Electric blasters: does anyone know anything about this powerset?

[coldcut]

There's not even a reasonable guide on this in the main forums. I realize the powerset isn't the greatest, but someone's got to have some idea of how to make this powerset functional, right?

[Malibu Sally]

Pulsewave made a guide for electric blasters some time ago.

Electric Blaster's Guide (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=1863529&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1#1863529)

I am currently running an Elec/Ice blaster alt and am testing what I can against the guide. Most important thing I can say about the electric primary is this:

If you plan on using the endurance drain function, It ROCKS against bosses. Minions and Lt.s are more resistant to end drain, so you will need some backup.

[Kinetix]

I can help if you need it, L50 elec/elec

[coldcut]

That pulsewave guide is exactly what I was looking for. The official guide FAQ on the boards only linked to one electric guide, and that was torn apart in the responses. (Coincidentally, Pulsewave seems to say the exact opposite of what the other guy said.)

I'm in the process of making an electric/devices blaster that would eventually rely more on his bombs that his primary attacks. I was just looking for general advice on the subject, and there's not much out there. (Yeah, I know trip-mine is borked.)

[Fantasmo]

I have a Elec/Elec Blaster on Guardian named Captain Jupiter. He is level 33.

Let me run through the powers for you real quick and let you know what I think of them.
That guide explains them pretty well. I'll just give you a little info on what I use and what I think.

Charged Bolts:
A small blast attack from one hand. Kind of short range. I always use it after using Lightning Bolt. I still use it and I'm 33. Good power to keep.

Electric Fence:
This is a good hold power you can use at lower levels. But once I got Tesla Cage, I don't use it anymore. Because Tesla Cage does not let the enemy attack while being held.

Lightning Bolt:
This is your main blast attack. Pretty good range and good damage. Definetly 6 slot.

Ball Lightning:
AoE attack. I still use this quite often, but not as much as I did on lower levels. I think you need to slot it more to get better use out of it. I have only 2 slotted it so far.

Short Circuit:
After doing a respec, I counted this out. Sometimes it was useful to drain a little endurance from enemies, but it didn't seem to work as well in higher levels.

Aim:
I'm sure you know what this is.

Charged Brawl:
A good melee attack. I still use this a lot in close.

Zapp:
This is your snipe attack. Definitely 6 slot this. I slot it with Accuracy and Damage.

Havoc Punch:
Another melee attack you can use in close. This does more damage than Charged Brawl. Throw some Accuracy enhancements on your melee attacks to make sure they hit. They have saved me time and time again.

Build Up:
I'm sure you know what this is.

Tesla Cage:
This is like the Clockwork power. It holds your enemy in a ball of lightning. They cannot attack or move. I put some Accuracy in this to make sure it connects. It has decent range too. Good power.

Lightning Clap:
I used this for awhile. It doesn't do any damage, but it will knock foes back. It could be useful. It is up to the player.

Voltaic Sentinel:
After I did a respec, I no longer have this. It does give you a little bit extra damage, but not a whole lot. When it follows you, it is very slow though.
Right now, I need Stamina more, so I counted this out.

Thunder Strike:
This is another melee attack. This has good knock back and some damage. The animation and sound effects on this are awesome I think. It makes you feel powerful when you use it. I still use it.

Thunderous Blast:
This is an attack like Inferno for Fire Blasters and Nova for Energy Blasters, except it is ranged. You don't have to run into the middle of the group and activate it, you can stand away from the group. Excellent power. 6 slot this baby. It sucks your endurance to nothing for a bit, but if you have a couple Catch a Breaths you can use them and be able to attack again right away.

Lightning Field:
This is the power that you have seen Lead Shockers use. It has the electricity flowing around your feet. I didn't get much use out of it, so got rid of it.

Power Sink and Shocking Grasp I have not taken yet, so I can't comment.

I just used my new respec to get Stamina. I went until level 32 without that. I was able to do it, I just ate a lot of Catch a Breaths. But I recommend getting Hasten and Stamina, it helps.

Anyway, hope this helps. I tried to run through each power.
Let me know if you have any questions and I will be glad to give you my opinion.

[Thunder Runner]

Ok I've got an electric/ice up to 33 as well. I'll just comment on the primary.

Charged bolt: It's kinda blah but does have a shorter animation/activation time than many of the elecricity powers. Damage is adequate at best but this is a quick jab power so that's about in line. Good for finishing off anyone with only a sliver of HP's left.

Lightning bolt: This is the bread and butter attack, Damage is very good and recharge isn't too horrendous (although it is longer than some similar powers in other blaster lines). Slot for 1 accuracy and 5 damage as soon as possible.

Ball lightning: At first I was impressed with this power but the higher I get the less usefull this power is. I have noticed that while it's damage is sub-par it does seem to drain a bit more endurance than most of the other electrical powersets.

Short Circuit: I only recently picked this power up with a respec but I have to say I like it. I've got it 1 acc and 4 endurance drain slotted and I've found it can quickly take bosses out of action, hit them with this and all you need to keep them drained is the baseline drain of your other electricity powers. Damage is laughable but that's not the point.

Aim: Don't think I need to say anything about this, although I think this power will be usefull in the arena.

Tesla cage: GET IT. No question here. It'll save your bacon on many an occasion. I've got it 1 acc and 1 hold slotted and it lasts long enough for me to easily take down any LT in it's grasp, I heard somewhere that if you slot it with 3 or more holds it will stick on a boss but I haven't tried that yet.

Zap: Another GET IT power. Damage is very nice and with the accuracy boost and the fact that you will often be using this power in conjunction with aim and build up (which have their own accuracy buffs) mean that you can dispense with the accuracy enhancements and go with straight damage. The endurance drain on opponents hit is nothing to sneeze at but anything you hit with this will more likely run out of HP's before they run out of endurance so it's kind of a moot point. The endurance cost of using this power is significant so don't be using it unless you are fairly sure of not being interrupted or your target running behind an object.
I've got 6 damage in mine and have no trouble one shotting yellow LT's.

Voltaic Sentinel: DON'T GET IT. The endurance cost is horrific and the sentinel only lasts for a short time. It also causes Aggro management problems in large groups as you don't have any controll over what it targets. I can't say much about the damage but the other factors make this power unnatractive to say the least.

Thunderous blast: I like it a lot! Not only is the damage significant so is the endurance drain on your opponents. It does have a long activation time but it is NOT interruptable. My suggestion is to wait untill your endurance is low anaways then pop this one off, grab a CAB, and continue as needed.
I haven't had a chance to slot it up yet.


A few notes. I run with Stamina 6 slotted so none of my powers have endurance cost reducers slotted, Thunderous Blast does not supress stamina so it helps in recovering or continuing after using that power. I run with hasten 5 slotted (almost perma) and I find that the recharge time on many of the powers in the electricity blast line all but require it unless you want to waste slots on recharge reducers. Without hasten you often find you either have to wait or use a less than optimal power while other powers recharge (like ball lightning on a single target).

[Mr. Brawl]

I think that the only good powers in that set are thunderous blast, snipe and build-up. not for any particular hate for that set, its just that i have played that set up to 32 and died like 300 times. i think that you should go with energy/electric. but that is just my opinion. :think: