Playing With the Fire / Fire Blaster

yacaids

My first character in City of Heroes, way back in June 2004, was anElectrical Blast/Electricity Manipulation Blaster. I'm not sure why,other than I think I thought it might be fun to ZAP! the bad guys. Hisname was Merrlinn or something dumb like that, and he didn't last verylong. He maybe got to level five before I deleted him.

Shortlythereafter, after trying out a Tanker and not liking it, I made anotherBlaster. This time I went Fire Blast/Fire Manipulation. At the time,everyone was making Devices Blasters because of a "decimal error" inthe Smoke Grenade power that made its "To Hit" debuff much strongerthan it should have been (basically villains that you attacked wouldn'tbe able to hit the broad side of a barn). But I didn't know that,because that was before my involvement in the game's community ingeneral and the official message boards in particular.

Even if I had known about the FOTM (flavor of the month), I doubt itwould have changed anything. Concept was pretty important to me at thetime, and still is. I wouldn't say that I'd be so adamant about conceptthat I'd be able to play a really weak powerset combination all the wayto 50, but overall concept is much more important to me than whateveryone else thinks is "uber." To name my new Blaster, I looked fortwo words relating to the two biggest aspects of the character - thathe was a fire user and a hero, a guardian - that I could combine into aunique and fitting name. I ended up settling on Hellguard, and stilllike the ring of it over five years later.

Like most powersetcombinations, playing a Fire/Fire Blaster over the years has had itsshare of ups and downs. Despite not being as safe as Fire/Devices withthe Smoke Grenade bug, Fire/Fire did okay for me back in the day.Before Enhancement Diversification, it was typical to have fiveenhancement slots in each of your attacks devoted to damage. This washuge for Fire/Fire, since, unlike other Blaster primaries andsecondaries, the Fire sets have no "secondary effect." The more damageyou can pile on, the better. It wasn't uncommon for me to have takenout a large group of bad guys before the scrappers on my team couldeven get to them, or before my Radiation Defender friend could finishapplying his debuffs. Most of this was no thanks to the FireManipulation secondary since, even though I'd taken it for conceptreasons, I usually ignored most of its powers since they were reallylackluster.



BeforeED, you could six-slot Stamina for a fantastic endurance boost.Six-slotting Hover for flight speed so you could stay at a safedistance but still have good and fast mobility was something else Ireally liked for a while. I don't have a problem with EnhancementDiversification, but it was tough to lose some of the things that wehad before it. Looking back, it's hard to see how they would have beenable to introduce the fantastic Inventions system if they didn'timplement ED, but out of all my characters I think my Fire/Fire Blastersuffered the most. I know Tanker players were deeply affected by thelesser resistances that their armors now offered, and RegenerationScrappers used to play the "How am I getting nerfed now?" game everytime there was a new issue, but for me, I really felt ED when it cameto my Blaster. The loss of those extra damage enhancements, as well asthe sudden reduction in endurance gain from a six-slotted Stamina, mayseem like minor things, but it reduced my Blaster's effectiveness inways that diversifying his enhancements just didn't help.

Thingsare much better now, of course. With the advent of the Inventionsystem, and to a lesser degree, the new Defiance (a Blaster's inherentability to gain more damage with each successive attack and to uselower level powers even when he would otherwise be incapacitated) andthe buffs to Fire Manipulation, Hellguard is a lot stronger than heused to be.

Now that the stroll down memory lane is over, let's take a quick look at the powers of these flame-based sets.

Fire Blast

• Flares.A minor damage power, it used to be a joke. With the buff to itsanimation time, and the fact that you can use it when slept, held, orstunned, it's now a staple power. It doesn't hurt that it's a quickdamage builder with the new Defiance either.
• Fire Blast. Amoderate damage power and a decent single-target attack that looks likeyou're throwing a baseball (of fire!) at enemies. Can also be used whenslept, held, or stunned.
• Fire Ball.  The first of many Area of Effect (AOE) powers, this one has a smashing damage component.
• Rainof Fire. You raise your hands and cause fire to rain down from the skyon a targeted area. Another power that didn't used to be selected allthat often, it's become a lot better since they made it so its damageis affected by things like Build Up and Aim.
• Fire Breath.The other bread-and-butter AOE power of the set, this one is a conethat requires proper positioning for maximum effect. Part of theclassic one-two punch of Fire Breath/Fire Ball.
• Aim.  A self-buff power that increases your chance to hit and gives a good damage boost.
• Blaze.A high damage power that is short-range, although it now has longerrange than it did originally, making it a bit safer to use.
• BlazingBolt. An extreme damage attack, a lot of Fire Blasters skip this one tofocus more on AOE damage. It's still a fun power though, and one Iwouldn't be without.
• Inferno.  An extreme damage blast of fire centered around you, this is a Fire Blaster's "nuke" power.

Fire Manipulation

• Ringof Fire. Since it's the first power of the secondary, you have to takeit, but it has its uses as an immobilization power. Also, it's anotheryou can use while otherwise incapacitated.
• Fire Sword. Afiery sword appears in your hand to smite your enemies. It featuresgood damage, but you obviously have to be in melee range to use it, sobe careful.
• Combustion.  A point-blank AOE (PBAOE) power that does moderate damage.  It's one I usually skip when respeccing.
• FireSword Circle. The best of the PBAOEs of the secondary, this one has youspin around with your Fire Sword and strike all enemies close to you.
• Build Up.  A staple power of most Blasters, Build Up gives you a huge damage boost and a smaller but still useful To Hit bonus.
• Blazing Aura.  A minor damage-over-time (DOT) power that's pretty skippable.
• Consume.A great power for regaining endurance, this power does minor damage tonearby enemies and replenishes some of your endurance based on how manybad guys it hits.
• Burn.  A situational power that does moderate DOT damage and frees you from being immobilized.
• Hot Feet.  A PBAOE power that does minor DOT damage and slows down nearby foes.

Asfor the ancillary pools, I like Flame Mastery for concept reasons. Chargives you a nice foe hold, Fire Shield buffs you a bit with resistancesto fire, cold, smashing, and lethal damage, and Rise of the Phoenix isa cool-looking self-resurrection power that has you rise in the midstof a fiery phoenix. RotP is my favorite power in the game, and I'vebeen accused of being a bit too reckless just to use it.

Fire/FireBlasters aren't the safest or even most damaging of Blasters, but forme it's a really fun combo that is all about concept. Oh, and burningyour enemies. Sometimes slowly, while they watch helplessly. If you'relooking to make a new Blaster, try out the combo. It's, well, a blast.

cadrppy

Good overview for someone unfamiliar with the game or withBlasters. I share your "overall concept" philosophy and have taken asimilar approach to my thermal/thermal corruptor.However, I do have one question.

8. Burn.  A situational power that does moderate DOT damage and frees you from being immobilized.

What is a "situational power"?