I had an ice ice blaster.
I tried a non-stamina build as an experiment. (End and sometimes double end reducers and 3 end reds on toggles...) I'd almost got it to the point where the end bar didn't shift down too dramatically. But would...over time if I was trigger happy.
The stamina build was 'smoother' and had less knees for rests between mobs. But the bar was up and down a lot more because, of course, I used less end reds.
I remember my pre-Ed En/En blaster non-stamina build experiment. It was a disaster as I had 'perma-hasten.'
Back to stamina I went. (Had to do the Volta respect trial...)
End and Quick Recovery, 3 slotted each were not enough for the Claws Regen scrapper I had.
And 3 end reds on Quills or Focused Acc weren't enough either...
I had a SS/Shield Brute. The stamina wasn't enough. End Proc' helps...
...but I had to take incarnate cardiac to make it truly an unstoppable machine. And Rage and hasten would still have 'end' drops were you'd have to be momentarily 'mindful.'
Stamina. 'Not' essential. (But it's telling that the devs put it in as an inherent for a superhero - which I'd long argued for. You're a super hero, right?
) Or impossible to live without.
But when you had it you wondered how you survived without it. A 'quality of life' thing.
And for 'this is how we roll' teams then IO'd out configs certainly helped.
I remember in the early days of blasting. RA would be like life giving oxygen to a trigger happen en blaster...
Azrael.