New efforts!

[Arcana]

I dunno bout that last comment.  I saw plenty of scrappers cry and whine bout knockback even when everything was dying super fast.  Just the mere presence of KB made some knockback phobics cry.

What did they say when the fire blasters vaporized their targets before their attacks could activate?

To be frank, melee had no leverage to complain in effective steamroller teams.  They could say "if you don't stop knocking things I will..." and then there's nothing they could possibly say that was meaningful at the end of that sentence.  Heck they could deliberately try to pull the next spawn into the pile without warning and then log out, and no one would notice.

In really good steamrollers, no one player was particularly important: all of them were just incrementally throwing more damage onto the pile.  One more, one less, once you're past critical mass there's a lot of overkill going on regardless.

[Arcana]

Yeah, I ran into that a few times.  No matter how much I tried to keep it to a minimum with an Energy/Energy Blaster, there was always someone who complained or quit when it happened inadvertently.

I tended to get more lucky with behavior.  I was on a team once with three energy blasters, and at one point someone (I think it was a controller, actually) complained about all the knockback.  Without any coordination at all, all three of us dove into the next spawn and simultaneously triggered three novas, blowing the spawn into the walls.  No more complaints about knockback after that.

[Azrael]

I dunno bout that last comment.  I saw plenty of scrappers cry and whine bout knockback even when everything was dying super fast.  Just the mere presence of KB made some knockback phobics cry.

Meh knock a phobics!  Knock rocks!!!

Energy Torrent and Exploding blast!

Energy power Thrust!  Power push!

Azrael.

[brothermutant]

Scrappers actually have more AoE than Blasters, something I used to harp about when people said that "AoE damage" was the blaster specialty.  But its not ranged AoE, and running at steamroller pace having range would be a significant advantage to those AoEs (as well as their generally larger area of effect).  Outside of high speed steamrollers though, I don't think Blasters actually dealt more AoE damage than Scrappers did.

Once you have enough buffs and debuffs, all steamrollers are pretty fun to be in, but if I had to compose one from scratch it would probably be something like two Ill/Rads, two Fire/Kins, and four archery/mental blasters.

Good gawd, can you imagine what the Hail of Arrows and the Psychic Shockwaves would do with Max Fulcrum Shift buffs? That had to be hell on earth. Plus heals, good buffs/debuffs from the Rads, immortal pets with ILL, gawwww! My mind boggles.

[Waffles]

Good gawd, can you imagine what the Hail of Arrows and the Psychic Shockwaves would do with Max Fulcrum Shift buffs? That had to be hell on earth. Plus heals, good buffs/debuffs from the Rads, immortal pets with ILL, gawwww! My mind boggles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Huv7Js1RYdA

[worldweary]

A little surprised about Archery being picked.I love it but it always felt less powerful and I can't tell you how many times I would draw back and by the time I let go they would already be dead.I'm not sure if it was slower than other sets but it felt slower.

[Waffles]

Speed made Archery more powerful, when it came down to tough mobs that survived the ROA, the animations were fast enough to kite effectively.

[pinballdave]

Good gawd, can you imagine what the Hail of Arrows and the Psychic Shockwaves would do with Max Fulcrum Shift buffs? That had to be hell on earth. Plus heals, good buffs/debuffs from the Rads, immortal pets with ILL, gawwww! My mind boggles.

Accelerated metabolism lasted 2 min which is a pretty amazing thing

Target:
UnresistibleNo BuffsStacking+25% Dmg(All Types) for 120s
UnresistibleStacking+216.25% Res(Held, Stunned, Sleep, Immobilized) for 120s
UnresistibleNo BuffsStacking+30% Str(RechargeTime) for 120s
UnresistibleNo BuffsStacking+64.875% Res(Recovery, Endurance) for 120s
UnresistibleStacking+30% Recovery for 120s
UnresistibleStacking+30% SpeedFlying, SpeedRunning for 120s
If not target.TokenOwned?(Power_DisallowSpeedBoost)

That's a pretty tidy package.

[Shibboleth]

Now I am reminded of wandering around and gifting random people with Speed Boost.

[LaughingAlex]

A little surprised about Archery being picked.I love it but it always felt less powerful and I can't tell you how many times I would draw back and by the time I let go they would already be dead.I'm not sure if it was slower than other sets but it felt slower.

Archery was a "pure damage" set, it had no debuff effects in it.  It was made purely to inflict high amounts of damage, much like fire.  But it's strength was in Rain of Arrows, rather than solid AoE's in earlier levels.

I had the same problem with fire blast on characters without a good survivability secondary.  In fact my fire/kin corrupter had horrendous survivability.

[LadyVamp]

A little surprised about Archery being picked.I love it but it always felt less powerful and I can't tell you how many times I would draw back and by the time I let go they would already be dead.I'm not sure if it was slower than other sets but it felt slower.

Archery always felt light on dmg on the lower powers but also felt like it did fast recycle of powers for another attack.  Always seemed to be on equal footing with AR.  Half the dmg/attack.  Twice the number of attacks.  That's how it seemed to me.  IMHO.  Don't shoot the mouse  :)

But truthfully, I did my first archer/nrg blaster because I thought the bow was cool.  Always had a desire for archery in RL.  Thought I'd give it a try in the game.

[Arcana]

Speed made Archery more powerful, when it came down to tough mobs that survived the ROA, the animations were fast enough to kite effectively.

Specifically, in a steamroller team with enough recharge Archery blasters could basically be spamming Rain of Arrows onto every spawn.  Also, /Mental has two AoE attacks separate from Drain Psyche which is a wonderful power but probably not going to be doing much in most steamrollers.  AR would also be a good candidate for steamroller AoE offense, although I think fast recharging RoA gives the edge to Archery.

[ivanhedgehog]

Reminds me of playing my PB that had a build designed as a juggler build with KB enhanced.  I'd switch to that build and show the whiners about KB a few tricks.

for every player that could use kb to the advantage of the team, there were a couple that would scatter and agro other groups constantly. there were the guys that would target the mob with radiation infection EVERY TIME. the guys that would agro multiple malta groups and not deal with the sappers. the guys that would hit the cc'd mobs. my first 50 was a energy/fire blaster, but I still had concerns when we got a new player with knockback, until I could see if his IQ was greater than his shoe size. my favorite was the storm that insisted on standing next to the stone tank in an ITF, with hurricane on. a stone /em tank...the tank shut of mudfeet and didnt taunt until the stormer was dead. powers had upsides and downsides..maximize the upside......

[Fanta]

Specifically, in a steamroller team with enough recharge Archery blasters could basically be spamming Rain of Arrows onto every spawn.  Also, /Mental has two AoE attacks separate from Drain Psyche which is a wonderful power but probably not going to be doing much in most steamrollers.  AR would also be a good candidate for steamroller AoE offense, although I think fast recharging RoA gives the edge to Archery.

I can't remember exactly, and this is not even close to a quote, but at one time didn't you say that Archery/Fire had the highest consistent burst damage for blasters? Once inventions allowed for perma hasten of course.

[Vee]

<Goes off to mids up a water/mental blaster>

[Ryo Kinsaru]

Archery always felt light on dmg on the lower powers but also felt like it did fast recycle of powers for another attack.  Always seemed to be on equal footing with AR.  Half the dmg/attack.  Twice the number of attacks.  That's how it seemed to me.  IMHO.  Don't shoot the mouse  :)

But truthfully, I did my first archer/nrg blaster because I thought the bow was cool.  Always had a desire for archery in RL.  Thought I'd give it a try in the game.

I liked the idea of being able to hit for half the damage twice as often, because it meant that I could more effectively 'finish off' the mobs that needed to be out of the fray. I learned to swap targets faster than hell and I could shrink a massive pull who had been nearly KO'd faster than most. When they were hanging on by a thread and still putting out damage, that was where I shined.

P.S. - Archery in RL is a fun and inexpensive hobby. I've got a competition grade bow hanging in my closet now waiting for warmer weather with less than $600 total investment, and if you don't fire your practice rounds off into the woods behind your target the ammo is nearly infinitely reusable. It really is hella fun and I recommend it for everyone!

[Vee]

we're all holding off 'til we can get the much discussed crossbow pistols of a few pages ago.

oh and it just occurred to me that the FFXIV thread was probably the worst place to post the free copy code since only people already playing it would look there and it's only for a new account. so anyway if anyone wants it it's R4WU SR2T 5NKB XSW7 Z4G3

instructions
https://support.humblebundle.com/hc/en-us/articles/215857787

[worldweary]

I never got to see a mostly Archery team but if they were anything like the Red Caps then nothing would last long.I really hated them.Team wiped many times against them.

[Goddangit]

I dunno bout that last comment.  I saw plenty of scrappers cry and whine bout knockback even when everything was dying super fast.  Just the mere presence of KB made some knockback phobics cry.

Yeah, I ran into that a few times.  No matter how much I tried to keep it to a minimum with an Energy/Energy Blaster, there was always someone who complained or quit when it happened inadvertently.

After being kicked off a team for causing knockback (I was cleaning up after myself) I stopped teaming my Girl with BFG Blaster.  I even put "I cause knockback" in my search description and still had people mad because I wouldn't team with them, until I told them "Every power I have causes knockback" after which they'd leave me alone.  I eventually soloed her to 50 and quietly retired her.  But then according to some people I didn't know how to tank or heal either.  And some people wonder why I almost always soloed...

[worldweary]

After being kicked off a team for causing knockback (I was cleaning up after myself) I stopped teaming my Girl with BFG Blaster.  I even put "I cause knockback" in my search description and still had people mad because I wouldn't team with them, until I told them "Every power I have causes knockback" after which they'd leave me alone.  I eventually soloed her to 50 and quietly retired her.  But then according to some people I didn't know how to tank or heal either.  And some people wonder why I almost always soloed...

I would broadcast all the time for radio missions and say if you have knockback join us.Pb's,Storms and Energy Blasters loved teaming with us.My wife played a illus/emp because she liked having to mange lots of stuff at the same time and I would play my Tank.The only rules were to have fun.I would bring the whole
floor to us each time faster than the one before.They were under constant attack and my wife loved being under pressure to keep everyone alive.I would always tell them I'll get you all next time.When the game comes back we will make sure the No Rules/Have Fun Team will be running.