

Buuut...during some battles (AVs, DE Monsters) I fire off snipe again..and BU & Aim aren't always available. I tend to like using both for an great initial volley (did 750 once on one L50 DE Monster yesterday), then snipe recharges in about half the time that Aim & BU (4 slotted) do, so I fire off an unbuffed snipe shot...for that I like the accuracy. I'll probably try the 6 dmg slotting and alternating method a bit more, but I generally like all my buffs sync'd...I'd rather activate 3 buffs every 30 sec in a battle than be distracted by differing recharge times. I hit for a little less, but I'm more aware of my surroundings and can use power push or thrust to manage the mobs.

I've tested two of the epic power pools, as I didn't want to stay too much from my character concept. It's not really a concept, but it's how I'd like to be hero-wise with powers (energy) and looks (animations).

I tested Force Mastery (in its various iterations) and Munitions pool. Personally I think the holds in the other EPPs are great for En/En as we have none to call our own, but the look wasn't for me.

Munitions: Probably a better synergy (at least prior to testing V2 of FoN coming out w/ no HP drop) with energy...except the animations. You pull out the AR from out of nowhere to activate the powers. I suspend disbelief enough when MsKnight pulls out the Crey Pistol from some 4th dimensional pocket in her cape. Body armor was decent...I didn't test the numbers but my hunch is that it's less resistance (Le/Sm) than Temp Invul, but as a balance as it's auto on and no end usage (whereas TI is a toggle and uses end). The AoE hold wasn't very strong on even con minions, but I think since some I tested on were Nem robots that they had a resistance to that particular type of hold. Slotted decently I'm sure it'd be OK, but wasn't impressed by it. I tired LRM but not the remaining power. LRM is an AoE attack with damage north of Ex. Blast but south of snipe...around Power Blast I'd say..I didn't test for numbers...just c/n get past the animations :( I didn't fully slot it, but it wasn't the "AoE" snipe shot that I'd heard some ppl talking about (either through testing or hyperbole I don't know). It wasn't bad but it was probably on a par with the "meh" of most other EPPs...they fill a hole but aren't as good as the primary/secondary powers.

An extra attack is never bad, esp. ranged, for a blaster. Built in Le/Sm resistance is nice, and a(n assumedly) workable AoE hold sounds nice (but if you attack using an AoE attack you just wasted the AoE hold, as they wake up).

I've posted my findings on the Force Mastery EPP in other threads but I'll type up a seperate on here summarizing them. When FoN V2 comes out I'll test and post my findings/observations. It sounds nice, and I have two builds ready to go with it, but I think I'd still trade mezz resistance to the proposed FoN V2, although it's a very very tough arguement.

[Ryker_XXX]

Thanks alot Snipe and MsKnight for the feedback, appreciate it much.

As always....

[Airhammer]

I like your build very much and it is along the lines I was going with Airhammer. I wont ever use Superspeed for my toon as it totally gies against his concept. I am strongly considering the 6 slotted fly.. I know I would be having flight twice but SS doesnt work with a guys names AIR hammer ya know.

I planned to see what the end result is from the Energy power pool and I might have enough left to take tough and weave because i dont plan to take Power Push ( although that may change as well )

Excellent build it shows me I am headed in the right direction.. Heck I will pick up two powers with the free respec when I get rid of Air Superiority and Energy Punch.. Will be getting Power Burst and Bone Smasher..

I also tend to slot for range.. I know thats not very popular but I like it and I figure with buildup and aim every 30 seconds I will be pretty darn near the damage cap anyway...

I tend to fight almost exclusively in the air ( I think I am really good at it too... ) so the range helps me a lot..
yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

[JuryDuty]

Wow--i'd not heard before that Snipe is at the cap with only 4 slotted damage. Is it capped before you use BU+Aim or after? So essentially, if I 5-slot it with Damage and once with Aim, do I even need to use BU+Aim before using snipe?

Very much looking forward to your summary!

I know what you mean about not getting past the animations. I love the idea of some of those attacks, but I don't see Barlow Girl pulling a rocket launcher out of her cape. :p I'll probably go with Force Mastery just because of that. Nonetheless, I want to see your summary first. You and Snipe are the kings of the force...

[Airhammer]

So MsKnight basically it seems to me that with PFF and TI you dont need to have tough and weave or the Inviso stuff for defense right ???

Plus I would like some advice is boost range really all that good.. I liked adding range into my slots figuring with BU and AIM I was already really near the cap anyway.. but I am level 26 so you will have a much better idea thane me...

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow--i'd not heard before that Snipe is at the cap with only 4 slotted damage. Is it capped before you use BU+Aim or after? So essentially, if I 5-slot it with Damage and once with Aim, do I even need to use BU+Aim before using snipe?

[/ QUOTE ]

JuryDuty, to clarify, BU+Aim + 4 SO damage enhancers = just under the damage cap.
100% - what you start with
add 100% from BU
add 60-62.5% (depends who you ask) for Aim
add 132% (4*33) for four damage SOsso that makes over 390% damage and the cap is 400%. All damage is capped at 400%.

[JuryDuty]

That's really interesting. So basically, two damage slots are "wasted" during BU+Aim snipes, but they're very effective during regular shots. I can see why a good balance would be 5 damages and an aim for this one.

I can also see why it pays off to 4-6 slot BU with recharge enhancements! Wow...hadn't realized BU was THAT good.

[Times]

Ok I read his guide and now I have a respec available to me when I want to use it - now, what I need to know is how should I spec my character at level 30? I have his template for the long haul, but I want to know what all I should get for optimization at my current level.

[Starfox1972]

any advice for an ice manipulation?
This is my first toon so I thought ice would be cool for freezing mob but I start regretting it. Energy manip sounds cool. Anyway since I have Ice manip, I can only keep it so any help? I'm level 15 and I have only ghibslain taken (really useful) thanx

[Powerbernie]

[ QUOTE ]
any advice for an ice manipulation?
This is my first toon so I thought ice would be cool for freezing mob but I start regretting it. Energy manip sounds cool. Anyway since I have Ice manip, I can only keep it so any help? I'm level 15 and I have only ghibslain taken (really useful) thanx

[/ QUOTE ]

Ya im looking for advice on ENG/ICE too.

Different from you i dont regret it as i found it an extremely rocking combo. But im unsure about my ice-highlvl-powers.

So any1 with advice on things to consider playing Eng/Ice in higher lvls?

Btw Starfox, why do you regret it? I freeze the melee mobs on spot, knock the ranged-dmg mobs off their feet and do fast, good dmg.....havent seen the downside to this combo yet...what exactly is your problem, what powers did you choose?

[Starfox1972]

my main pb is I'm new at this game, so all the stuff you dont have seems so cool compared to what you have! :p And people never talk about ice manip so you tend to think that they prolly didnt choose it for good reasons.

2 pb: I dont know what to pick so I only have chilblain (which is great) but I dont want to get stuck with something useless so I haven taken any other ice power.

3 pb. I think blasters do distance damage, and ice manip seems to offer melee powers (like freezing enemies). But do you need them since that if you play your blaster correctly you should be able to never enter melee? In practice it's impossible for me ;)

So if you could help me that would be great. I spent 1 week on this toon (my first one), just got superspeed and dont want to start over.

energy main:
power bolt
power blast
energy torrent
power burst
sniper blast

Ice sec:
chilblain

pool sets:
Stealth
hasten
superspeed

that's it. I play 50% solo 50% group
Any advice concerning ice? should I take hover? Thanx!!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Times...I hate to give advice on an "optimization" build at any level because it's different for everyone (i.e. not everyone wants to focus on XP...and that has a way of getting old too...from experience).

Tell you what: can you post what you like to do, and what you would like to do? That way I can advise what might help.

BTW for the Ice/Energy or Energy/Ice builds...I have an Ice blaster but not very high. I can't really offer specific advice but in more general terms (which I think is probably better anyway). Ice generally has faster activation/recharge times than Energy, with holds rather than KB, and a slow effect rather than range. To make best use of those combos I'd suggest having stealth and using your travel power to quickly change back and forth in battle between your ice and energy power's ranges. For SS this means zipping back and forth, for Fly/Hover it'd probably mean a good bind (posted under "The best hover/fly bind" or something like that, or 6-slotted hover.

Good luck!

[Powerbernie]

Okay Starfox....as this is an official ENG thread i guess its okay to discuss Eng/Ice. Hope you agree, Snipefu.

First, this is not my main and its only lvl21...so i cannot speak for the highlvl game with this toon yet. But i found it an very good build so far so lets see...btw i solo 75% of the time, 20% i team with a controller-friend, 5% pickupteams.

1)
You are right that there are no guides to this as its an unusual combo. But i see the reason for that in the fact that Eng/Eng is very powerful and most Blaster go for AOE anyways. So the few who dont go AOE and choose a power like ENG usually take ENG as second too. Guys like you, me or Snipefu are rare across the boards....but thats no indication that our choosen combo is weak.

My main is Spine/Inv scrapper....when i started after Beta i was didnt meet a 2nd one on my server a loooong time....and on the forumboards i was a lone ranger too. 2 Updates later i am FOTM and every1 and his grandma talked about Spine/Inv. It changes faster than you can play....so stick to your choice no matter if its popular at the moment or not....that will change anyways.

2)
I have Chillbain and BuildUp so far from 2nd set. Same as you no icemelee attacks. But the fact that i choose only 2 icepowers so far doesnt mean they are weak. Its just that the good ones come at late lvls. Ice Patch looks great, a Slow-cone is perfect for soloing and even holding a target....whoaaaa. Ice will rock....in higher lvls.....up to then i live with ENG and Chillbain.

3)
Not to enter melee is the goal for me...nearly always works. Keypowers are chillbain and powerpush (lvl18). Powerpush is a 100% knockback - a mustbe for us.

Lets say you fight the usual 3 mobs in a mission:
Buildup, Aim, Snipe on Luit - dead or less than 10% Hp. a fast Bolt and hes gone. 2 minions left - one staying and shooting, the other one running at you. A bolt or two on the shooting mob while the other one runs to you. When he reaches you and draws his meleeweapon you activate Powerpush - followed by chillbain. The mob is KB before he can strike and then frozen in place some feet away from you with his sword in hand - hehehe. Another bolt on the ranged mob, then the rest on the frozen melee-mob. Perfect.

If i get surprised by a bunch of Mobs around a corner i use Torrent to make me room......KB on many of them ususally. Cycle through the mobs, never stay on one. powerpush on one, TAB on melee mob, Chillbain him, Tab on next, give him your dmgbolt, Powerpush next again.

You are no Ubar-DMG-Dealer, you are a crowdcontroller. You keep mobs frozen or on their butt - those can not hit you, take advantage of it.

4) On your chosen powers:
Looks good to me. You will need Stamina so choose Fitness as next free pool. Hasten is good, slot it. In lvl22 i advice to have it slotted so you can go for permahasten with SO enhancements. Stealth is great with SuperSpeed.
Slot one or two of your Bolts heavily (6), 1Acc, 5 Dmg. PowerPuah and Chillbain need no extraslots, mubbe 2 but not more for now.
6Slot Snipe by all means. The Snipe as an opening attack is invaluable. Keep Luits/Bosses an their but with Powerpush, its your best defense. So go Powerpush in lvl18.

Btw its perfect to do Powerpush, Chillbain, Powerburst.
You knock them away, freeze on spot and give him your hardhitting attack....nice attack-cycle.

5) Teaming
When teaming with controller friend i wait for him to "control" the mobs first. Those who are not held get my KB and freeze. Then big dmg vs the held Luit/boss. I tend to use snipe vs held mobs as it leaves the other bolts active....i can use all of them fast if something surprising or just bad happens. Snipe hasd not best DPS but its 6slotted....not all my attacks are in lvl21, and i guess its the same with you.
Torrent is the "lets run" attack. Sometimes things go bad. If the controller then tries one last desperate try to hold i ususally give a Torrent in the crowd to get as much aggro as possible...and kb as many as possible. Aside from that i use my normal bolts vs the mobs and powerpush/chillbain those who attack the controller while he spams new holds.
(He knows my freeze and knows how to get out of mob melee range in time).

6) Pickupteams
Hmm, mubbe this is our weakness. ENG/ICE is a set not build for Pickupteams. They will be shouting for you not to KB, not to freeze. They are not used to your strategy or tactics...all they want is a fast dmgdealer....ok its not always like that but fact is normally i dont go too well in a pickupteam. This build is excellent for solo or in team with some friends who know your powers and play with a strategy that takes your strength into account. In pickupteams you have to find your own strategy i fear.

So Nuff blubbering....hope it helped.

[Airhammer]

KB is not issue if you use hover and knock your enemy down toward the ground. KB also doesnt happen constantly unless you slot for KB.. I rarely get huge knockback...

[Starfox1972]

thanx for the deatiled answer powerbernie! tha's very nice.
I'm a bit upset because I have 4 slots on chilbain (I'm new at this game) but it's ok, I have extra range and it's nice.

I guess from your strategy that hover would be rather useless for ice manip. So i'll skip it.

Ok back to playing then :)

[Powerbernie]

[ QUOTE ]
KB is not issue if you use hover and knock your enemy down toward the ground. KB also doesnt happen constantly unless you slot for KB.. I rarely get huge knockback...

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes that sounds good.
But he has already chosen Stealth and Speed pool. Next needs to be stamina, no way would i choose flight as third pool before Stamina.

[Airhammer]

yeah I didnt see they had already gone the SS stealth route.. It sounds like every blaster is going that way now..

[SnipeFu]

Unfortunately I can't comment on the ice secondary. But all blaster secondaries are melee focused. When you get to the higher levels and learn your hero better and better going in and out of melee becomes easier and more deadly. It just requires some time and experience in the game.

Yes, this should be the official energy board and so discussing different secondaries is welcome.

Hopefully someone with a high level Ice secondary will be able to comment on the set.

[JohnnyLightning]

Nice guide. Glad to see some of the numbers revealed. the
4s Damage for Snipe was nice to know. One thing I did was
take the Leadership pool. Yea, not an "Optimum" build, but
for some extra Damage and Defense, it seems to be working
well for my Eng/Eng Hero ATM. Just a thought....

[JuryDuty]

I just posted my build in another thread, but I thought I'd post here as I'd love to hear SnipeFu and MSKnight's comments--and anyone else too!

I'm lvl 36 right now, but here's what I plan for my build to look like once I hit lvl 41. I haven't decided on my Epic pool yet. I'm still waiting for the numbers to come in. I've left 4 slots open for the Epic pool, just in case I want all four slots from a pool.

If I don't take all four, I'll add Boost range, Explosive Blast and/or Bone Smasher.

Click here to see my build. (http://www.masellis.com/juryduty/images/coh/barlowgirlbuild.gif)

P.S. This isn't necessarily the order I'd recommend taking these. This is my build after a respec, so the order wasn't as important to me. :)

[BlueWolf]

Hey Starfox I'm in the same boat as you. I'm an energy/ice blaster and could not find a guide. I did however in doing a search for chilling embrace. I found some information on ice manipulation, and what I have found is that the only powers worth having are the following.
Chilblain
Build Up
Ice Patch
Shiver

Which basically said to me was that the ice secondary sucks, but the plus side to that. Is that it allows you to focus on your primary and pool powers. Which for me is a good thing because my energy/ice blaster is a concept character. So it works for me. :D

BlueWolf/Freedom Server

[Torchholder]

[ QUOTE ]

N O V A – the end all and be all of the Energy set.

[/ QUOTE ]

At L36 I'm not sure I'm still considered a noob, but this surely must be a noob question so please bear with me. I took Nova at 32 and still seem to have a basic misunderstanding on how it works with Conserve Energy+Aim+BU. My strike is executed in this order: CE+BU+Aim then Nova, however each time Nova goes off it still drains my Endurance completely and flips off all my toggles. Can someone please let me know what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks.

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

N O V A – the end all and be all of the Energy set.

[/ QUOTE ]

At L36 I'm not sure I'm still considered a noob, but this surely must be a noob question so please bear with me. I took Nova at 32 and still seem to have a basic misunderstanding on how it works with Conserve Energy+Aim+BU. My strike is executed in this order: CE+BU+Aim then Nova, however each time Nova goes off it still drains my Endurance completely and flips off all my toggles. Can someone please let me know what I’m doing wrong?

Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Torchholder, Nova is supposed to have that effect. Most of the blaster 32 powers drain all your end and leave you very vulnerable. Most of us carry around a blue inspiration if anyone is leftover to get back on our feet.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Yea...it's a common misperception about conserve power. It d/n prevent the end drop, but it makes the recovery more efficient by halving the end requirement of your powers afterwards.

[Majik]

Hi JD :)

Well i guess my thoughts are (and they are only thoughts - everyone doesn't have to have exactly the same build!):

I personally have Power Thrust also 1-slotted, but with an accuracy instead of damage. It gets used about 50% of the time as a 'knee jerk' power, so I want to make sure it hits. The other 50%, I'm using it as a finisher, and it sucks to miss as by then I'm thinking about the next few moves and I hate having to return my attention to a mob that that should be defeated already...

I notice that you have Sniper Blast fully slotted for damage - I guess you normally use it in conjunction with Aim or BU, but personally I also tend to use it on it's own in battles (when the situation allows), and so I have an accuracy in there too - as I HATE missing! Plus don't forget that if you Aim PLUS Build Up, you're wasting one of your damage slots. SnipeFu (see above) seems to like an interrupt reducer in there too.

You have Superspeed and Fly? - I also had SS for a while (at level 47 as an experiment while I waited for Lv49 to respec to get Phase Shift) and while I miss the speed of SS, Fly isn't so bad, especially when it's nicely slotted like you have it (that endurance redux means that with a nice automatic hover/fly keybind you can use it in combat). I'm not saying you should change it or anything, but if you dropped SS, you could also drop Hurdle (not needed if you can fly!) in favour of Swift, and still have a slot free (for something like Power Push)

I'm also not a big fan of Power Bolt - it's fine as a 'finisher' when mobs are left with small amounts of HP (which happens a lot), but personally I find that (although it may be a bit wasteful if only one mob is going to be hit by it) I have Torrent, or Explosive Blast or Power Thrust available in those situations. If I were playing your character (which i'm not! - you are ;)), I'd be tempted to drop it and bring Power Burst up the list a bit. And yes, Bolt->Blast->Bolt will drop an even-con minion, but with Build Up so will Torrent->Burst or Torrent->Blast, which means you can fell a group of three whites in 4 shots (Torrent all three, Blast #1, Burst #2, Blast #3) - if the Torrent sucessfully knocked back, you may not even face ONE return shot...

Stealth, really really useful - taking it nice and early shows you know what you're talkin' bout :) - only thing I'd say is that I personally use a Endurance Redux in it, as even an SO is going to give you, what, another 2% defence? (Stealth is 7.5% base) - it's not a big endurance hog, but in the long run I like to make it cost next to nothing. Oh, and running stealth is another good reason to take Swift instead of Hurdle btw as it just about cancels out the 'slow' effect.

Everything else looks great! - taking PB just before TF is a always a great idea - same for CP before Nova, although with Nova 3-slotted for recharges (which most people agree is optimum) it's not until CP is six slotted that you can normally use it before every Nova. Your TF slotting is also nice - personally I don't use any damages in it at all (even though it's a great damager, I have other powers for damaging) - I like to play to a powers 'strengths' - and with it's boss-stunning ability, I have it slotted up the wazoo with stuns. With PB, I can keep a +3 Boss out of the fight for it's whole duration, which is invaluable against some of the naster mezzers (such as Dark Ring Mistresses and Death Mages etc) and it's also nice to pop on Master Illusionists to stop you from being immediately overrun with Pets. One warning though, if you don't have Superspeed to combine with Stealth, you'll take at least one shot from them, no matter how stealthily/quick you creep up behind them etc. If it's really important not to take that hit, you can always use Power Push to push them over then rush over and TF them before they get up, but you have to be very confident in your abilities to pull off tricks like that as complicating things in this way can lead to those nasty situations where your 'Push whiffed off into the air, you mess up your subsequant TF, and then find yourself standing mezz'd in the middle of a group of unhappy bad guys...

[Torchholder]

Thanks guys for clearing that up. Nice to know it's a misunderstanding about the game mechanics rather than my play style.

Thanks for the best Blaster thread on the Boards!

[JuryDuty]

Excellent post, Majik! Thank you!

Like your thought about slotting Power Thrust with Accuracy. I hardly ever use it, but like you, when I do, it's just to get people off me and I don't want it to miss. I think I'll do that. Why didn't I think of that?! :)

Yep, I saw SnipeFu's thoughts on putting Accuracy in Snipe and I'm going to do that, too. I'm just waiting till I get to my next level. I should have changed that in my build. Definately need it there. Not sure about the interrupt enhancer...don't know if I want to waste a slot on it. Hmmm...think about it.

Well, I have to tell you, I LOVE SuperSpeed AND Fly. I have SS on permanently with Stealth to give me invisibility. I may end up putting a End Red in SS and Stealth to keep any of them from having an effect on me. I don't know how I'd live without that one. :)

You don't use Power Bolt?!? That one's my bread and butter, along with Burst and Blast. I don't think I can sacrifice it...

You gave me some great things to think about. Thank you!!!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
I just posted my build in another thread, but I thought I'd post here as I'd love to hear SnipeFu and MSKnight's comments--and anyone else too!

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate to give "cookie cutter" advice, so can you tell me what you have fun doing and what you would like to do? I can offer my input then to you!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Generally I don't like giving "cookie cutter" advice, but here are a few which I chaulk up to universal constants:

-If you can, try things out on test server first.
-At somepoint you owe it to yourself to 6-slot nova w/ KB and take it into PP. Take a friend. With waypoints you can measure the distance of minion-tossing.
-The same is also fun with Power Thrust and Power Push.
-Clearing a rooftop w/ Nova is almost as much fun.
-All rules have an exception (including this one).
-Never listen to MsKnight.
-When SnipeFu says he's out of debt, run away. Fast.

:)

[Airhammer]

[ QUOTE ]
Excellent post, Majik! Thank you!

Like your thought about slotting Power Thrust with Accuracy. I hardly ever use it, but like you, when I do, it's just to get people off me and I don't want it to miss. I think I'll do that. Why didn't I think of that?! :)

Yep, I saw SnipeFu's thoughts on putting Accuracy in Snipe and I'm going to do that, too. I'm just waiting till I get to my next level. I should have changed that in my build. Definately need it there. Not sure about the interrupt enhancer...don't know if I want to waste a slot on it. Hmmm...think about it.

Well, I have to tell you, I LOVE SuperSpeed AND Fly. I have SS on permanently with Stealth to give me invisibility. I may end up putting a End Red in SS and Stealth to keep any of them from having an effect on me. I don't know how I'd live without that one. :)

You don't use Power Bolt?!? That one's my bread and butter, along with Burst and Blast. I don't think I can sacrifice it...

You gave me some great things to think about. Thank you!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with slotting Power Thrust for accuracy.. what you really want is for it to hit to get someone out of your face.. you really dont want to cause mega damage.. and the reality is you wont..

I slot my snipe for accuracy because I HATE MISSING.. nothing makes me more angry than when my most powerful long range attack misses. I have mine slotted with one accuracy.. one interruot and four damage.. Once I get Hasten to six slots and build and aim to four that should be every 30 second which is enough in my book.

I love Power Bolt... yes its weak... but you know what.. its fast.. it comes up when u need it.. I have it six slotted 1 acc/5 damage.. Its a trusty old friend and while other stuff is sexier now.. Power Bolt is that attack that takes off a little here and there.. which adds up in the end.. good DPS IMO....

I am still debating Stealth and SS.. I was thinking about making a new costume that would effectively be a stealth armor for my tech guy... so that would work for me.. SS doesnt really fit my concept at all... I am all about the concept...

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
When SnipeFu says he's out of debt, run away. Fast.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey! I resemble that remark.

:o

[Jasra]

[ QUOTE ]
With perma-hasten you'll have a straight 1-2-3 combo of bolt-blast-bolt. You'll then have a 1-2 second downtime that you can use either for a buff (ex. BU, Aim, CP or PB) or another power (ex. Power Burst for damage or Power Push for damage avoidance).

Now if you buff for an alpha-strike using sniper shot you are faced with a dilemna I go back and forth on. The 10 sec duration of BU/Aim is enough for that 1-2-3 combo, but only 1 or (maaaybe) 2 shots after snipe (due to the longer animation time). So you can either string that 1-2-3 bolt-blast-bolt combo, giving your weakest attack that buff...or fire off blast right after sniper shot...you get a bigger impact from the buff...and you can immediately fire off bolt...but then you have that downtime (from blast really) for a cpl of seconds when you won't be dealing damage. I use both, but probably more often go the "blast" route.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll usually Bolt-Blast-Bolt-ET. I have 3 Cones in ET, so it's range is only a yard or 2 less than Bolt. I use the same tactic for a Snipe opening, too - Aim+BU+Snipe+Blast+Bolt+ET+Bolt.

I have 3 different tactical uses for ET & EB. The first is Poor Man's Nova: Aim+BU+ET+EB. I've found that as long as I pick a good target ET doesn't spread people out very badly, so EB will get everyone that ET did.

Second use is CC. Both powers do a good job of knocking mobs on their tails, so they can take the some of the heat off of you mid-battle. They can also help to break up a Return Alpha Strike, so that whatever healing you have available (either Insps or another char) have a better chance of keeping you alive.

Third use is as finishers. If a target is down to just a little health, then using ET or EB to simultaneously finish the current target and start damaging whoever is going to be next works well.

I have a concept build, so I don't have Nova, but do have SS, Fitness, Flight, and the whole Leadership pool. Currently 43, though I haven't trained 41-43 yet because of EPPs. Torn between Repulsion+TI, or Body Armor (nothing else fits concept)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
Torn between Repulsion+TI, or Body Armor (nothing else fits concept)

[/ QUOTE ]

Repulsion is an end hog. If you're a blapper I can see a good purpose, but I'd suggest a healthy supply of CaBs, because if Repulsion Bubble drains your end and it drops (along w/ all toggles) it can get dangerous.

(in case you didn't know) TI will give u better resistance than BA, but it's a toggle and uses some end. The other powers in munitions use guns btw.

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I just posted my build in another thread, but I thought I'd post here as I'd love to hear SnipeFu and MSKnight's comments--and anyone else too!

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate to give "cookie cutter" advice, so can you tell me what you have fun doing and what you would like to do? I can offer my input then to you!

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure--I don't know how different this would be from anyone else, but here's things I think about when playing:

1. I HATE running out of endurance and having to wait for it to rebuild.
2. I HATE having to wait for powers to "come back up".
3. Having said that, I'm a VERY patient player. I take missions slow so I don't risk too much.
4. I like getting the best bang for the buck. I believe in balance, but not at the cost of quick xp.
5. I absolutely love the Energy Torrent AoE attack.
6. My favorite attack is snipe--I love one-shot kills.
7. Melee I don't like so much.
8. I love using SS and stealth to explore the situation, then sneak up on the unsuspecting--usually from the air--and letting them have it.

That help?

[Jasra]

[ QUOTE ]
Repulsion is an end hog. If you're a blapper I can see a good purpose, but I'd suggest a healthy supply of CaBs, because if Repulsion Bubble drains your end and it drops (along w/ all toggles) it can get dangerous.

(in case you didn't know) TI will give u better resistance than BA, but it's a toggle and uses some end. The other powers in munitions use guns btw.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wasn't really planning on *using* RepFi much, just taking it to unlock TI. However, after reading the EM guide, I'm leaning towards taking Armor, then picking up some of the EM powers that I hadn't really considered useful before reading the Guide.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Repulsion is an end hog. If you're a blapper I can see a good purpose, but I'd suggest a healthy supply of CaBs, because if Repulsion Bubble drains your end and it drops (along w/ all toggles) it can get dangerous.

(in case you didn't know) TI will give u better resistance than BA, but it's a toggle and uses some end. The other powers in munitions use guns btw.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wasn't really planning on *using* RepFi much, just taking it to unlock TI. However, after reading the EM guide, I'm leaning towards taking Armor, then picking up some of the EM powers that I hadn't really considered useful before reading the Guide.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah gotcha. Well Personal Force Field can also unlock TI so if you go FM v. EM you might want to consider it.

[Airhammer]

I need some advice energy blasters.. I am looking at where I am now and looking at the free respec. This is where I am not but this is from memory...

I am level 26 right now
Power Bolt -1acc/1 range/4 Damage
Power Blast -1acc/1 range/3Damage
Energy Torrent- 1acc/1 Cone Enhance/1 Damage
Snipe- 1acc/1 interrupt/4 damage
Aim- 3 recharge ( I think )

Power Thrust-2 damage
Enegy Punch-2 damage
Build Up- 3 recharge

Hover- 1 defense/1 Flight
Flight-1 end/ 1 Flight
Air Superiority- 1 Damage

Hasten- 3 recharge

Swift- Run
Health- Health
Stamina 1 end red

Now obviously I made some mistakes from when I first started..

Energy Punch and Air Superiority wil be removed for Bone Smasher and Power Burst ( my wife too that and I was like daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag I shoulda took that )

I am very very seriously considering getting rid of Enery Torrent.

My style goes with the name.. I prefer to hover in the air and hammer targets from above... I have two Battle Cries..

Its Hammertime ( snipe while standing on the ground )
Droppin the Hammer ( which I will use for Bonesmasher )

My nickname.. Death from Above..

I am much more of a single target fighter.. In groups I tend to be the boss and looey killer.. and I like that.. I am not a big fan of the EB AOE attacks.. mainly cause they dont do enough damage to nuke the mob.. and they draw lots of aggro and aggro is baaaaaaaaaad.

I am thinking to get rid of the Energy Torrent AOE and get something I will use a lot like Stealth, SS or Conserve Power. I like Flight and Hover but everyone keeps talking about how dangerous it gets when going through PI you get sniped without SS and Stealth.. SS really doesnt fit my character concept but Stealth can simply be a Stealth Armor.

I was thinking about getting Tough and Weave later but it looks like I will be going with one of the Epic Pools like PFF and TI..

Any suggestions would be helpful... I am really really stuck at whether or not to get rid of Energy Torrent.. That would give me two more slots for something else which in all honesty I will probably use a WHOLE lot more.

Thanks for your help..

[Majik]

I am always amazed just how far away mobs will agro on you if I don't use Stealth - it's such a must IMHO, especially when lining up your opening attack. With regards to PI though - I don't think I've *ever* been really bothered by the snipers, even flying at street level, you'll only take one 'somersault' hit every once in a great while for half you HP and if that's too much then just fly higher. The important thing is that I've *never* actually been killed by a sniper.

Again, be wary of ending up with a cookie-cut build, but a lot of blasters (including myself) favour Fly - the way I look at it, it's a nice 100% +DEF against melee attacks (until you get mezz'd or web-grenaded out of the air of course!)

And you don't HAVE to take Torrent - I admit i'm a big fan of it, especially as an opener, but as long as you're happy being left with only Bolt, Blast and Snipe for ranged attacks, there's no reason not to bin it. But at MsK sagely said - try stuff out on test first ;) - in fact, why don't you try removing it from your tray for a while and see if you miss it.

And with your current battlecries, you have to do one for PFF - "You can't touch this!" (Dooo doo do do...) :)

Oh, and I have a favourite saying on TeamSpeak regarding accuracy, which I think I'll use as my (first ever!) sig...

[Airhammer]

Thanks.. thats my thing.. I dont want SS because it just doesnt fit my concept for my character.. and I dont want the uber build.. I want what works for me.. I am toying with the idea of droppin ET but its not set in stone.. I dont even know if I will take stealth but it does hit in the concept of the character in terms of a stealth armor ( which of course will be a different costume to go along with that )

Thanks for the help..

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hi Jury.

I assumed your list was prioritized so here's my thoughts (I'm skipping around your list):

Endurance and recharge, you look good. I tried adding in a recharge to bolt and blast w/ 6 hasten, no appreciable difference.

Energy Torrent: Glad that you like it. Consider Explosive blast as they made a decent 1-2 combo on minions, while it won't fully defeat them, you can polish them off w/o getting defeated. Plus expl. blast has a nice power animation. Also consider how you use it for slotting. Solely alpha or mid-battle? I 99% alpha with it, so I only 4-slotted it.

If you plan on r'sking for, say the Striga TFs (L25ish) you might want to consider re-ordering your powers. You said you hate end problems (I'm assuming more than hating recharge), and stamina is much later than hasten. I found that hasten, before stamina got good, boiled down to a quick way of draining my end. Also w/ the wolves on Striga (and assumedly in the TFs), getting hover earlier might keep you out of melee range.

Sniper Blast: I think you already posted on considering the slotting in light of the 400% dmg cap so I'll leave that to you. I know it's one of your favorite powers. Consider this tho...if you like it alot you can swap out a dmg for recharge and another for accuracy. Still hit the dmg cap w/ BU + aim, and a quick recharge and acc to use again in a battle.

TF is a great power, but you don't like melee. You can go a few different ways with this:
1. Keep and optimize current slotting. I noticed you had a disorient slotted, but you also have power boost. PB will double the base disorient. As it looks right now the combined stun will be a bit longer than TF recharges, much moreso w/ your recharge enh in TF...might want to consider reslotting that disorient w/ a dmg or and the recharge w/ acc (for a 2nd hit), then watch how long the stun lasts compared to TF recharge, you can always hit again (w/ added acc) to re-stun.

2. Go further into melee by getting bone smasher for a good 1-2 combo (gd dmg and stun). This will require good slotting to be "great" and will require you to do the melee you don't like.

3. Get rid of TF and PB. They're great powers, but maybe not your playstyle. Consider this: drop those, get expl. blast and begin to slot it for an aoe 1-2 combo (both really need max dmg to be effective together). with the extra power you can get boost range, which will mesh w/ your love of snipign ant attacking from the air.

Further, since you already have SS and like to attack from the sky, hate melee and don't like too much risk consider this:

Drop fly, use the 3 slots to 4-slot hover. s/b good enough for combat. Instead of fly take power push. It's effectly the same as P Thrust, but you don't have to wait until they are in melee range, which prob won't happen much when you are flying/hovering (unless facing sky, freaks). But since it's ranged and d/n need any extra enh you can use while hoving over a battle. it also comes in handy 40+ when a malta sapper zaps your end when they are hovering at range.

One more thing to consider: how do you like to use nova? I noticed 3/3 dmg/recharge, so it'll be up every 2-3 min. CP is only 1 slotted, so the recharge is still around 5 min w/ 6-hasten. If you use CP before nova, then pop a cab after, you'll have enough end to finish off bosses after nova.

Hope I've given you some decent stuff to think about!

[Airhammer]

Ms Knight would you please review the build I posted on this thread and give me your analysis ???

[SnipeFu]

Airhammer it may help if you provide what you like/dislike in your playstyle and what you wish to accomplish with your build. I'll try and chime in too.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
Ms Knight would you please review the build I posted on this thread and give me your analysis ???

[/ QUOTE ]

Okies...you like smashing from above...some melee (E Punch/Bone)...and battlecry emotes :D

1. Concern abt. snipers in PI/CF/Bricks/FF in getting SS. Honestly if you don't need SS to get around (you have fly and I figure you like it) consider this: take another power in the concealment pool (you already are considering stealth "armor") then take phase...snipers can't hit you if you're phased...but you are more exposed if you should fight (w/ phase off..whereas stealth + SS can be used in combat). This would be good up through 32 when you get nova. You can decide then if you want SS to stack w/ stealth so you can walk up to nova...oooooorrrrr...you can stealth, hover high, turn off hover then activate nova (and assumedly a cool emote). Note about a couple of things, I noticed my accuracy was a bit lower with this, and nova will go off where it's pressed, not where you wind up. So activating nova while you are dropping could result in nova's center being several feet in the air. Nova is a sphere, so it'll still hit, but you might miss the widest radius. However with practice you can probably get this down and it will fit into your style. Later in the game you can think about swapping Phase for PFF.

As it stands tho', at 26 you have a few levels/powers to play with before reaching the sniping zones.

If you get SS, consider swapping out health for swift...stacked w/ SS you'll be at the travel cap i think.

2. Air Superiority: I tried this on test and didn't like the close range...but it was nice to have another attack when having fun w/ sky raiders in TV. I hear that it's the best dmg power in the pools (for what that's worth) so you might still have fun w/ it, maybe later in the game tho....flying sky tend to be Lts or bosses...tho it is fun fighting them while flying/hovering.

You have rng enh in bolt/blast/ET. Consider this: boost range. it gives like a 54% or 75% base boost (dep on who ya ask). w/ only 1 SO, it recharges immediately after going down.

How's your end? I notice stamina's 1 slotted whereas hasten is 3 slotted. Are your fights done quickly or do you run out of end mid-fight? Might want to balance this. Punch will free up 2 slots, and Aim and BU are good at 3, but it might be too early for that (you gain 3-4 sec w/ each, but you could put these elsewhere.

Oh, and when/if you get Total Focus, you'll need to have a nice new emote to go with it!

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

Thanks SnipeFu for a great guide. I'm respecing my blaster now. I wish I new about this guide before I started playing him. Here's my new build for those intererested.

Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Energy Blast
Secondary Powers - Support : Energy Manipulation
Slot[01] Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Power Bolt /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[02] Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Power Thrust /Acc,Dmg
Slot[03] Level 2 : Power Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[04] Level 4 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[06] Level 8 : Hover /DefBuf
Slot[07] Level 10 : Power Burst /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Aim /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[09] Level 14 : Fly /Fly
Slot[10] Level 16 : Hurdle /Jump
Slot[11] Level 18 : Health /Heal
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Super Speed /Run
Slot[14] Level 24 : Sniper Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[15] Level 26 : Energy Torrent /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[16] Level 28 : Stealth /DefBuf
Slot[17] Level 30 : Conserve Power /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[18] Level 32 : Nova /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[19] Level 35 : Bone Smasher /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[20] Level 38 : Total Focus /Rchg,Dsrnt,Dmg

I'm saving the last slots so that I can check out the epic pool. But I'm sure Temp Invulnerabilty or unstopable will be coming in at 41. Any word on those yet?

Star Bolt lvl 27 NRG/NRG Blaster Protector Server

[SnipeFu]

looks like a good build chess. You ought to have a lot of fun with it.

[Dveight]

I noticed none of you are big fans of CJ/SJ/Acro so I was wondering, are you posting mostly outdoor street hunter builds? I'm not a huge fan of the street grind method of levelling so I do a lot of door missions, both solo and in teams. Also, with no CJ or Acro, these builds have pretty much abandoned any kind of mez protection. Not a criticism, just an observation. Might I be better served taking CJ and then eventually Acro for some mez protection instead of 6 slotting Hover if I prefer missions to outdoor street grinding?

[SnipeFu]

Hey Razorbane. What I have tried to do is make a guide where I don't tell people what to do and to not give them a cookie cutter guide to energy blasters. I tried to give an overall view of each power and some of the pool powers. I don't know much about the jumping pool so I really didn't have much to comment on it with, but many of the postewrs in this thread have.

I maintain that the most important is to have fun and get in to your own groove. So if the leaping pool works for you then by all means it is a great way to go. I personally love hover and have a lot of experience with it so that is what I commented on.

:)

[JuryDuty]

MSKnight--just wanted to thank you for your very detailed look at my build! I haven't responded yet because you gave me so much to think about. I've already made a few changes.

That said, I like your thoughts about TF and I'm going to try it out once I get it and see if I like it. I don't like Melee much, but I do love the idea of disorienting bosses.

I've never heard anyone promote Power Push the way you have...you're making me think it could be a good addition to my build!

What do you think of adding one range enh to Power Burst? Would it then be as long ranged as Power Bolt or Power Blast? That might be a nice addition to my ranged attacks, too, along with PP.

[Dveight]

ok cool and thx

[Ryker_XXX]

Hey Razor,

Not gonna disagree with Snipe here lol. Just wanted to add my 2 influence.

There's nothing wrong with the Leaping pool. I use to have CJ on my character but found i needed something else to round out. Being limited on powers to pick and have room for the epics, I decided to make some changes. Before the respec I had from flight: hover, air superiority, fly; from leaping: combat jumping; from concealment: stealth, invisibility; and fitness: hurdle, health, stamina. Afterwards I ended up with all of fitness; concealment: stealth, grant invisibility, phase shift; flight: hover and fly; and speed: hasten and superspeed. I do miss CJ, it was nice to have the extra height from it but I had to make sure everything I picked was what I wanted and can use during combat.

Maybe if they raise the power amount cap, Ill pick up all of the leaping line but until then I have to make due.

As far as indoor missions, I do many. I love them just because its fun to fight through them. Mostly from what I've read about Acro is that it doesnt give that much protection and you can get the same kind from inspires. Honestly dont know. My feelings about it was because of my build and not wanting to use slots for powers that i dont use or dont want just to get a power that offers minimal protection.

But again, just like Snipe said, these builds are what we were wanting out of our characters, you may not like how something works and do something different. 6 slotting Hover for me was too slow for my needs, and I needed the slots in attacks than in def. I run stealth and hasten all the time so I have those def added to my own, and if needed i have hover. I just make sure to take the mezzers out quick. :)


Anywho back to busting bad guys....

As always...

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
I noticed none of you are big fans of CJ/SJ/Acro so I was wondering, are you posting mostly outdoor street hunter builds? I'm not a huge fan of the street grind method of levelling so I do a lot of door missions, both solo and in teams. Also, with no CJ or Acro, these builds have pretty much abandoned any kind of mez protection. Not a criticism, just an observation. Might I be better served taking CJ and then eventually Acro for some mez protection instead of 6 slotting Hover if I prefer missions to outdoor street grinding?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey there, good question. For me it's playstyle. I love SJ on my scrapper, but for my playstyle as a blaster I can't fit it in:

I dip into the speed pool for hasten to quicken my attack rate, and SS helps w/ the concealment stacking important w/ setting up my Nova (I could prob SJ in, but I'm not that precise at it).

I prefer to stay out of melee range so flying via hover is the way I go.

One could SJ into a position one could adjust using less than 6-slotted hover, but again for my purposes the SS/hover combo works best for my blaster.

By all means use what's best/most fun for you (the general "you").

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
MSKnight--just wanted to thank you for your very detailed look at my build! I haven't responded yet because you gave me so much to think about. I've already made a few changes.What do you think of adding one range enh to Power Burst? Would it then be as long ranged as Power Bolt or Power Blast? That might be a nice addition to my ranged attacks, too, along with PP.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're welcome Jury.

Power Burst has a base range of 20' whereas bolt/blast have 80'. Each SO will increase range by 20%, so that'll only be 24' for Burst. I tried it and it wasn't enough of a difference to me. Stacking SS and stealth I can get close enough to a grp so that I can buff up, snipe (longest animation), then combo w/ some string of bolt/blast/burst. W/ good control over your travel power you can quickly move farther out to use bolt/blast then come in for burst. BTW P Push has a range of 70' I think, maybe 80' but no further.

[SnipeFu]

I just want to thank everyone who has made this guide a positive area for energy blasters to sound off about our AT. Thank you for accepting this guide and providing so much positive feedback.

When I hit 50 I will try and update the guide with my feelings on the journey and what else can be brought to the table.

My post is on FIRE baby! Fire Fire fire fire heeheeheehehe!

[Airhammer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ms Knight would you please review the build I posted on this thread and give me your analysis ???

[/ QUOTE ]

Okies...you like smashing from above...some melee (E Punch/Bone)...and battlecry emotes :D

1. Concern abt. snipers in PI/CF/Bricks/FF in getting SS. Honestly if you don't need SS to get around (you have fly and I figure you like it) consider this: take another power in the concealment pool (you already are considering stealth "armor") then take phase...snipers can't hit you if you're phased...but you are more exposed if you should fight (w/ phase off..whereas stealth + SS can be used in combat). This would be good up through 32 when you get nova. You can decide then if you want SS to stack w/ stealth so you can walk up to nova...oooooorrrrr...you can stealth, hover high, turn off hover then activate nova (and assumedly a cool emote). Note about a couple of things, I noticed my accuracy was a bit lower with this, and nova will go off where it's pressed, not where you wind up. So activating nova while you are dropping could result in nova's center being several feet in the air. Nova is a sphere, so it'll still hit, but you might miss the widest radius. However with practice you can probably get this down and it will fit into your style. Later in the game you can think about swapping Phase for PFF.

As it stands tho', at 26 you have a few levels/powers to play with before reaching the sniping zones.

If you get SS, consider swapping out health for swift...stacked w/ SS you'll be at the travel cap i think.

2. Air Superiority: I tried this on test and didn't like the close range...but it was nice to have another attack when having fun w/ sky raiders in TV. I hear that it's the best dmg power in the pools (for what that's worth) so you might still have fun w/ it, maybe later in the game tho....flying sky tend to be Lts or bosses...tho it is fun fighting them while flying/hovering.

You have rng enh in bolt/blast/ET. Consider this: boost range. it gives like a 54% or 75% base boost (dep on who ya ask). w/ only 1 SO, it recharges immediately after going down.

How's your end? I notice stamina's 1 slotted whereas hasten is 3 slotted. Are your fights done quickly or do you run out of end mid-fight? Might want to balance this. Punch will free up 2 slots, and Aim and BU are good at 3, but it might be too early for that (you gain 3-4 sec w/ each, but you could put these elsewhere.

Oh, and when/if you get Total Focus, you'll need to have a nice new emote to go with it!

[/ QUOTE ]

Thano you for your look at my character and I do agree with you that I dont like cookie cutter builds either. I must build according to my chracter vision and my play style.

I do love flying.. Flight gets dissed alot because its not the fastest travel power.. However it is the most versatile, especially for blasters. Being able to stay out of melee range is very very critical to survival. I will be using six slotted hover definitely as it fits my play style.

I have decided to use stealth and SS since I have hasten already. I will make SS part of my OVERRIDE mode ( since they have the same color anyway ).. This will go well when I get NOVA to for my... Death from Above... emote :) drop out the sky with SS and Stealth on.. BAM !!!!! Death from Above...

My end right now is fine.. because I am not a huge hasten user but I will start slotting Stamina like mad the next few levels.

I will be getting rid of Air Superiority for Power Blast.. I figure if you fly up that close u deserve a MASSIVE attack in the face and the range is definitely better..

Thanks for the advice...

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

Thanks Snipe, it is a fun build. =)

[Dawnstarr]

I just want to say that I have enjoyed reading this guide very much, I had started an Energy/Energy Blaster once but found I lacked the knowledge of the powers to make my first Blaster useful beyond being just canon fodder for the mobs. So I started all over again from scratch. A couple of notes though, I noticed on several build plans that they didn't use stealth or used it very late in the build, to me that was a mistake, I took it at level 6 and never regretted it, the same goes for Build up, I took it at level 4. My biggest reason was that if I went alone into a mission with a known Boss, I wanted to get rid of his cronnies first from a distance with sniper shot and then build up and sniper his buns from a distance, you'd be surprised how fast they drop afterwards. My second reason for taking those two early was if I helped someone as an explar, guess what I still have my big power boosts to keep me alive and help them make it much smoother in the end.
Another note, the power called Energy Torrent, while I do plan to get it, I haven't yet, at lower levels it will agro the heck out of everyone your tanks and scrappers haven't aggroed, and guess what ? You've just been turned into a pile of goo and someone has to either rez or give you an awaken to get you going again. Wait on this power until you reach a point that you can Torrent them, then get out of their range. The Lost with their mind monsters and lizard looking thingies, I forget their names, can't use those powers if their on their butts most of the time. A suggested, mind you I said suggested, would be to use knock back on the power slots to insure they hit the ground. Embarrassingly enough I do have a badge that says I've been held by them for an extended period of time, I blushed 3 shades of red when I suddenly got that badge.
Another note to those who claim SS is a good idea, try running through fault line with only hurdle as your alternate travel power...it takes forever to get through it, I tried it and even with stealth on my side it still took time. I raced a team mate of mine to find the exploration badges and the plaques found in the zone...I lost and they waited for 20 minutes at the gate. They had Fly, the cheater (LOL)
Anyways that's my take on some of this, but the rest is on the money :)

Dawnstarr

[Airhammer]

Hey thats the best thing about this thread. It is not a " cookie cutter ' style. Some people like myself build their characters according to concept and not necessarily by min/max... Your playstyle works for you... awesome !!!! and thats what makes this a great post everyone shares individual ideas and it helps someone else !!!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
A suggested, mind you I said suggested, would be to use knock back on the power slots to insure they hit the ground. Embarrassingly enough I do have a badge that says I've been held by them for an extended period of time, I blushed 3 shades of red when I suddenly got that badge.
Dawnstarr

[/ QUOTE ]

Great points Dawnstarr. Just one thing, knockback enhancements won't increase the chance of knockback, but they will increase the distance of knockback. Each power has an inherent chance to KB, with powers like Nova, Power Thrust and Power Push having higher % chances.

Oh and don't feel embarrassed about getting the held badge. When badges came out and the respec trial was all wonky I got my first debt badge that day!

[Arcanaville]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
MSKnight--just wanted to thank you for your very detailed look at my build! I haven't responded yet because you gave me so much to think about. I've already made a few changes.What do you think of adding one range enh to Power Burst? Would it then be as long ranged as Power Bolt or Power Blast? That might be a nice addition to my ranged attacks, too, along with PP.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're welcome Jury.

Power Burst has a base range of 20' whereas bolt/blast have 80'. Each SO will increase range by 20%, so that'll only be 24' for Burst. I tried it and it wasn't enough of a difference to me. Stacking SS and stealth I can get close enough to a grp so that I can buff up, snipe (longest animation), then combo w/ some string of bolt/blast/burst. W/ good control over your travel power you can quickly move farther out to use bolt/blast then come in for burst. BTW P Push has a range of 70' I think, maybe 80' but no further.

[/ QUOTE ]

Kinda the opposite of what MsKnight is saying, in one of those rare moments that lag works for us rather than against us, if you have superspeed you can stay at range for bolt and blast, then click power burst, and then superspeed through the mob cluster. Power burst will begin to activate as soon as you are in range, but by the time the game "senses" that you are in range, you are on the far side of the group, and way out of melee harms way. In essense, burst will fire from outside its range, as long as you can SS into range for a second. I unslotted range out of burst once I got superspeed.

This also works well, with some practice, for things like total focus. Even the villians seem to take a moment to switch from ranged to melee attacks, if they are in the middle of a ranged attack animation and you pull this superspeed trick on them, they will not be able to melee you, but total focus will activate and hit them while you are dozens of yards away. SS skimming a villian so you graze melee range does take some practice. But the nice thing is that if TF misses, there is no melee counterattack, and if you try this on something like a mesmerist, and you actually get slept, at least you wont be sleeping in the middle of the mobs and in sword range.

People say all energy blasters are the same, and those people are not energy blasters :D I've been in teams with four, count 'um, four energy/energy blasters, and I could tell us all apart by play styles even if you replaced our avatars in-game with identical character appearances. The SS zip-around-like-a-maniac thing, firing in different directions and thwacking things with TF, that would be me.

[Power_Armour]

I have an Energy/Energy blaster, your tactics seem alot like my tactics.
You say you should have haste from your power pools. I haven't taken that power in 22 levels, and I don't find that I am 'gimped'.
I do have stamina though. I find my endurance goes quickly.

I usually two slot all my attacks with accuracies, just to make sure they hit. is that too much? Is one slotting my attacks enough?

The kill a boss, and LT is definitely what I find. I remember at level 18 fighting level 19 bosses, that my level 20 scrapper would find it hard to fight without inspirations, all on a build up, aim, and Snipe, Power Burst, and a couple of power bolts.

It was so fun.

[Airhammer]

I would say that at level 22 you can start buying SO's. One SO will be fine for you to hit most targets especialy with aim.

You can have a fine build without hasten. I did it for 24 levels. But imagine this.. Imagine having build up and aim available every 30 seconds.. Thats a huge buff to your attacks every thirty seconds and even better if you alternate them between attacks. And when u get to Power Boost and Boost range you will want them up faster to.

SO while not having hasten doesnt " gimp " you. Having hasten does help you.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hey! Regarding two accuracies, I'd def. say that one SO in them will be good mid-game (20s-39), esp. with build up/accuracy.

Now here's a twist. Since Energy is a boss-killer AT and bosses are harder to hit than Lts/Minions you might want to consider this (I did consided it before I hit 50). IF you want to target say +2 or higher bosses consistantly AND you want to alternate BU and aim, consider a 2nd accuracy. It's harder to hit bosses higher than +1, but if you can it we still dmg well. They offer good xp, but when I used 1 acc SO they were poor xp/minute and dmg/min.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hey! Regarding two accuracies, I'd def. say that one SO in them will be good mid-game (20s-39), esp. with build up/accuracy.

Now here's a twist. Since Energy is a boss-killer AT and bosses are harder to hit than Lts/Minions you might want to consider this (I did consided it before I hit 50). IF you want to target say +2 or higher bosses consistantly AND you want to alternate BU and aim, consider a 2nd accuracy. It's harder to hit bosses higher than +1, but if you can it we still dmg well. They offer good xp, but when I used 1 acc SO they were poor xp/minute and dmg/min.

[Ryker_XXX]

Hey folks just needed a question answered if you guys can.

If I have Aim 6 slotted what would the recharge be?

Thanks...

As always..

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey folks just needed a question answered if you guys can.

If I have Aim 6 slotted what would the recharge be?

Thanks...

As always..

[/ QUOTE ]
Ryker MsKnight has a post on page 2 of this thread with all of the sets recharges and what not. According to his diagram if you have permahasten with 6 recharges both buildup and aim will have a 24 second recharge. meaning on 10 seconds down 14.

[Ryker_XXX]

Thanks Snipe I couldnt find it but thats ok.

Just to let everyone know that the build I had posted in another thread is doing great. Last night I leveled to 37 and added some more slots to bolt and blast and enjoyed the extra damage and accuracy they brought to the game. So these guides do work.

But anywho, I hope everyone has a great x-mas and happy new year cuz Ill be home spending time with the munchkins... See you all next year. :)

As always...

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
I've been planning my next respec to sync the recharges on my buffs, so I created a template in Excel. Thought I'd share the results in case anyone else was wondering. 1st column is the # of SO enhancements, and all other numbers in seconds.

# SO US CP Nova BU PB/BR
0 780 600 360 90 60
1 585 450 270 68 45
2 468 360 216 54 36
3 390 300 180 45 30
4 334 257 154 39 26
5 293 225 135 34 23
6 260 200 120 30 20

With 6-slotted Hasten
0 780 600 360 90 60
1 384 295 177 44 30
2 330 254 152 38 25
3 289 222 133 33 22
4 257 198 119 30 20
5 232 178 107 27 18
6 211 162 97 24 16

Notes:
1st row across is base recharge (no SO enhancements)
US = Blaster EPP version of Unstoppable
CP = Conserver Power
Aim and Build Up have the same recharge and duration
PB = Power Boost
BR = Boost Range

The formatting got hosed when I pasted into here, this is the best I could to in the time frame I have.

[/ QUOTE ]


There you go.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Tested (L50 Nemsis minions)

Temp Invul:
Le/Smashing: 22.8% resist (close to States posted target of 22.75%, probable difference due to rounding/decimals)

Personal FF: 28% damage resist (Le/Smashing and Fire tested)

TI + PFF: 51% resistance to Le/Sm, 28% resist to fire.

PFF base recharge speed 30 seconds w/o Hasten.

[Ryker_XXX]

Heh guess I cant read, but then again Im at school working on a character model and not really paying attention.

Thanks alot and hope to see everyone Sunday if not I'll catch up with you all next year. :)

As always...

[Airhammer]

So Basically 6 slotting Aim and Build up would be overkill.. Optimally 4 recharge SO's seems to be the best balance from what I see.

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
So Basically 6 slotting Aim and Build up would be overkill.. Optimally 4 recharge SO's seems to be the best balance from what I see.

[/ QUOTE ]

definate overkill. 4 should be the max as with that and perma-hasten you can cycle through pretty much non stop between aim and build up.

[deadboy_champion]

[ QUOTE ]
Temp Invul:
Le/Smashing: 22.8% resist (close to States posted target of 22.75%, probable difference due to rounding/decimals)


[/ QUOTE ]

Really? I was getting somewhere around 29 -30 % maybe I wrote something down wrong :(

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Previously I posted my intended Issue 3 build, after testing the new Force of Nature and factoring Issue 3 playstyle (mission slider) I came up with this build. I will miss Torrent and Explosive Blast for allowing me the varied gameplay of hitting larger groups, and may later respec them back in (and go back to the build I posted previously on page 7 of this thread), but I would like the increased defense, and in setting my mission slider to the max where spawns won’t increase in size but will by level (+2) the single-target/defense oriented build I have here should serve me well.

Brawl/Acc
Rest/Recharge
Sprint/Run
Power Bolt/Acc/5 Dam
Power Thrust/Acc
Power Blast/Acc/5 Dam
Build Up/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)
Swift/Run
Sniper Blast/4 Dam(1)
Power Burst/1Acc/5 Dam
Hasten/6 recharge
Super Speed/Run(2)
Hover/6 Fly Speed
Hurdle/Jump(3)
Stamina/6 Endurance Recovery
Aim/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)(4)
Stealth/Def
Power Push/Acc
Conserve Power/6 recharge(5)
Power Boost/Recharge
Nova/3 recharge/3 Dam
Bone Smasher/1Acc/4 Dam(6)
Total Focus/1Acc/4 Dam(6)
Personal FF/1 Recharge/2 Defense Buffs(7)
Temp Invulnerability/4 Dam Resistance(8)
Force of Nature/6 Recharge(9)
Boost Range/1 Recharge

(1)Boost range = 60% boost to base range (= 3 SO), so I’m able to save slots here to put into defense.

(2)I will be dropping my 2nd run speed enhancement for this build, stacked with sprint this is near/at the speed cap. Additionally Power Boost affects run speed.

(3)Dropped Health for Hurdle. Health regenerates at a speed that decreases time between battles, but not at a rate helpful in-battle. Hurdle will help overcoming objects while running in super speed.

(4)Upped this from 3 recharges so as to sync with Build up and Power Boost. PB, with one recharge SO has a 30 second recharge. Since PB has a duration 5 sec longer than BU or Aim I activate it first, then the others.

(5)No changes here, but it’s close in recharge to my slotted Nova, which was very helpful when I used it in leveling. It’s slotted two power choices before Nova so I’m able to slot it up before nova for syncing.

(6)Previously I only had damage here as I used them as an alpha-strike combo on a boss right after buffing with BU + Aim (and later adding PB). I noticed however that after this combo I would still need to cycles through my usual attacks (Bolt, Blast, Burst) and still they’d be standing. W/o PB they’d usually recover from disorient by now (problematic as I’d be using Power Push on the other boss in the typically Peregrine Island 2-boss groupings). Adding PB as a buff helped by doubling the base stuns (TF and Bone) but I found I frequently missed w/ my 2nd round of TF-Bone. I was/am very tempted to further slot PFF and TI instead of the 5th slots here, but I use this combo often and it is always necessary when facing this grouping, and the consequences of missing both (or even one) are considerable, so I added the 5th slot for accuracy.

(7)This is where I’d like to add more enh slots into. I gave up Grant Invisibility and Phase Shift for these powers. TI is better for the player than GI, but in teaming GI is a great help. The weight of this concern will depend on your playstyle. For me, several of my SGmates have GI so my usual teams are not too badly affected (heh we’ll see if everyone respecs it out!). PFF is a far cry from Phase, but others can buff me through it and it does have an activation time one second less…and it has a nice look to it! It’s less powerful than the defender version (which needs no additional slotting). I noticed defense increases through 3 defense SO enhancements (did not test higher). For me I also like the recharge time reduced to 15 seconds (1 recharge SO and 6 slotted hasten), but I intend to keep a def SO on hand to swap out as needed. Since it’s an “Oh-crud/runaway” power I’d be most comfortable with it fully slotted, but alas I need the slots elsewhere.

(9)I like the least recharge time in case I need to use a cpl of times in a door mission, but with the removal of mezz protection I may change a couple of slots for damage resistance for boss/AV battles. Slotted only for recharge and stacked with TI (slotted as above) I was able to take 2-3 boulders thrown from a DE monster.

For other comments on my intended playstyle and rationale, see my earlier build/post on page 7.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Temp Invul:
Le/Smashing: 22.8% resist (close to States posted target of 22.75%, probable difference due to rounding/decimals)


[/ QUOTE ]

Really? I was getting somewhere around 29 -30 % maybe I wrote something down wrong :(

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe with one dmg resistance SO you'll get 27% resist, I tested initially TI unslotted to form a baseline.

[deadboy_champion]

[ QUOTE ]
Temp Invulnerability/4 Dam Resistance(8)


[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah before you guys had logged on for the City of Energy Blasters I ran around with another Test Version of DB with TI. The numbers I got where close to 22.75%

With that slotting you should have around 40% Resistance to Smashing and Lethal

22.75 + 4 (4.55) = 40.95%

[Magdi]

I like the guild a lot Snipefu. Thank you for posting it. I have a question though. Why did you go with Elec instead of Energy as your secondary? The reason I ask is that I have a 33rd level Elec/Elec blaster and if there is something worth it other than Havok punch and Buildup in the elec secondary I'd love to know. My new Energ/Energ blaster seems a whole lot more effective.

[SnipeFu]

Your electric electric will become insanely potent in a few more levels and given propper slotting. The best powers of the electric secondary are at the end , namely power sink and shocking grasp. Since you are electric primary, it basically means you can suck anything dry of end and the proceed to pound on it with no worries. Takes practice though. There are a lot of great elec/elec blasters on the boards that could attest to that and point you in the right direction.

I chose electric secondary because I was a noob and it was pretty much an accident I didn't realize until level 10. But I stuck with it anyway. :eek: I'm starting to really like electric secondary nowadays though.

[Magdi]

Gotcha, I'll have to grab those two powers. Thanks man.

[Airhammer]

Hey Snipe my wife is a NRG/ELEC Blaster and I need some help for whats good to take in the secondary for the free respec coming up.. I dont have her build but right now all she has is electric cage, charged brawl and lightning field. Whats the good stuff to take ???!!!!!!!!

[SnipeFu]

have her spec out of charged brawl and lightning field. Tell her to take buildup, havoc punch (if she wants to get in melee range), power sink, and shocking grasp. If she wants to go melee heavy thunder strike is also good. But the musthaves are buildup, power sink, and shocking grasp.

[Airhammer]

Thanks she already has buildup I justforgot she took it.. Yeah she can get havoc punch.. she doesnt like to melee much but sometimes u gotta..

[Arcanaville]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So Basically 6 slotting Aim and Build up would be overkill.. Optimally 4 recharge SO's seems to be the best balance from what I see.

[/ QUOTE ]

definate overkill. 4 should be the max as with that and perma-hasten you can cycle through pretty much non stop between aim and build up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Debatable. If you can use long activation attacks like snipe during combat, and time snipe to start at the end of BU or Aim's window, then you will get reasonable coverage, with some downtime. Cycling regular attacks, you'll fire BU, then fire Aim, then have downtime before BU comes back up with 4-slots of rech and perma-hasten, even if all the rech is ++ maxed. 6-slots just about keeps you fully covered.

Of more critical importance is that constantly keeping BU and Aim cycling will burn through your end very fast - even CS will have problems keeping up if you can keep a really fast cycle going and if you are firing AoE's like torrent and EB. Without CS and/or recovery aura, you will have to pace yourself. With CS and RA, 6-slotted rech in both BU and Aim will up your damage substantially against things like AVs, provided you don't steal aggro away and get smeared.

Of course, this is pre-EPPs, when maxing out damage was my forte. I would consider stealing those slots to put into TI; I'm still experimenting with epic powers, or whatever they are calling them this week.

[Times]

I'm following the advice I got in here pretty well so far - what are good spots to level at around level 32+ anyway? (Solo and group.)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Brickstown imho. FF is nice, but the alleyways and density make it easy to accidently aggro mobs.

[Airhammer]

OMG Explosive Blast DOES suck.. and royally.. very very very very underwhelming.. I tried it on the test server last night and was very very very very very very very disappointed.. Maybe with more slotting it would be better.. I do like that it has more range than energy torrent but I am considering doing what Quijon has done and what SnipeFu is considering doing.. going single target..

Love Bonesmaher.. BAM.. disoriented 7 out of 10 times.. excellent...

[JuryDuty]

Love your build MSKnight and probably similar to what I will have in the end.

I have to say though there's no way I'm giving up Energy Torrent. I love that power, if nothing else than because it knocks back enemies so much for me.

That said, I'm in a quandry how I can possibly add Power Push and Bone Smasher to my build. There's just no slots left! LOL Oh well. I need to try them on test and see if I like them as much as you guys say I will...then maybe I can give up something else for them.

I have ended up loving Total Focus as a good starting attack for bosses. Not sure if I really need Power Boost though.

So of the four Epic powers, which one are you missing and why didn't you take it? I'd also love to hear why you took the ones you did, including what they do and how they perform.

[Airhammer]

Jury do you have Explosive Blast as well.. I am looking at the free respec and seeing that Explosive Blast is kind of a let down.. I still think ET is a viable attack especially for those who dare to run in my face but then I am rarely on the ground.. I am an air based fighter...I even use my melee attacks from the air.. ( cant wait till I six slot hover )

Do you have both and do you see yourself getting rid of one ??

[Kevin_Schultz]

Total Focus allows you to stun a boss for 10 seconds. Build up increases that stun by another 10 seconds. With auto-hasten, the recharge of Total focus is something like 11 or 12 seconds. Thus, without Build-up, you can't quite chain-stun your target without devoting some of your slots to recharge or stun. This is important (in my experience) when dealing with Master Illusionists, who automatically phase every couple of seconds and thus can't be targeted half the time.

But other than that, yeah - personally, I really don't want to imcrease the distance of my knockback, as most people I team with find it irritating. However, I'm considering traveling the respec route as well, and going with Munitions - I can easily see the benefit of increased Armor, Hold, and Sleep effects. (LRM? Not so much.)

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
Total Focus allows you to stun a boss for 10 seconds. Build up increases that stun by another 10 seconds.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow--seriously? Guess I missed that memo. OK, won't be getting rid of Power Boost then lol. Yeah, that's a big difference.

[ QUOTE ]
Jury do you have Explosive Blast as well.. I am looking at the free respec and seeing that Explosive Blast is kind of a let down.. I still think ET is a viable attack especially for those who dare to run in my face but then I am rarely on the ground.. I am an air based fighter...I even use my melee attacks from the air.. ( cant wait till I six slot hover )

Do you have both and do you see yourself getting rid of one ??

[/ QUOTE ]

You can see my build up to lvl 41 by clicking on the link in my sig. I only have Energy Torrent because I thought Explosive Blast left a lot to be desired and I didn't want to waste the slot on a so-so power.

On the other hand, I LOVE Energy Torrent--even when fighting from the air. I usually attack a small group by using Aim+BU+Snipe against the highest lvl baddie, then Energy Torrent, which knocks everyone back. That allows me to finish off most everyone with Power Blast and Bolt before they even get up. I love that combo.

SnipeFu and MSKnight swear by Power Push--especially when fighting from the air as it knocks them down. And Bone Smasher seems to be getting more popular. I think I'd like it except I rarely get THAT close.

The only thing I could possibly give up at this point, IMO, is Fly by 6-slotting Hover. But when I tried it, I thought 6-slotted hover was way too slow for my tastes. That's just my opinion--others love it. Anyway, in the end, I have one slot left which will either go to Boost Range or Power Push. Or the last Epic Power. Who knows. :p

[JuryDuty]

PS Here are the Epic Power Pools with descriptions. Not sure if all are accurate anymore. Would love to hear people's real-life experience with them as we create our builds for January.

-Force Mastery:
*Personal Force Field - Cannot attack or effect others with this running but provides very high defense bonus - not total protection (Force Field Defender / Controller)
*Repulsion Field - Force shield that knocks back enemies. Each knockbacked enemy steals endurance. (Forcefield Defender / Controller)
*Temp Invuln - Possibly a 25% resistance to Smashing / Lethal (Invulnerability Tank / Scrapper)
*Unstoppable - Not quite the same as the Scrapper / Tank version. Base Resist is 50%, Base Recharge is 13 minutes (Invurnerability Tank / Scrapper)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

I posted quite a bit on these awhile ago, looked back and found these on TI and PFF: The others will require some digging, but basically I only tested Force and Munitions Mastery. The repel FF power is too much of an end hog but useful for a blapper, and FoN (Force of Nature) is a good power w/ 35% resist and a 13 min base recharge with a full end drain but no HP drop.

TI:
Base resistance to Lethal/Smashing 22.75% Near immediate recharge

PFF:
-Base recharge 30 seconds, with one SO and 6-slotted Hasten: 15 seconds. Longer than the Defender (primary) version.
-Dmg resistance (unenhanceable): 28% to all but Psi. Stacks with TI.
-Defense: Good but as with recharge, not as good as Defender (primary) version (understandable). Feedback on Defender PFF is that it does not need extra enhancements. Blaster EPP/APP version is good 1-slotted, but noticable improvement occurs with 2nd enh (and to a slightly lesser extent, a 3rd) -- note I was running hover & hasten at base (unenhanced) defense also at the time. Did not test over 3 enhancements.

[Airhammer]

I have a FF Defender and one of the biggest complaints from Bubblers is the end cost on Repulsion Field...

Well I am going to try going the Power Push route tonight on test server and see how I like that...

[JuryDuty]

So is Epic Unstoppable just not that great? Is that why you left it out?

[Airhammer]

I think the deal with Unstoppable is that its a power that is a once in a while power that will leave u seriously drained of end when its finished.. It cant be made Perma ( 13 minute recharge time ).. I dont know if I will take that power...

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
So is Epic Unstoppable just not that great? Is that why you left it out?

[/ QUOTE ]

Unstoppable became Force of Nature.

"and FoN (Force of Nature) is a good power w/ 35% resist and a 13 min base recharge with a full end drain but no HP drop."

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So is Epic Unstoppable just not that great? Is that why you left it out?

[/ QUOTE ]

Unstoppable became Force of Nature.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, duh--yeah, I knew that. I must be indulging in too much egg nog.

[Airhammer]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm egg nog......

[VA_Belle]

[ QUOTE ]
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm egg nog......

[/ QUOTE ]

More nog, hold the egg please. :)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm egg nog......

[/ QUOTE ]

More nog, hold the egg please. :)

[/ QUOTE ]

Icky egg....nummy nog...

[SnipeFu]

you know I've never had eggnog. I think the fact that a drink has egg in the name has just turned me off to it. :p

What's it taste like anyway?

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
you know I've never had eggnog. I think the fact that a drink has egg in the name has just turned me off to it. :p

What's it taste like anyway?

[/ QUOTE ]

Noggy egg....seriously tho' there are different types. I hated Egg Nog until I found a "Lite" version.

[VA_Belle]

It's a creamy rich drink, then the rum starts kicking in......

:)

.... I'm sorry, what was the question? What day is it? Why am I suddenly playing a regen scrapper? OMG, how much did I drink? :o

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
It's a creamy rich drink, then the rum starts kicking in......

:)

.... I'm sorry, what was the question? What day is it? Why am I suddenly playing a regen scrapper? OMG, how much did I drink? :o

[/ QUOTE ]

ROTFLMAO!

[JuryDuty]

Hey SnipeFu--We were talking about damage points in another thread and I thought it might be good to post this here. You may want to add the info to your guide. Taken from Ian of Moore's thread (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=faq&Number=1788764&fpart=& PHPSESSID=).

For the NRG/NRG Blaster, here are the Primary and Secondary Powers in order of overall base damage (Energy Damage + Smashing Damage):

Nova 12.48 (2.77+5.55+4.16) -- Area AoE
Total Focus 9.8 (2.7+7.1) -- Stuns
Sniper Blast 7.6 (5.5+2.1)
Bone Smasher 7.2 (1.66+5.55) -- Not Ranged
Energy Punch 5.3 (2.66+2.77) -- Not Ranged
Power Burst 5.2 (3..1+2.1)
Power Blast 4.5 (2.77+1.77)
Power Bolt 2.7 (2.2+.5)
Energy Torrent 2.6 (1.8+.8) -- Coned AoE
Explosive Blast 2.4 (1.1+1.38) -- Targeted AoE
Power Thrust 2.2 (1.1+1.1) -- Not Ranged
Power Push 1.1 (.55+.55) -- Knockback
Stun 0.6 (.4+.2) -- Stun

[Airhammer]

[ QUOTE ]
Previously I posted my intended Issue 3 build, after testing the new Force of Nature and factoring Issue 3 playstyle (mission slider) I came up with this build. I will miss Torrent and Explosive Blast for allowing me the varied gameplay of hitting larger groups, and may later respec them back in (and go back to the build I posted previously on page 7 of this thread), but I would like the increased defense, and in setting my mission slider to the max where spawns won’t increase in size but will by level (+2) the single-target/defense oriented build I have here should serve me well.

Brawl/Acc
Rest/Recharge
Sprint/Run
Power Bolt/Acc/5 Dam
Power Thrust/Acc
Power Blast/Acc/5 Dam
Build Up/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)
Swift/Run
Sniper Blast/4 Dam(1)
Power Burst/1Acc/5 Dam
Hasten/6 recharge
Super Speed/Run(2)
Hover/6 Fly Speed
Hurdle/Jump(3)
Stamina/6 Endurance Recovery
Aim/4 recharge (30 sec recycle time)(4)
Stealth/Def
Power Push/Acc
Conserve Power/6 recharge(5)
Power Boost/Recharge
Nova/3 recharge/3 Dam
Bone Smasher/1Acc/4 Dam(6)
Total Focus/1Acc/4 Dam(6)
Personal FF/1 Recharge/2 Defense Buffs(7)
Temp Invulnerability/4 Dam Resistance(8)
Force of Nature/6 Recharge(9)
Boost Range/1 Recharge



[/ QUOTE ]

This is very much along the lines of my latest build which I tested on the test server with the free respec. I saw that I would be approaching level 32 soon and that I needed to have things in place to make sure that NOVA works to the best of its aboility. That means SS and Stealth are needed. I tried SS and Stealth and was amazed how I could stand in the face of individuals and not be detected. This is a must for NOVA. AT level 28 I will most likely pick up Power Boost and level 30 Conserve Power or Power Push. I am not consideredint strongly dropping FLy for six slotted hover.. I LOVE flying however but while testing even for 15-20 minutes I saw that I could sneak in.. snipe.. run out, Hover and blast stuff from the air which is my specialty. I also want those same Power Pool powers as well.

[JuryDuty]

Pretty much my build there (click below) except I have Torrent instead of Push.

Airhammer--consider getting Conserve Power right before Nova. It comes in REAL handy to start that and then Nova--it will help you get that much needed endurance back right away.

On the other hand, You really don't need Power Boost until right before Total Focus--but then it doubles TF's ability.

So I did:
30-Conserve Power, then
32-Nova, (first available) then
35-Power Boost, then
38-Total Focus (first available)

[Airhammer]

Thank for the advice Jury, that makes perfect sense since Power Boosts big deal is that it will boost secondary affects like disorient.

[Echo_Slicer]

great, GREAT guide snipe! excellent tactics info + wise slotting suggestions.

[SnipeFu]

People since I hit level 50 last week (yay!) I am ready to make a summary and to add even more info on the guide for version 3.0. I would love to hear any suggestions you may have to make the guide more complete. One thing I'm looking to add is brawl index numbers, synergy with secondaries, and a more in depth strategy section. Anything else you may like to see?

[Airhammer]

I would like to say congratulations !!!!!!!!!!! <p> I dont know what else you could add Snipe to this already excellent guide. Possibly I would try and talk about your experience as an NRG blaster to help other. Possibly the different techniques you and others have used..

[VA_Belle]

Gratz, Snipe!! :)

(I can only dream of 50. Oh well, perhaps one day.... ;))

[BlueWolf]

Hey SnipeFu congrats on reaching 50. :eek: :D :cool:

BlueWolf

[JuryDuty]

Go SnipeFu! I'm so envious!!!

Well, suffice it to say, this is a GREAT guide already and you wouldn't have to add anything. Nonetheless, here are some ideas off the top of my head (the stuff I'd ask you if we sat down for coffee in Paragon City)...

--Include the damage numbers from my post above.
--Include information on all the Energy secondaries, similar to how you do for the primaries.
--Include when each power is first available.
--Include which powers should "definately" be taken when (ie Stamina at 20, Conserve Power at 30 then Nova at 32, PBoost at 35 then TF at 38)
--Maybe include your own template and alternative templates for various types of gameplay (long range, melee, AoE blaster, single target blaster, etc).
--A brief note about travel powers which serve energy blasters best and why.
--Best strategies for an energy blaster depending on the villain.

I dunno, just brainstorming here. Feel free to take/leave what you want. :)

Congrats again!

[VA_Belle]

And if you're going to mention blaster secondaries and which ones compliment/balk the energy blaster primary, you may want to mention the related */fire heated (sorry ;)) discussions.

[Dex1138]

[ QUOTE ]
People since I hit level 50 last week

[/ QUOTE ]

CONGA RATS!!!

(yea i stole it from someone else on my server and usin it every chance I can!)

[JuryDuty]

Oh, one more idea--love to see you continue with the Energy theme and cover the Epic Energy Powers.

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh, one more idea--love to see you continue with the Energy theme and cover the Epic Energy Powers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd have to actually see them and test them to be able to comment. I haven't spent much time on the test server but I'll try.

So far I've got a lot more info in there. Added slotting suggestions for devices blasters, brawl index numbers.....

will be adding a bogger tactics section and secondaries/synergy.

=)

[JuryDuty]

Rethinking Power Boost...

Pulsewave made a very interesting point iun another thread:
[ QUOTE ]
[PB] is +100% of the BASE disorient duration. If you have enhancements in then it wont be double your current duration.

[/ QUOTE ]

Since I ONLY use PB before TF (which I only use in boss situations), why not drop PB altogether and put in a couple Disorient SO's to make up the difference? Yhen I'll free up a slot to get something like PowerPush which I'd use all the time.

Comments?

[Ryker_XXX]

Just wanted to say hi and see how everyone was doing, I just made 41 tonight so things are looking up. I hope everyone is enjoying Issue 3 and having fun witht their blasters, I know I am. :)

Oh yeah picked Explosive Blast back up and boy have I missed it. lol.
Im hoping to change a few things when the free respec hits and I'll post my new build for anyone who wants to critique it lol.

Thanks Snipe, MsKnight, and everyone I've failed to mention, all the info you have provided has made things alot easier for me and those in our SG.

Take care folks, happy new year...

As always...

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

Hey gang!

Happy New Year to you all. I have to say this has been the most helpful thread I've ever read =) It got me excited about my NRG/NRG blaster again and taught me some great tactics.

I'm finally getting to 30 woo hoo! Great thing about my build is that I get all the powers I want (based on my playstyle). But the dilema! What to do at 30?

The Build so far (yes it's built for GASP! Role playing)
Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Energy Blast
Secondary Powers - Support : Energy Manipulation
Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Power Blast
Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Power Thrust
Level 2 : Power Bolt
Level 4 : Build Up
Level 6 : Hasten
Level 8 : Power Burst
Level 10 : Sniper Blast
Level 12 : Aim
Level 14 : Super Speed
Level 16 : Hurdle
Level 18 : Swift
Level 20 : Stamina
Level 22 : Hover
Level 24 : Fly
Level 26 : Stealth
Level 28 : Conserve Power

Now what do you suggest would be the best choices for my upcoming levels? As you can see I get to have them all. But what should come next...hmmm....decisions, decisions...

Does Anyone have any feedback on EPP's yet?

Level 30 : Bone Smasher /Energy Torrent/ Power Push
Level 32 : Nova
Level 35 : Bone Smasher /Energy Torrent/ Power Push
Level 38 : Bone Smasher /Energy Torrent/ Power Push /Total Focus
Level 41 : EPP Personal Force Field
Level 44 : EPP Temp Invuln
Level 47 : EPP Force of Nature
Level 49 : Bone Smasher /Energy Torrent/ Power Push /Total Focus

Thx Guys! See ya on Protector.
Look me up I'm Star Bolt.

[SnipeFu]

what about power boost chess? Do you plan on taking that?

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

Nope, figured any secondary boosts to powers i would do with enhancements , if i want them. I live without it fine now and don't see that changing. If anything, I would like ot have fit in boost range.

I'll test them both out on the test server , just to check out the difference.

[SnipeFu]

w00t!!!! updated to version 3.0!!!!111!!!!

[VA_Belle]

Thanks, SnipeFu! :)

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
The Energy Primary also has some of the sweetest audio and visual effects in the game. It definitely has a very superhero feel to it. This can be evidenced by the fact that I have started yet another energy blaster and so has my cohort and fellow SG leader, MsKnight aka Energy Star, who I would like to thank and give major credit to for the development of this guide.

[/ QUOTE ]

/em blush

Thanks Snipey! I learned quite a bit from you also! But who is this "Energy Star"? Now "EnergyStar" is a ruggedly handsome super-powerful heroic-guy.

Also, two questions based on v3 (which looks great btw).
1. Cone range enhancement: does the range (AoE) of damage increase or only the distance ET's cone can hit? The second example is more consistance with how regular, single-target attacks work the range enhancement.

2. Perma-hasten...you might want to note that this can be achieved with only SOs and that 6 slotting before you can buy SOs will now give you "perma" status...so one could wait for the level closest to SOs to devote the last enh slots to hasten to make it "perma."

[JuryDuty]

Just as before, VERY awesome, SnipeFu! I have pointed so many people to this thread and I'm very proud to do so!

My favorite line in 3.0: [ QUOTE ]
Presence. This is not a pool for blasters unless you really like going to the hospital.

[/ QUOTE ]LOL had me rolling.

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
Just as before, VERY awesome, SnipeFu! I have pointed so many people to this thread and I'm very proud to do so!

My favorite line in 3.0: [ QUOTE ]
Presence. This is not a pool for blasters unless you really like going to the hospital.

[/ QUOTE ]LOL had me rolling.

[/ QUOTE ]

You'd be surprised Jury. I saw an Ice blaster with provoke the other day.....

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

Thanks Snipe, MsKnight,JuryDuty and everyone else who's contributed to this great thread.

Snipe, congrats on 50! ...And ya got me thinking, not always a good thing =)

I tested
Power Push:
Great once you get the hang of cycling through your attacks. I knocked out 3 +2 Freaks, then went after the Boss. I have Conserve power and 6 slotted stamina, so I still had the juice to take him out after a cab or 2. Had him on his back the whole time. Ofcourse he ran (they always do) but my snipe
got his attention. I'm a single target blaster so this works really well for me. Great "OH @#$!%" power. Not so hot in groups with melee AT's, and it fits my concept.

Energy Torrent;
Needs slotting but I can see how this would become a mainstay for taking out even level cons and lower. Besides you need something to shoo away those annoying Rikti Monkeys "Bad, Bad Monkey!" BOOM!

Power Boost:
Tried it out, and liked it, alot. Really hard not to take. As it is I'm always concerned about KB when dealing with melee AT's. I'd rather have another attack up my sleeve, and add the disorient enhancements to TF. So I'll have to leave this out and get ET instead.

Bone Smasher:
Animations are a bit slow for my taste. I can see it's value, but I just don't want to get that close. And with ET properly slotted, I think I'll get more bang for my buck with it.

Boost Range:
Not tested yet, but I'm always wishing for extra range. An extra 60% range? Thats like 3 SO's. That's great. Allows me to fully slot for damage. A definite for my guy

So this is what I wind up with until 50.
Thanks to all your combined input, I have a build that I love to play that can solo and kick mighty butt on teams

Archetype: Blaster
Primary Powers - Ranged : Energy Blast
Secondary Powers - Support : Energy Manipulation
Level 1 (Starting Primary) : Power Bolt
Level 1 (Starting Secondary) : Power Thrust
Level 2 : Power Blast
Level 4 : Build Up
Level 6 : Hasten
Level 8 : Hover
Level 10 : Power Burst
Level 12 : Aim
Level 14 : Fly
Level 16 : Hurdle
Level 18 : Swift
Level 20 : Stamina
Level 22 : Sniper Blast
Level 24 : Conserve Power
Level 26 : Super Speed
Level 28 : Stealth
Level 30 : Power Push
Level 32 : Nova
Level 35 : Boost Range
Level 38 : Energy Torrent
Level 41 : EPP Personal Force Field
Level 44 : EPP Temp Invuln
Level 47 : EPP Force of Nature
Level 49 : Total Focus


Chess

Star Bolt lvl 30 NRG/NRG on Protector
Look me up!

[Dawnstarr]

On your first question about cone range enhanser's...Now this is based on what I have heard and even tried it myself, it not only extends the range but how wide an area <cone effect> gets hit by the power it's applied to.

An example it simple, with out the enhance, I had hit 3 mobs side by side that were within range of the Energy torrent, with the enhancement in place not only did I hit 3 mobs , roughly about the same distance away, but hit 3 more further away and in a wider arc. And for you youngster Blasters out there, don't try that at home til you can prove you're of legal age, once you slap them they get very nasty about it and can take it quite personally.....wait til your capable of taking a bit of a hit or two or can hover or get a tank to taunt them off of you, telling a mob his mother wears combat boots works pretty good, so tell the tanker to insult the mobs that way :)

Dawnstarr

[Alodarn]

I'm Energy/Ice and I'd just like to add one observation.

Ice Patch is a great tool to assist in using Power Burst.

Against "tricky" groups, I will open with the patch before snipe/blasting. Any that try to come and melee me, more often than not, trip up on the patch, and then I can burst with a lot less risk.

[Dex1138]

[ QUOTE ]
Besides you need something to shoo away those annoying Rikti Monkeys

[/ QUOTE ]
Nova: the best bug zapper (swarms) and monkey extermination influence can buy!
Get yours today!

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Actually aim or BU + Expl Blast worked great and has a much faster recharge time.

[Star_Bolt_Prime]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Besides you need something to shoo away those annoying Rikti Monkeys

[/ QUOTE ]
Nova: the best bug zapper (swarms) and monkey extermination influence can buy!
Get yours today!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok...those DE swarms are really starting to tick me off too!

[VA_Belle]

I used Nova for the first time in real combat the other night against a swarm of monkeys bothering my controller teammate wih their psi attacks.

BOOM!! "Yes, Houston, we have no bananas!" :D

[JuryDuty]

[ QUOTE ]
I used Nova for the first time in real combat the other night against a swarm of monkeys bothering my controller teammate wih their psi attacks.

BOOM!! "Yes, Houston, we have no bananas!" :D

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL you're going to begin to LOVE Nova...except for the times you fire it against 10 reds and one survives...and you suddenly realize you have no blue pill...and you forgot to push Conserve Power beforehand. :)

I use it all the time though and LOVE it!

[Ryker_XXX]

Well it's the morning after respec and how are we all feeling today? Me pretty good for the most part, just sitting at work itching to be playing atm. :)

And for the NEW Ryker or Ryker Version 9.275 (lol), have to admit that over the past few hours, I've had to relearn some old tricks but I dare say I'm loving it.

But as I said before I was gonna post the new build and check if anyone else has anything new about power boost.

I just picked it up and not sure if I like it or not. Also PFF is good, but things can still get through and makes a good bridge into Phase Shift. I'll double check PFF's slotting when I get home because I can't remember if I slotted with 2 end red, 2 dam resist, or one of each. :eek:

Primary

Power Bolt (3 Dam, 1 Acc)
Power Blast (4 Dam, 1 Acc)
Snipe (5 Dam, 1 Inter)
Aim (3 rech)
Explosive Blast (2 Dam, 1 Acc)
Nova (2 Dam, 4 rech)

Secondary

Power Thrust (1 Dam)
Build Up (3 rech)
Conserve Power (6 rech)
Power Boost (2 rech)
Boost Range (2 rech)

Fitness

Hurdle (1 jump)
Health (4 heal)
Stamina (6 recov)

Flight

Hover (6 fly)
Fly (5 fly)

Speed

Hasten (6 rech)

Concealment

Stealth (1 Resist)
Invisibility (1 end red)
Phase Shift (2 end red)

Force Mastery

PFF (2 end red)

As you can see, I had to rearrange my slots to make sure everything was covered but for the most part, I'm doing good with it. I will be adding more slots back into my attacks and I also wanted to experiment with Hover and Fly and see the big difference and I wanted to see for myself how fast Fly is at lvl 50 with what I have slotted. With Hover 6 slotted, I hardly ever touch the ground anymore. :)

Just wanted to congratulate Snipe on 50 (yeah i know little late) and thank everyone in advance on this thread for the help. Just go easy on me. :p lol

As always....

[SnipeFu]

Ryker, nice build man.

I have a few suggestions for you, take them as you like. I suggest taking the 3 slots out of health, 1 slot from phase shift, and 3 slots out of flight and putting those slots in to your attacks. Here's why:
Health doesn't really do much at all for blasters, the regen rate is not fast enough to make any real difference in combat, it will just shorten down time between fights and at your level down time is very little to begin with. EnergyStar tested this extensively and we also know since the regen rate is based on hit points blasters benefit the least. With six slotted stamina you don't need to end reductions in phase shift as you will not outpace your end regen even with one or two toggles going. Flight gets to 99% of the cap with three flight speeds. If you put those extra 7 slots into your attacks I feel you will be much better off as you will be getting through things much faster. What do you think?

[Airhammer]

Question with Invisibility or Phase Shift can you sneak up and Nova people WITHOUT SS ????

[Dawnstarr]

I was looking over that build and it sounds really good, in fact it's given me a few ideas for a possible respec later. I still haven't used the free respec because I find my current build <wish I could remember it right off hand> more then suits my current needs. As for SnipeFu's suggestions, they are very sound, my Blaster is currently 25 and with two lvl 25 SO's for recharge in build-up, I find that it recharges almost fast enough to hit it a couple times during a battle. Maybe my fighting style and everyone else's are completely different, but who knows? I still only have 5 lvl 25 recharges in Hasten, and most battles are over by the time I notice that I'm not firing as fast as before....the few seconds that I am with out Hasten before it Auto starts again, is hardly noticed , by me anyways. To be honest though, I may yet put an extra slot into it to make it fully perma-hasten.

Now for a question, I noticed that conserve power before Nova should be executed to conserve end, for the stragglers. Does Conserve power really help all that much ? I have the fitness <?> pool powers Hurdle, Health and Stamina. I've never gotten Nova or even seen it used yet or the effects of the Blaster it's said to have after firing it off.

Any info would be great, Thanks :)

Dawnstarr

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hi gang,

I reviewed the past few posts and had some thoughts.

Ryker: Your build's a bit different than mine so I'll assume it's playstyle/how you enjoy your character so I'll just offer a couple of thoughts on slots where one sees little incremental benefit--as you mentioned that you might like to reslot for more damage. As Snipe mentioned, slotting health doesn't do alot for blasters, unless you want the minimal downtime between fights...it won't help really during a fight. Boost Range...with only one SO and 6 slotted hasten you'll have 1 second of downtime before it recharges...so with the 2nd you don't gain a whole lot. Fly: Fly maxes out at 4 SOs..and that 4th is a smaller boost in speed than #3...Snipe says to get rid of a few but I've played w/ 4 slotted fly at 50 and its really fun and I miss it, so my recc is only to remove that 5th slot that's really not value-added (unless you change it to say end rdn). Those two, and maybe the 3 extra in health should give you room to play with. If you're interested my final build is posted some pages back on this thread. Oh one more thing...PFF with stealth pretty much equals phase (not as complete protection and you cannot phase through 5th prisons), so the powers are somewhat redundant (PFF has a 2 sec activation, only 1 sec better than phase). I dropped phase (still miss it tho, just like 4 slotted fly) for more power choices (PFF and 6 slotted hover are fine replacements tho)

AirH: With Invis (from the power pool) and Phase you cannot attack so you can't fire off nova...you can get in position, but you'll have to drop the power in order to fire off nova...with the 3 second activation time it's enough to get stunned...and subsequently defeated. I recc either stealth and SS...or flying/hovering over the mob...deactivating and falling to activate nova....or the "run and jump" aka jousting method.

Dawn: CP acts differently than Stamina...whereas stamina increases the rate of end recovery, CP cuts the cost in half. Here's why the difference is important after nova (esp in a long battle). Nova completely drains your endurance and, assuming no teammate buffs you, you have a penalty whereas you cannot (naturally) end for 10 seconds or so afterwards...this effectively takes stamina out of the equation (for those 10 seconds). You'll have to pop a catch a breath inspiration to get endurance, but if you have several stragglers or, if you use it in a big fight as an "oh <bleep>" power, especially when on a team, you'll want to keep fighting for awhile...a single cab will usu last long enough to pick off stragglers, but you'll have to pause a bit before your next fight...with CP all the powers you use (except nova) will cost 1/2 end...so you'll be able to attack more after you use it.

[Airhammer]

Yeah I guess I just dont want to drop flight thats all.. I Love flight.. Yeah I know its slower than SS but I just LOVE flying... I might do the whole drop in set off Nova.. Fly out.. does that work really well ??? Because I can see myself doing that and screaming DEATH FROM ABOVE !!!!! he he he

[Ryker_XXX]

Snipe and Energy thanks for the help and maybe its just our server but I havent had the experience with powers that you describe.

Boost Range hasn't ever recharged in the way you describe, i still have to wait about 7-10 seconds for it to be rdy for me to fire off again (and before respec I had 3 rechs in it which did give me about 2 - 3 sec downtime with it). But then again I only use it to either I need to outrange or keep mobs in range which I seem to be doing alot now.

Slot wise I pulled from boost range (2), health (1), stealth (1), and grant invis (1) to max out hover, but I was also able to max snipe which is my opening attack and can use it alot during battles (even solo). I try to keep as minimal downtime between fights as possible, I originally had health 5 slotted. As far as the Fly cap, I've heard 3, I've heard 4, but since I dropped SS I'll take my flight over one lvl without damage. Besides I pretty much spam aim and build-up so that it makes up for the less damage. I may change it to an end red at 50 but til then I'm happy with the results.

Phase Shift, I've found that I need 2 end redux in it just to be able to fly with it on. And I can run Stealth or Invis with it and be invisible and untouchable. :) I dropped Swift and SS so I could pick up Power Boost and PFF. PFF, I found is a good bridge to switch on PS. I can switch from PFF to PS and get away much faster and not get hit as hard or stunned during the switch. It does take some practice but when it works, it works.

Since I pretty much have figured out what I want power wise I have 1 pick left and that may be Total Focus. When I hit 43 I'll finish slotting out Bolt and Blast and start working on my other powers.

Power Boost I found does raise +def, knockback, etc. but I haven't seen a speed boost with it concerning fly, but I do find that I like the power specially when I can knock down an AV. Again this doesnt happen all the time but in the fight I just had vs. the Envoy I did knockdown twice on him. And NO I wasnt soloing him either lol. I wish.

Thanks for the help guys I have appreciated it very much and enjoy your ragging of my build. ;)

Snipe, Star, I salute you.

As always..

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah I guess I just dont want to drop flight thats all.. I Love flight.. Yeah I know its slower than SS but I just LOVE flying... I might do the whole drop in set off Nova.. Fly out.. does that work really well ??? Because I can see myself doing that and screaming DEATH FROM ABOVE !!!!! he he he

[/ QUOTE ]

Well...it works better than dropping invis in the middle of the mob but not as well as the jousting method and a far cry from the stealth + ss way.

It takes ALOT of practice, as you have to get an idea how high you are...then time the drop and activation...then you can still be hit briefly when you land. Not perfect, but a different method that, when applied well, would be really really fun.

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Hey Ryker, didn't mean it as ragging (clarification: what I do to Snipe...THAT'S ragging), I just wanted you to have the "max" build you can have based on what you want to do (i.e. not a cookie cutter copy of mine) by avoiding slotting over caps.

Some thoughts: Power Boost effect on Fly speed. It does have an effect but since you're at "the cap" you don't see this. Let me elaborate: Fly speed increases with level...but max fly speed is set by level. E.g. one w/ 6 Fly speeds at L30 will not fly as fast as a L50 w/ only 4 fly speeds. With 4-5 SOs, being at the max fly speed for your level, Power Boost will not appear to have an effect. However it will on Hover (I often "fly" using 6 slotted hover and get a very noticable boost when I hit power boost).

You mentioned using stealth and phase to give you complete invisibility. I respec'd out of phase (miss that power) but I thought they were mutually exclusive powers. I'll have to check my older copy on test. Generally I stacked SS w/ phase (or stealth) for complete invis.

Boost Range...are you running your recharge numbers while hasten is activated? I notice that you have hasten 6-slotted for perma status, but the numbers you posted are more in-line w/ my calcuations w/o Hasten (note, I created my calculations based upon what I knew and read of how recharge red work, then compared the output to various other reported numbers from random posts I came across, tweaked my calc, and then tested/confirmed with live testing).

Boost range has a 30 sec duration and a base 60 second recharge. Without hasten, with 1 SO recharge drops to 45 sec, with 2 down to 6 sec and with 3 to 30 sec. With hasten 70% base factor added to an SO's 33% factor, the 60 sec recharge drops to 30 sec w/ only 1 SO (the equivilant of 3 SOs w/o hasten). With the 30 sec duration it's effectively "perma" available. I tested this several times last night (using hasten) and everytime my Boost Range Icon disappeared I looked down and it was already recharged.

I don't think the servers s/b different, and the last time I checked I wasn't smoking crack (note: is smoking even the way to "do" crack? It's been awhile since I've been a "peer leader" while in school), so let me know if you still get the same results!

[Airhammer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah I guess I just dont want to drop flight thats all.. I Love flight.. Yeah I know its slower than SS but I just LOVE flying... I might do the whole drop in set off Nova.. Fly out.. does that work really well ??? Because I can see myself doing that and screaming DEATH FROM ABOVE !!!!! he he he

[/ QUOTE ]

Well...it works better than dropping invis in the middle of the mob but not as well as the jousting method and a far cry from the stealth + ss way.

It takes ALOT of practice, as you have to get an idea how high you are...then time the drop and activation...then you can still be hit briefly when you land. Not perfect, but a different method that, when applied well, would be really really fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for all the help Energy Star, I am just going to respec out of flight and go with Six Slotted Hover which will work well for most cirumstances.. I use my flight to fight.. which means most of the outdoor fighting I am doing I am in hover.. switch to flight.. fly away.. switch to hover... attack again... With Six Slotted Hover.. no problem.. no switching.. If I have to cross a zone I will just use SS and 6SH ( my new thing for six slotted hover ) to get away from people.

[Ryker_XXX]

Hey Star just wanted to add something I may have missed, I found that I can use both Invis and Stealth (not together) while Phased. Its pretty cool when I'm getting ready to use Nova. I either hop or hover in, power boost, boost range, aim, buildup, shut off invis, watch them try and hit me, shut off phase, and then its "BURNING BIG BANG" time. I also have noticed a slight range increase with Nova and Boost Range. Its cool.

Also noticed the increase speed with PB and Hover, so its good.

The numbers I mentioned are with hasten activated, so I don't know what the problem is. I've also noticed that Boost range lasts longer than 30 sec., next time I'm on I'll time it again, just to be sure. Aw heck I'll retime everything again just to be sure.

Yeah keep ragging on Snipe, he needs it. lol and was wondering if we were gonna get together again on test, like you guys had planned in another thread? I missed it but am hoping if you do it again I can hop in and say Hi besides doing it here. :)

[Trask]

great guide. i got to lvl 28 today and after waiting for the holiday respec, im going to be pickier with my powers. im a tech blaster, eng/eng. Trask on infinity server. see you on the streets of paragon!

[Devin_Lacer]

Hey all, Raedien here, Nrg/Nrg blaster, very char concept oriented. Been playing around for awhile and was asking for help on the blaster boards. Didn't happen. Eventually someone pointed me here, THANK YOU! I didn't learn that much, the specific slot options are really nice though. I do have a few questions, and eventually (once I catch up on my college HW, i just spend 3 horus reading this ENTIRE THING, and the energy manipulation guide) will post my planned build for your expert(s) review(s). In the meantime, the post that got me here was concerning the dmg descriptor on the nrg snipe attack. It says 'Superior' as opposed to 'Extreme.' I was told that superior is lower than extreme and I am irked by this. NRG is supposed to be mainly single target, so why is our main single target attack lower than everyone elses? One idea was how early it was available. This makes sense, except that other archtypes get 'staple' moves early as well and they don't get jipped on dmg...Fireball being my main arguement, I have a high level Fire Blaster friend and that is his clean up move. Also, other powersets get snipe (except for Fire, but we know why there, although it is still extreme dmg) only one option lower! Also, the defender secondary sets Dark Blast and Psychic Blast get their 'Snipe' attacks in the 3RD SLOT! And both are EXTREME! [censored]?! Two levels is all the difference! Now I know that two levesl is important, but for a supposedly single target power set, it seems unfair...We should have Extreme on our snipe.
Second issue-As Raedien is a highly RP char (At least in power set, I don't tend to do the whole speech rp thing *shrug*) I took Teloportation as my travel power, much to the chagrin of many of my close friends. I can see why, high end cost, interruptible, no combat bonuses, and it requires slotting to be useful just for traveling! Still, I can't break out of it, no other travel power makes sense. I also plan on going through the Stealth tree and getting phase shift or invisibility. I also plan on picking up the Force Mastery defensive powers (not sure which). So I guess my question is what do you(meaning anyone on here) suggest for working Nova into the build?
I have more but can't remember it all, I'm kinda sick right now :eek:
On a final note, I did not pick up Power Bolt, have worked fine without it, don't plan on getting Bonesmasher or Energy Punch (Still totally getting Total Focus though :D) I love Energy Torrent with all my heart, and I am really hoping Energy Blast isn't as bad as I hear. Was thinking of getting Power Push....hmmm

[deadboy_champion]

[ QUOTE ]
In the meantime, the post that got me here was concerning the dmg descriptor on the nrg snipe attack. It says 'Superior' as opposed to 'Extreme.' I was told that superior is lower than extreme and I am irked by this. NRG is supposed to be mainly single target, so why is our main single target attack lower than everyone elses?

[/ QUOTE ]

AFAIK all the Sniper attacks do the same amount of damage (for Blasters relatively speaking) - Compare the base of a level 26 Blazing Bolt to a level 26 SniperBlast and they should be around the same (should be in the brawl index).

[ QUOTE ]
Also, the defender secondary sets Dark Blast and Psychic Blast get their 'Snipe' attacks in the 3RD SLOT! And both are EXTREME! [censored]?!

[/ QUOTE ]

Defenders also do 64.99% of Blaster Damage so again the EXTREME thing may be related to a it's specific archetype.

[ QUOTE ]
Teloportation as my travel power, much to the chagrin of many of my close friends. I can see why, high end cost, interruptible, no combat bonuses, and it requires slotting to be useful just for traveling!

[/ QUOTE ]

I had Teleport and I used it for combat with my Invulnerability Scrapper (before they removed the self root from Unyielding). I have Stamina and TP is slotted with a single Reduce Endurance.

[ QUOTE ]
I also plan on going through the Stealth tree and getting phase shift or invisibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you are going for Phase Shift take Stealth then Grant Invisibility then Phase Shift.

Stealth and Phase Shift = the same effect as Invisibility

[ QUOTE ]
I also plan on picking up the Force Mastery defensive powers (not sure which).

[/ QUOTE ]

Personal Force Field, Repulsion Field, Temporary Invulnerability, Force of Nature

Either take PFF and slot it or take Phase Shift (if you're looking for that oh heck button). Even slotted up mobs will still have a 5% chance to hit you with PFF on. However unlike Phase Shift you can use powers that affect self like Aid Self for example.

[ QUOTE ]
So I guess my question is what do you(meaning anyone on here) suggest for working Nova into the build?


[/ QUOTE ]

IMO, Nova should be taken at 32 when it is available.


[ QUOTE ]
Was thinking of getting Power Push....hmmm

[/ QUOTE ]

If you solo frequently Power Push is highly recommended in my book for keeping stuff on it's backside.

[SnipeFu]

Hi Radien,

thanks for posting now regarding your issues:

The snipe description is wrong, all blaster snipes like deadboy mentioned do the same base damage, so don't worry about it too much.

Teleportation is a tough one for a blaster, but since you are working off of concept, if it fits into youre concept I highly recommend picking uphover for several reasons. Number one, when teleporting, lag can and will kill you many times. You can be in the middle of a port, the game lags, and you drop into the middle of a very ugly crowd and bang! instant death. Even if you don't use it for combat purposes, which is also a fantastic use for hover (but again I know you're working off concept) use it to stay alive when teleporting. I don't know if you have an extra pool to open up or not for hover but if you do it will save you much grief.

For dropping a nova, you may have to stealth+phase in, then power up, drop phase, and nova. This will take a little practice to get the timing right, but should work most of the time. The problem here is, and you have to be careful for it, that when you drop phase and start the nova activation, mobs will be able to see you, and have 3 seconds to pound on you. This is quite dangerous and can lead to death very fast. With practice however you should be able to master this technique. Also there is a way of doing a running nova where you activate nova as you are jumping over the group, you will land far away, but the nova will go off exactly where you activated it which is hopefully directly above the group you are trying to kill. This also takes practice, the few times I tried I was unsuccessful but I have seen it done.

I agree with deadboy again in that if you are tasking the stealth line go stealth, grant invis, phase.

Power push is a great defensive tool.

Explosive blast is not AS BAD as you hear. It's good, just don't expect too much damage out of it.

Hope this has helped, good luck.

[Dysmal]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Also, the defender secondary sets Dark Blast and Psychic Blast get their 'Snipe' attacks in the 3RD SLOT! And both are EXTREME! [censored]?!

[/ QUOTE ]

Defenders also do 64.99% of Blaster Damage so again the EXTREME thing may be related to a it's specific archetype.


[/ QUOTE ]

It is. Last time I checked, I dont think my snipe on Dysmal, slotted with 5 damage SOs and one ACC cant even one shot an even minion. Trust me, blasters have nothing to fear from Defender snipes.

The qualatative damage descriptions are, AFAIK, in reference to each ATs specific damage level, not a scale that applies to all ATs.

[Devin_Lacer]

Awesome, thanks guys.
As for my Nova question, I was refering to what SnipeFu answered, so I'm thinking I can pull it off, maybe...lol
As for the Stealth tree, taking Grant Invis was the plan, I already have Stealth, was just debating between Invisibility and Phase Shift...If I take personal forcefield isn't it kind of redundent to have Phaseshift? IDK what would be better, I might get repulsion field simply because it follows the char concept more and that would give Phaseshift some more usability...I don't think I have room for hover, although I can see where it would be useful. I already knew that the otehr AT's can't do as much damage as Blasters but I would like it if the Dev's would pay attention to the minor details of their changes too. For example, my tanker has Unyielding stance, but the descriptor in the general window still tells you that you can't move. I noticed something else yesterday that was of this nature but can't remember :p I think that is it for now...
Thanks again for the detailed comments, and the great guide.

[Starfire_One]

Slot[01] Level 1 : Power Bolt /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[02] Level 1 : Power Thrust /Acc
Slot[03] Level 2 : Power Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[04] Level 4 : Energy Torrent /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Cone,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Hover /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[06] Level 8 : Sniper Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Inter,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[07] Level 10 : Power Burst /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Swift /Run
Slot[09] Level 14 : Fly /Fly,Fly,Fly
Slot[10] Level 16 : Health /Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal
Slot[11] Level 18 : Power Push /Acc
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[14] Level 24 : Conserve Power /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[15] Level 26 : Explosive Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[16] Level 28 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[17] Level 30 : Stealth /EndRdx,DefBuf
Slot[18] Level 32 : Nova /Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[19] Level 35 : Aid Other /Rchg
Slot[20] Level 38 : Aid Self /Rchg
Slot[21] Level 41 : Repulsion Field /Acc, EndRdx, EndRdx
Slot[22] Level 44 : Personal Force Field /EndRdx,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[23] Level 47 : Temp Invulnerability /EndRdx,ResDmg,ResDmg
Slot[24] Level 49 : Force of Nature /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg

My character is, above all else, a sniper. Whether I kite from the range of my sniper blast, or stealth within range of the majority of my powers, I still consider myself a Sniper.

This build has helped me up to level 31 and will continue to help me through to 50 and my Kheldian. With it, I can also earn ALL my badges (Heal Other helps towards the medical badges).

Thank you SnipeFu, your Guide has helped me a great deal.

[SnipeFu]

Starfire, I like your build. I have one suggestion and that is to take the slots out of Health because they really don't do much for you in combat and only really serve to speed up down time in between fights. Since you already have aid self, you can throw those extra five slots in stealth or hover or aid other/aid self. Otherwise it looks like a great build. Have fun.

[Blaster_Babe]

Hi,

Ive been trying to figure out what Mastery pool to take for a few days now after hitting 41 and very nearly 42 recently.

After reading this excellent guide and all the comments I think Im going with Force Mastery for my Eng/Eng blaster, it seems to fit best with my setup.

I think I'll take :-

41: Personal Force field / DefBuf
44: Temp Invuln / ResDam
47: Force of Nature / Rchrg

I assume I get 3 slots at 42,43,45,46,48 and 49 and another power at 50 or am I wrong?
Any suggestions as to extra slotting of the above powers?
Thanks!

[SnipeFu]

Hey Blaster Babe,

I personally haven't even taken the epic pool yet because I need to test more to see what I prefer, but what you have chosen is a great way to go. As far as powers you get your last power at 49 and three more slots at 50. Good luck.

[Starfire_One]

[ QUOTE ]
Starfire, I like your build. I have one suggestion and that is to take the slots out of Health because they really don't do much for you in combat and only really serve to speed up down time in between fights. Since you already have aid self, you can throw those extra five slots in stealth or hover or aid other/aid self. Otherwise it looks like a great build. Have fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you are right. All 6-slotting (Well it's 4-slotted right now) gets me is a couple more seconds of fight before debt (sorry, blaster humor). I think I'll put a Defense Buff in Stealth (and change one of the End. Discounts to a Defense Buff, also, and an Interrupt and Recharge into Aid Other and Aid Self. Any comments on this matter would be appreciated.

Another question, does anyone know how many recharges it would take to make Build Up and Conserve Power perma (or near-perma for that matter)?

[SnipeFu]

Guys it seems I may have been wrong about the BU+Aim+ET+EB combo taking out white minions. It has been brought to my attention that someone has tested this on numerous enemies and found they are all left with a sliver of health. Can you all do some testing as well and tell me what you find?

If this is true I will have to revise the guide. Thanks in advance.

[ATRAtwo]

[ QUOTE ]
Slot[05] Level 6 : Hover /DefBuf,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[08] Level 12 : Swift /Run
Slot[09] Level 14 : Fly /Fly,Fly,Fly
Slot[10] Level 16 : Health /Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal,Heal
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[17] Level 30 : Stealth /EndRdx,DefBuf
Slot[19] Level 35 : Aid Other /Rchg
Slot[20] Level 38 : Aid Self /Rchg

This build has helped me up to level 31 and will continue to help me through to 50 and my Kheldian. With it, I can also earn ALL my badges (Heal Other helps towards the medical badges).

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, much deleted, but take a look at what I've left up there:

I count FIVE power pools. If they ever make Stamina an
inherent power, great!

But, it looks like you'll find yourself unable to take the healing
powers next level.

You could respec and throw out flight, take superspeed for your
travel power, and fit in the medicine pool that way but...

I ran into the same issue recently. I wanted to add teleport
to my flight, for character concept (was a paper RPG char
before CoH) but Hasten, even though I don't slot it, was
simply too useful, even if I only turn it on for big boss battles,
or the horde of mobs facing a 6+ team of heroes.

I'm happy with my blaster's build, though I might redo some
things for Exemplaring purposes with a respec, IF Stamina
becomes an Inherent power.

(Health is nice, but I'd dump it and Swift, despite me having
Stealth, to free up more early power choices.)

[Airhammer]

Snipe will you post your build ?????

[EnergyStar_MsK]

Pre I-3 I had these powers 4 slotted for dmg and used Aim + BU on even con (50) Nemesis minions...yes on slivers of health remaining. I don't think the minor differential (3-4%) to the 400% dmg would've taken them out completely. I'm sure I've used a rage here and there, and I've never completely taken out even-con (white) minions w/ the combo. It's still fun tho', and might be accurate (in completely taking them out) in the lower/mid level game.

[Arcanaville]

[ QUOTE ]
Guys it seems I may have been wrong about the BU+Aim+ET+EB combo taking out white minions. It has been brought to my attention that someone has tested this on numerous enemies and found they are all left with a sliver of health. Can you all do some testing as well and tell me what you find?

If this is true I will have to revise the guide. Thanks in advance.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did testing of this at lvl50 against possessed scientists and nemesis minions about a week ago for another thread. BU+torrent+EB leaves them with a little bit of health left (on the order of 45 or so). This is with torrent and EB 5+1slotted with ++ enhancements. Aim doesn't have much to do under that slotting condition, and with BU+Aim+torrent+EB minions have something like 17 health left. Shame. BUT, BU+Aim+Torrent+EB is so close to taking out minions, its possible that it might at some level. Someone should test this at various other levels, or alternatively if someone knows of a table of minion health out there, we might be able to calculate this.

Also, anything with a vulnerability to smash or energy might go down with the combo. Freakshow in particular, or some of the DE, I think, have vulnerabilities to energy and smashing respectively.

Might as well wait on the snipe-testing also, SnipeFu, before making guide changes.

[VA_Belle]

[ QUOTE ]
Snipe will you post your build ?????

[/ QUOTE ]

NEVER ask a lady her age, or her build. ;) :D

[ranger498x]

great info :)

[SnipeFu]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Snipe will you post your build ?????

[/ QUOTE ]

NEVER ask a lady her age, or her build. ;) :D

[/ QUOTE ]

Who are you calling a lady? I will post my build soon, working on my twins' B-Day party today, no time to look it all up.

[VA_Belle]

Pass on my "Happy Birthday" wishes to your twins! :D

We just celebrated our twins' (boy and girl) birthdays last month, so I know what it's like! :eek:

[EnergyStar_MsK]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Snipe will you post your build ?????

[/ QUOTE ]

NEVER ask a lady her age, or her build. ;) :D

[/ QUOTE ]

Who are you calling a lady? I will post my build soon, working on my twins' B-Day party today, no time to look it all up.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can attest...Snipe ain't no LADY! :D

[Starfire_One]

[ QUOTE ]
I count FIVE power pools. If they ever make Stamina an inherent power, great!

But, it looks like you'll find yourself unable to take the healing
powers next level.

You could respec and throw out flight, take superspeed for your travel power, and fit in the medicine pool that way but...


[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for pointing that out... :o caught me... I've changed the post to what everyone has said is a good build and am waiting for comments... again, thanks for the info.

[Starfire_One]

Slot[01] Level 1 : Power Bolt /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[02] Level 1 : Power Thrust /Acc
Slot[03] Level 2 : Power Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[04] Level 4 : Energy Torrent /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Cone,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[05] Level 6 : Hover /EndRdx,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[06] Level 8 : Sniper Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,Inter,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[07] Level 10 : Power Burst /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[08] Level 12 : Swift /Run
Slot[09] Level 14 : Fly /Fly,Fly,Fly
Slot[10] Level 16 : Health /Heal
Slot[11] Level 18 : Power Push /Acc
Slot[12] Level 20 : Stamina /EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec,EndRec
Slot[13] Level 22 : Hasten /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[14] Level 24 : Conserve Power /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[15] Level 26 : Explosive Blast /Acc,Dmg,Dmg,EndRdx,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[16] Level 28 : Build Up /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg,Rchg
Slot[17] Level 30 : Stealth /EndRdx,DefBuf,DefBuf,EndRdx,DefBuf,DefBuf
Slot[18] Level 32 : Nova /Rchg,Dmg,Dmg,Rchg,Dmg,Dmg
Slot[19] Level 35 : Super Speed /EndRdx
Slot[20] Level 38 : Whirlwind /EndRdx,EndRdx
Slot[21] Level 41 : Repulsion Field /Acc, EndRdx, EndRdx
Slot[22] Level 44 : Personal Force Field /EndRdx
Slot[23] Level 47 : Temp Invulnerability /EndRdx,ResDmg,ResDmg
Slot[24] Level 49 : Force of Nature /Rchg,Rchg,Rchg

[Airhammer]

Why have flight and SS.. why not try the six slotted hover ???

[Redeucer]

I have a question based on the guide, SnipeFu. You say:

[ QUOTE ]
Large groups of minions up to +4 – Buildup, Aim, Nova. Done.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am finding that I am missing far to many and getting killed after doing this. All it takes is one or two +4 minion with no damage and a couple more damaged ones to give you a world of hurt while you are low on END. I have gotten so I keep some CaBs handy so I can get some endurance back to keep from getting destroyed after doing this. I have Nova 4 slotted with damage. What am I missing here?

Thanks!

[Novem]

Redeucer,

At what lvl is your blaster at currently, what do you have buildup/aim/nova slotted with? If you can supply this information I think it will be easier for us to help you with your question. ;)