Fire is the best blaster set.

Let that sink in. FIRE is the best blaster primary power set.
“Uncle Dave, why is Fire the best blaster primary set?”
I’m glad you asked, children. Answer me this; what is a blaster’s job?
“Ranged damage!”
Correct. Now every set has a signature secondary effect. Ice has nifty Slow, Electricity has end drain, Assault Rife has a mixed bag of knockback and debuff, Archery has… uh… hmm… suck (but that’s a whole nother post). The point is; Fire’s secondary effect is: more damage! No other set gives you more unresisted damage options. Let’s have a look…

Flares gets a bad rap. Back in the day it did, indeed, suck. Long animation time for minimal DOT damage? Pfaugh. These days the animation has been cleaned up but it’s still DOT. As far as 1st tier blaster powers go it ain’t the best, but it’s a far cry from the worst. New Defiance (which, btw, still kicks the ass of Old Defiance on the way to and from work every day) mandates that you take it. Make it your first attack and when the animation starts, queue up Fire Blast or Blaze. Uncle Dave says: take it anywhere from lvl 1-10.

Fire Blast lost a lot of shiny when the Devs standardized animation times for 2nd tier powers. Still better than or on par with other blaster powers of the same time. Uncle Dave says: take it at lvl 1 or 2.

Fire Ball! Whoo now the fun starts! Medium area aoe damage centered on your target. Mind your endurance bar! Uncle Dave says: take it at lvl 4-10.

Rain of Fire I used to hate Rain of Fire. Crappy DOT damage that breaks taunt, takes a ton of end to cast, scatters mobs, and aggroes them all to the caster? I’ll pass, thanks.
That was then.
These days, ROF gets benefit from damage buffs and isnt nearly the scatterbomb it used to be. However, in a set packed with exemplary aoe damage, ROF sits squarely behind Fireball, Firebreath, and Inferno. Uncle Dave says: take it at level whatever.

Fire Breath The hits just keep coming! Longer animation time than fireball, and some practice to maximize its effect make this a power you can put off for other needs, but eventually it will become part of the staple power combo that dazzles teh pugs. Remember to target the bad guy furthest away from you but still in your target mob. Also, the cone is wider than you think. Uncle Dave says: take it at lvl 8-20.

Aim Attention newbies: Do not skip this power, ever. Ever-ever! I once read a forum post that said “I would respec out of my travel powers and beg for tp before I got rid of aim+bu.” If you want to be teh Damage God you need both. Take Aim, soldier! Uncle Dave says: take it at lvl 12-16

Blaze is super strong damage at super short range. Range is the “drawback” to this kickass power. When you get it, rearrange your tray and put it where Fire Blast was. The animation is super fast and it does buttloads of damage. What more could you ask for?
Oh, and don’t worry about the short range thing. Somehow there always seems to be a mob close enough. Isn’t that handy? Uncle Dave says: take it NOW RIGHT NOW.

Blazing Bolt j00 2 can b teh Sn1p4r! How often you snipe is really a matter of preference. I dont do it much but I find myself sniping a lot in giant monster battles when I decide I dont want to get anywhere near a foot stomp. Fun Fact: Blazing Bolt has the shortest range of all the sniper attacks. I always say snipes are skippable but I always wind up getting one eventually. Uncle Dave says: take it whenever.

Inferno The Nuke. The Flash. The Holy Grail. Just don’t expect too much from it until you get it slotted. Also remember to make sure all the aggro is taken care of before you rush in the middle of the mobs with your aim and buildup buzzing. Nothing kills your buzz faster than hitting aim+bu and then getting mezzed or knocked back just as you’re ready to bring the smackdown. Oh, for the newbies: Inferno is Point Blank Area of Effect (pbaoe) Extreme damage centered on you. You are drained of all endurance and cannot recover endurance for about 30 seconds after you use it, so keep your CaB handy. Uncle Dave says: take it at lvl 32.

A word about combos

The point to a fire blaster is churning out national debt-sized amounts of unresisted aoe damage. (Fire does pretty well for single-target but is outclassed easily by Ice in that area.) The bread-and-butter combo is aim+bu+firebreath+fireball, in that order. Breaks down like this:

1. Pick the target for Firebreath. This is usually the mob furthest away from you but still in the cone effect with all the other mobs.
2. aim
3. buildup
3. If not already in range, cast Firebreath. A lot of times I will click it when I’m out of range and then rush in, letting it go off when I’m close enough.
4. while the animation for firebreath is still going, pick your fireball target. This is almost always a different target than your firebreath guy. This might seem remedial but I’ve seen lots of blasters keep the same target for cone and explosion effects. If you wanna be l33t like Uncle Dave, take the 3 milliseconds out of your busy schedule and switch to a target in the center of the pack.
5. Fireball

Not many mobs can survive being hit by aim+bu+firebreath+fireball (certainly none that con white). Those that do are easily picked off by RoF or your single target attacks (or teammates).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Character Origins, Chat, Hero University. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.