If you've been reading this in order, you already know about my embarrassing Noob moment when I thought I invented sneaking through missions. You have to understand, it's pretty exciting to learn that you can just run straight to the end and complete a mission in a few minutes and reap the bonus like that.

There are several reasons that you would want to do this which are as follows:

• Time

  If you're Squishy and can't or don't want to form a team, sneaking saves a lot of time. Trying to clear a mission without stealth powers can take hours or end up being impossible depending on your Mission Difficulty (Noteriety) level.

  At best, if you pick the right path in a mission, you can skip some groups of enemies and still complete the mission, but using stealth, you can often fight only the end boss or almost no one at all if it's a Glowie mission.

• Time in task forces

  A long time ago, I recommended that a casual gamer skip TFs and trials, but that was bad advice. Not only are TFs great experience, but they are a lot of fun. They do, however, take a lot of time.

  To make a TF more manageable, you can use your stealth techniques to cut down on the time it takes to complete some of the missions. This works even better if you have Recall Friend to teleport the whole team to the end for "Kill Leader" missions.

  For some task forces, this can cut the time for the trial in half (or more).

• Mission and TF Screen captures

  

  I would never have been able to take this shot without stealth powers (and fly in this case)

  Stealth will allow you to take awesome screenshots that you could never do otherwise. Many missions and most Task Forces have special zones or missions. If you want to see them again, you have to redo the TF or in the case of missions, find someone else who has the mission so you can join them for the screenshots).

Stealth In Zones

Besides missions there are a few other reasons to take stealth powers.

• Safe Travel

  

  Good thing they don't know I'm here

  As you travel around, you may go through areas with much higher level enemies than you. While you can usually avoid them, sometimes they'll be standing right next to your contact or the door to your next mission.

  Each travel power (except fly) has the disadvantage of accidentally jumping, teleporting, or running into a group of enemies that you didn't see. Adding stealth to any of these will help.

  
  

• Outdoor Screen Captures

  

  Hanging out with a sorceress

  As with missions, there are some shots that you can take with stealth powers that you wouldn't be able to otherwise. Stealth will let you get close to the enemies or sometimes stand in the middle of them to take screen captures. When combined with emotes, this can be a lot of fun.

  
  

• Player vs Player

  

  You can be seen a LONG way in PvP if you don't have any stealth power at all.

  Stealth is really useful in PvP not just for fighting other players, but for avoiding them. Again, screenshots or just missions. For example, if you want to get from one missions to another in a PvP zone or if your mission involves outdoor activities (like in Bloody Bay), stealth will be nearly essential (unless you want to log on only at the strangest hours that you hope will make you the only person in the whole zone).

Concealment Powers

Powerset Invisibility

Even though I'm close, they can't see me

Some characters have stealth or invisibility naturally. For example, Storm people have Steamy Mist, Dark Miasma has Shadow Fall, Illusion controllers have superior invisiblity, and of course Stalkers have Hide.

For the ones that don't provide full invisibility, there are ways to combine stealth powers to make it full invisibility (Described below).

Stealth Power Pool

Related topic(s):

Concealment Pool

The stealth pool consists of Stealth, Grant Invisibility (nice, but only for teammates), Invisibility (you can only affect yourself = suck), and Phase Shift (a short term intangibility effect). You aren't invisible, just untouchable and still can't interact with anything.

Powerset Stealth Powers

Using Warshade stealth+SS to slap a void around (Video: 1.8Mb)

Some powersets have stealth powers as well (such as Shadow Fall from the Dark Maisma set for Defenders, Shadow Cloak for Warshades, and Cloaking Device from the Devices set for Blaster). They usually work the same way as Stealth and have the catch that they can't combine with other stealth powers.

In these cases, remember that SS does combine with stealth powers to create full invisibility (in regular zones and missions only, not in PvP).

Stealth Procs

From stealth to full invis by adding a stealth proc

With the introduction of Invention Origin Enhancements, new powers can be obtained, not by having to level or get a temp power, but by invention. One such power is Stealth that can be given by unique procs that can be slotted into any power that takes run, jump, fly, or teleport enhancements.

If you slot this into a permanent power, you will have a permanent stealth effect (which I don't recommend because you'll never be able to take a good screenshot of you character again since they'll be partially see through and it can mess with escort missions). Instead put it into sprint or fly, or some other power that can be toggled on and off. When the power is on, you're stealthed (and for 2 minutes after you turn it off).

But, per usual, the stupid drones can still see me 🙁

The neatest thing about this is that the combination of a stealth proc and a powerset stealth power (and, though I didn't try it, probably stealth from the power pool too) gives you full invisibility in non PvP zones!

In the pictures I took here, I put a stealth proc on my fly power so when I'm flying and have Shadow Fall on at the same time, I'm fully invisible!

When I first discovered this, I was able to Repec several characters where I was using Super Speed only for the invisibility aspect and reclaim two powers to pick out of my main powersets instead!

Sneaking Techniques

Besides having full invisibility (either with the power or with a combination of powers, there are other ways to get to the end/target of a mission which are as follows:

• Fly

  

  Sneaking through a warehouse with stealth and fly (Video: 1.6Mb)

  For open air missions such as train missions, you can simply fly to the end with no problems.

• Stealth + Fly

  By using any stealth power to lower the distance that enemies can see you, you can generally hug the top of warehouse or office missions without being seen. In some tight hallways, you might take a few hits or have to fight your way through, but it still gets the job done.

• Stealth + Teleport

  Usually you can use teleport similar to fly to stay near the top of warehouses or just port right past an enemy group. This isn't the preferred way to go, but it can be done.

• Brute Force It

  Tanks or anyone with invincibility powers like Unstoppable, Phase Shift, or Light Form (Peacebringers) can just run to the end without worry. Even if you piss off every enemy on the map, because of adjustments made to the limit on aggro (to prevent full map herding), at best only a few will follow you.

Sneaking Tips

• 

  Super Speed has no stealth effect in PvP.
  Super Speed has a stealth effect in pve, but not in PvP. Even though Stealth powers plus SS makes you invisible in regular zones and missions, don't expect the same in PvP.
  
  
• 

  Taking a screenshot
  

  Oops. So much for being invisible...

  In this particular instance, I ran off to sneak through the mission and stopped to take a screenshot when suddenly everything started attacking me. I realized pretty quickly that I forgot to dismiss fluffy and he faithfully followed me while I was sneaking thus aggroing everything around me.

  
  
• Whether for greater realism or because people like me were able to get through missions without fighting a single enemy, the devs changed the way glowies work. Now, when you grab one, your stealth is reduced or disabled. That means that if there are enemies near a glowie that you need, you'll have to fight them or distract them (using a pet summon is a good distraction).
• Some AVs and all Giant Monsters can see through Invis. So can many Nemesis enemies, Rikti Drones, and Crey Sharpshooters. Keep that in mind as you run around.

All power sets in CoH/V have secondary effects. Fire is a simply about damage. Your attacks do damage and the secondary effect is extra damage, usually DoT. Because of this, you can do some ridiculous amounts of damage and if you like to see massive groups of enemies dropping like George Bush's approval ratings, Fire Blast is for you.

Flares

Flares - Just take it.

Score

4 of 5

Unslotted Strength

5.6 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

6.6%

Summary

As with all blasters, you actually want to take your weakest attack because of Defiance. It's one of the 3 powers you can fire while Mezzed and it also recharges quickly which helps to build your Defiance meter.

How to Use

It depends on your playstyle, but it's good to keep in your attack chain when fighting single-target enemies because of it's fast recharge and Defiance buff. And of course you should be using it whenever stunned. Otherwise, if you have a choice to hit this or another power that does more damage, you should probably hit the other power.

Slotting fire powers in general is really, really easy. Since there's no secondary effects of any kind (just more damage), you can focus on the regular attributes instead (recharge, damage, accuracy, endurance) which means you can use less slots for most powers.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 4 Slots ) 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% More is better, but this is a good minimum. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 133 points With max 100% enhancement: 266 points This set is all about damage. Slot it up!!! 20%   Endurance Reduction (20% Minimum) Default: 3 end With max 100% enhancement: 1.5 end This is such a cheap power that you don't need to slot endurance, but if you can't get at least a little with IOs, you're doing it wrong. 20%   Recharge (20% Minimum) Default: 2 sec With max 100% enhancement: 1 sec This already recharges super fast, no real need to bump it up. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 80 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 128 Feet The range is fine, but considering there's no need to buff endurance or recharge, I wouldn't mind extending the range, but there's no way to do that with Ranged IO sets and I didn't see any point to increasing range at the cost of IO set bonuses. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Fire Blast

Fire Blast - Faster than flares and more powerful too.

Score

5 of 5

Unslotted Strength

8.2 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

11%

Summary

You toss a chunk of fire at the enemy. It kind of looks like throwing a wet towel, except that it's not a towel, and it's on fire, and…uhhhh. What was my point again?

Anyway, it's fast and good damage. It's a solid power for use through the game. Get it and slot it well.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 4 Slots ) 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% More is better, but this is a good minimum. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 197 points With max 100% enhancement: 394 points This set is all about damage. Slot it up!!! 20%   Recharge (20% Minimum) Default: 4 sec With max 100% enhancement: 2 sec It doesn't hurt to have your powers back faster so try to get at least a little recharge in here. 20%   Endurance Reduction (20% Minimum) Default: 5 end With max 100% enhancement: 2.5 end Fairly low already, but reduce it as much as you can. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 80 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 128 Feet The range is fine. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Fire Ball

Fire Ball - Your first AoE power.

Score

5 of 5

Unslotted Strength

3 x Brawl (to each enemy)

Defiance Boost

2%

Summary

Aren't AoE powers fun? You just toss this fun little hot potato over to the enemy of your choice and it explodes in his hands damaging him and everyone around him. Besides being fast and powerful, it's great in your AoE combo and it helps when hunting because you can drop an entire group of enemies that are several levels below you in one hit.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 5 Slots ) Unless you have something against AoE powers, you'll want at least 5 slots, maybe 6. 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% More is better, but this is a good minimum. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 70 points With max 100% enhancement: 140 points This set is all about damage. Slot it up!!! 40%   Recharge (40% Minimum) Default: 16 sec With max 100% enhancement: 8 sec It takes a while to come back so buff this as much as you can. 30%   Endurance Reduction (30% Minimum) Default: 15 end With max 100% enhancement: 7.5 end Buff other attributes first, but when you can, drop endurance too. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 80 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 128 Feet You have other priorities and the range is 80 feet anyway. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Rain of Fire

Rain of Fire - Notice that they're all running

Score

5 of 5

Unslotted Strength

6.3 x Brawl (per target)

Defiance Boost

2.8%

Summary

Click the power then choose a location on screen to call down a fire storm of damage. It lasts for about 15 seconds and damages anything in its area of effect sending a stream of orange damage numbers flying over their heads. It's a very visually satisfying power :).

Note: most storm powers don't seem to do much damage, but it adds up a lot. And in the case of Rain of Fire, you will see damage numbers in the 3's and 5's at times!

You'll notice in the pic that the enemies are taking 3 damage per tic. This is only because they are so much lower level than me. However, I have seen up to 5 damage per tic on enemies at least one level above me with fully slotted Rain of Fire + Build Up + Aim + one or two Inspirations.

How to Use

The three most important things you need to know about Rain of Fire are:

1. It can scatter enemies. Try to use it when you WANT the enemies to scatter (like when soloing and you want to split aggro from multiple enemies), when they are held in place by someone else's effect, or when they're almost dead anyway.
2. It slows enemies (unenhancable) which helps keep them from running out of the area. This is the closest thing a Fire Blaster has to a mass control power. If you want to limit the enemies that come through a door or if you want to make enemies run from you so you have time to get away, Rain of Fire can be used for that.
3. It can be enhanced with powers like Aim and Build Up and with inspirations. Any time you use it, try to use at least one damage buffing power first.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 6 Slots ) Even without secondary attributes to buff, this power is so cool that I've never used less than 6 slots on it. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 151 points With max 100% enhancement: 302 points Use this correctly and it will do a lot of damage. Using this power helps prevent that annoying issue where you end up with a bunch of enemies who have tiny slivers of life left over after your attack chain. 60%   Recharge (60% Minimum) Default: 60 sec With max 100% enhancement: 30 sec It takes a while to come back so buff this as much as you can. 40%   Endurance Reduction (40% Minimum) Default: 26 end With max 100% enhancement: 13 end This takes a chunk of end. Give it at least 40 but shoot for even more if you can. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 60 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 96 Feet If you do manage to get some extra, it won't hurt since it's a little shorter range than a normal attack; just don't make this a priority over other attributes. 0%   Accuracy (0% Minimum) Default: 150% With max 100% enhancement: 300% Unlike your other powers, this one hits pretty much automatically. You can focus entirely on damage and such instead for a change! Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Fire Breath

Fire Breath - I don't eat no mints

Score

3 of 5

Unslotted Strength

5.2 x Brawl (per target)

Defiance Boost

8.2%

Summary

Select a target and fire. It and everything nearby and between you and them (in a 30 degree arc) takes damage. Learning to use cone powers correctly is key to playing the game well so do your best. Once you get used to it, this power does a LOT of damage to a bunch of enemies.

The activation time is a little long (almost 3 seconds) so I know a lot of people that skip this, but I like to have a solid single-target combo and AoE combo. Without Fire Breath, there's no AoE combo.

How to Use

When opening an attack on clustered enemies who aren't pinned down or cornered in any way, realize this will make them run around. Either start with Rain of Fire (which slows them) or start with Fire Breath and follow with a fast activation power like Fireball which will hit them before they've had a chance to run.

While it's a waste on single targets, it's great for groups; just try to maneuver them into the cone area. Backing up slightly helps too, but remember the normal range of Fire Breath is short. If you buff it up like I did, it will help you hit more enemies without as much effort.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 6 Slots ) This power is good, but suffers from low range. For that reason, I usually six-slot it to make up the difference. 30%   Accuracy (30% Minimum) Default: 90% With max 100% enhancement: 180% This power starts off with boosted accuracy compared to a normal attack, but it's still good to buff it more. As an AoE, any target you miss affects your total damage output. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 125 points With max 100% enhancement: 250 points Use this correctly and it will do a lot of damage. Using this power helps prevent that annoying issue where you end up with a bunch of enemies who have tiny slivers of life left over after your attack chain. 20%   Recharge (20% Minimum) Default: 16 sec With max 100% enhancement: 8 sec It takes a while to come back so buff this as much as you can. 40%   Range (40% Minimum) Default: 40 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 64 Feet Buff this as much as you can. If you get to about 50% enhancement, it will be 60 range which is the same as unenhanced Rain of Fire. 20%   Endurance Reduction (20% Minimum) Default: 15 end With max 100% enhancement: 7.5 end It's always good to lower endurance, but I put this as the last priority for this power. It's not high enough to be a big issue compared to other attributes. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Aim

Aim - Boosts accuracy and power

Score

5 of 5

ToHit Boost

37.5%

Damage Boost

62.5%

Summary

Buffs your ToHit and Damage for about 10 seconds.

How to Use

With Build Up in my secondary, I always fire one, then the other, then powers for crazy damage boost. You can also alternate them for a more consistent power boost, but I usually use them together.

For example, for the most powerful snipe power every, use Aim, Build Up, and then Blazing Bolt. Under those buffs and a snipe's natural accuracy bonus, you'll hit pretty much anything and hit it really danged hard.

Just remember that the boost only lasts 10 seconds use one really powerful attack (like a Nova) or several very short activation attacks (Blaze and Fire Blast for example).

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 2 Slots ) 3 is definitely better if you want full recharge AND an IO set bonus, but I've typically needed the slots for other things and went with 2. 60%   Recharge (60% Minimum) Default: 90 sec With max 100% enhancement: 45 sec It takes a while to come back so buff this as much as you can. 0%   To Hit Buff (0% Minimum) Default: 37% With max 60% enhancement: 59.2% It's not really necessary, but if you do go for set bonuses, you'll probably end up with some of this. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 5 end With max 100% enhancement: 2.5 end Recharge is all that matters, but if you buff anything else for a set bonus. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Blaze

Blaze - Short range, but devastating? Yeah, that sums is up pretty well

Score

5 of 5

Unslotted Strength

8.3 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

6.6%

Summary

This is a great single target power. Just make sure that if you're firing an attack chain on an enemy who's nearly dead, hit tab to target another enemy who's got significantly more life before using Blaze.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 6 Slots ) This power is fast, powerful and awesome in every way except for range. You'll want 6 slots for sure. 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Standard accuracy. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 199 points With max 100% enhancement: 398 points Extremely powerful already. Make it MOAR!. 40%   Recharge (40% Minimum) Default: 10 sec With max 100% enhancement: 5 sec Considering the power of Blaze, bringing in back as soon as possible will greatly increase your single-target damage rate. 40%   Range (40% Minimum) Default: 40 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 64 Feet Buff this as much as you can. If you get to about 50% enhancement, it will be 60 range which is the same as unenhanced Rain of Fire. 20%   Endurance Reduction (20% Minimum) Default: 15 end With max 100% enhancement: 7.5 end It's always good to lower endurance, but I put this as the last priority for this power. It's not high enough to be a big issue compared to other attributes. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Blazing Bolt

Blazing Bolt - Probably the best snipe power I've seen... besides possibly Proton Volley

Score

6 of 5

Unslotted Strength

14.8 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

11%

Summary

Build some power, create a beam of pure light between you and your target, watch them turn extra crispy. It's a very satisfying way to say, Hey you! You're toast!"

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 6 Slots ) It's a snipe power. Slot it to the max!. 30%   Accuracy (30% Minimum) Default: 90% With max 100% enhancement: 180% Standard accuracy. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 354 points With max 100% enhancement: 708 points Extremely powerful already. Make it MOAR!. 40%   Recharge (40% Minimum) Default: 12 sec With max 100% enhancement: 6 sec Considering the power of Blaze, bringing in back as soon as possible will greatly increase your single-target damage rate. 40%   Interrupt (40% Minimum) Default: 3 Sec With max 120% enhancement: 1.2 Sec Lower this to reduce the chance of someone interrupting the power. 40%   Endurance Reduction (40% Minimum) Default: 14 end With max 100% enhancement: 7 end You can use endurance in a hurry with snipe powers since one interruption cancels the power while still charging you for the endurance. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 150 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 240 Feet Personally I like to buff the range as much as I can for even better death from afar-ness, but it's not necessary in any way unless you just want to. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Inferno

Inferno - Your nova power

Score

6 of 5

Unslotted Strength

15.4 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

4.4%

Summary

So here's the thing. The first time I used this power, I was set to run from any survivors… but there weren't any. I'm used to a Defender nova which isn't nearly as strong so when everything went down, I was really shocked.

There's just no substitute for being able to take down an entire group of enemies in one shot like this. Best of all, there's no knockback so if you used Rain of Fire just before this, it will continue to pelt anyone you missed or that was too high level to get taken out in the first shot.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 4 Slots ) 4 is enough to slot up damage and recharge as high as you can. 90%   Recharge (90% Minimum) Default: 360 sec With max 100% enhancement: 180 sec I love novas! Bring ib back FAST for explosive firey destruction! 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 369 points With max 100% enhancement: 738 points Hits harder than your snipe power to every affected target! Da-yum! 0%   Accuracy (0% Minimum) Default: 105% With max 100% enhancement: 210% I've never really had this miss. If you have a problem, just use Aim first. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 20 end With max 100% enhancement: 10 end Since using this power drains all your endurance, what's the point in reducing the cost? About the only thing is if you use up all your endurance in your attack chain and then try to fire Inferno. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Summary

As sets go, I haven't seen many where I wanted so many powers. Especially since they revised Defiance and it's actually worth taking all your low attack powers! It's also so simple to figure slotting. Everything is damage with its secondary effect being… more damage!

All power sets in the game have secondary effects, but fire is a simply about damage. Your attacks do damage and the secondary effect is extra damage, usually DoT.

Just like with Fire Blast, you aren't worried about slowing, stopping, or controlling anything; just burning it to ashes!

Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire - Your one and only control power

Score

1 of 5

Unslotted Strength

6.2 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

7.7%

Summary

Hit a target with it and freeze them in place for a few seconds. Also does fire damage over time.

How to Use

You have to take it, but it's fairly useful anyway (mostly when soloing. For example, for tough enemies, root them in place with Ring of Fire then drop Rain of Fire (assuming you took Fire Blast as your primary powerset.

You can also use it to freeze runners in their tracks, but I found that anything tough enough to resist my damage for more than a few seconds tended to resist immobilization anyway. In the end, I found it to not be very useful at all.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( Default Slot Only ) I never found much use for this so I didn't give it any slots beyond the default. 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% If you take this at all, it's for control. Make sure it doesn't miss. 0%   Damage (0% Minimum) Default: 149 points With max 100% enhancement: 298 points It does about as much damage as Fire Blast, but takes a long time to do it. If you want to slot it up, you can, but I had better things to do with my slots. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 7 end With max 100% enhancement: 3.5 end Didn't slot enough to bother with this. 0%   Recharge (0% Minimum) Default: 6 sec With max 100% enhancement: 3 sec Didn't slot enough to bother with this. 0%   Range (0% Minimum) Default: 50 Feet With max 60% enhancement: 80 Feet Didn't slot enough to bother with this. 0%   Immobilize (0% Minimum) Default: 2 sec With max 100% enhancement: 4 sec Didn't slot enough to bother with this. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Fire Sword

Fire Sword - Strong single target attack, but melee range

Score

4 of 5

Unslotted Strength

6.8 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

8.8%

Summary

Whip out a sword of fire and beat stuff with it. It can be annoying because of the short animation delay of forming your sword if it wasn't out already, but that can be mitigated with the right combo.

It's nearly as strong as Blaze (from Fire Blast) so it's good to have, but I would focus on other powers first. You'll have plenty of attacks to go around so if you find yourself at a point where you don't have any other powers you really want to take, pick up Fire Sword then.

Don't get me wrong, it's powerful, just that if you have a ranged power that works instead, why use it? Most of the time I forget I even have it unless I'm fighting a tough enemy like an AV or GM.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 4 Slots ) 4 slots is enough 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Standard. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 160 points With max 100% enhancement: 320 points If you take it, make it worth it! 30%   Endurance Reduction (30% Minimum) Default: 10 end With max 100% enhancement: 5 end Didn't slot enough to bother with this. 30%   Recharge (30% Minimum) Default: 10 sec With max 100% enhancement: 5 sec Didn't slot enough to bother with this. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Combustion

Combustion - Meh.

Score

2 of 5

Unslotted Strength

1.6 x Brawl (to each target)

Defiance Boost

6.1%

Summary

Longish activation time and it doesn't do much to the enemy so it's no wonder why so many people skip this power. I used to use it in my AoE combo, but found other powers that are faster activating and more powerful so I eventually dropped Combustion entirely.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 4 Slots ) 4 slots is enough 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Standard. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 39 points With max 100% enhancement: 78 points If you take it, make it worth it! 30%   Recharge (30% Minimum) Default: 15 sec With max 100% enhancement: 7.5 sec Didn't slot enough to bother with this. 30%   Endurance Reduction (30% Minimum) Default: 13 end With max 100% enhancement: 6.5 end A little end heavy, but not for the recharge it has. Buff recharge first, then this. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Fire Sword Circle

Fire Sword Circle - Looks cool, great damage, what's not to like?

Score

6 of 5

Unslotted Strength

432% of Brawl

Unslotted Strength

432% of Brawl

Summary

You whip out a fire sword, swing in a circle and land with a fiery blast. There's minimal delay to this power and it looks really damned cool.

How to Use

As a PBAoE you need to be close. It's best when you have lots of enemies crowded together which is good for doing low level hunts for badges or when someone else has occupied your enemies (tanks or controllers for example).

The way I get the most use out of it is by treating all AoE powers in my combo as PBAOE. I run to the crowd, fire it all and then back away to pick off survivors with my ranged attacks. It's good to open with Rain of Fire to slow and distract the enemies so hey don't run out of range too quickly.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 5 Slots ) A great power. Both in looks and effect. I'd give it 6 slots every time if it had any other effects to buff that would require it. 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Standard. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 133 points With max 100% enhancement: 266 points Standard. 50%   Recharge (50% Minimum) Default: 20 sec With max 100% enhancement: 10 sec It's pretty slow. Try to bring it back as soon as you can. 20%   Endurance Reduction (20% Minimum) Default: 18 end With max 100% enhancement: 9 end As always, reduce as you can, but prioritize other things first. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Build Up

Build Up - Kicking it up a notch

Score

5 of 5

ToHit Boost

15%

Damage Boost

100%

Summary

Buffs your ToHit and Damage for about 10 seconds.

How to Use

Just remember that the boost only lasts 10 seconds use one really powerful attack (like a Nova) or several very short activation attacks (Blaze and Fire Blast for example).

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 2 Slots ) 3 is definitely better if you want full recharge AND an IO set bonus, but I've typically needed the slots for other things and went with 2. 60%   Recharge (60% Minimum) Default: 90 sec With max 100% enhancement: 45 sec It takes a while to come back so buff this as much as you can. 0%   To Hit Buff (0% Minimum) Default: 15% With max 60% enhancement: 24% It's not really necessary, but if you do go for set bonuses, you'll probably end up with some of this. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 5 end With max 100% enhancement: 2.5 end Recharge is all that matters, but if you buff anything else for a set bonus. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Blazing Aura

Blazing Aura - For a Tank maybe, but you? Eh...No

Score

0 of 5

Unslotted Strength

0.5 of Brawl per Tic

Summary

A minor toggle PBAoE that does very little damage in slow tics. It's practically worthless considering that most battles will end before you managed to hit them more than two or three times. Especially if you are moving in and out of melee range. It's just not worth the endurance drain.

If you take it, slot end reduction first (it takes 0.78/s endurance!).

Consume

Consume - Endurance recovery that you really need

Score

4 of 5

Unslotted Strength

0.9 x Brawl

Defiance Boost

3.3%

Summary

Fire this and suck endurance while doing a very small amount of damage to any enemies in a small radius around you.

How to Use

Firing powerful fire attack after attack followed by endurance recovery and continued attacks… It's hard not to feel god-like. Anyway, it's a fast activating power that drains endurance from enemies surrounding you. Normally for a blaster, this is a problem, but if you use the AoE chains I recommend, it's not. Also, you can't pull the perfect Nuke combo without it (Aim+BU+Inferno (or other Nova)+blue inspiration+consume).

The neat thing is that it damages everything around you at the strength of a brawl hit and increases your endurance for each person hit. That's just cool.

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 3 Slots ) 3 is enough though I ended up using 4 because of a good set bonus and for better buffs. 50%   Accuracy (50% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Don't miss. It doesn't help if it misses. 70%   Recharge (70% Minimum) Default: 180 sec With max 100% enhancement: 90 sec It's useful both for regular combat and for your nova so try to bring it back more than once every 6 minutes. 50%   Endurance Modification (50% Minimum) Default: 20% With max 100% enhancement: 40% 20 endurance for each target hit is ok, but not if you only hit one or two enemies. Buff this up for better performance even against fewer targets. 0%   Damage (0% Minimum) Default: 22 points With max 100% enhancement: 44 points It only hits for an amount equal to a single brawl hit so don't worry about damage. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 0 end per second With max 100% enhancement: 0 end per second It requires a ridiculously small amount of endurance to launch. I don't even know why you can enhance this. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Burn

Burn - Hotly debated online (no pun intended)

Score

5 of 5

Unslotted Strength

7.5 x Brawl (to each target)

Defiance Bonus

13.4%

Summary

Blast fire at your feet and free yourself from any immobilization effects while damaging the snot out of any nearby enemies.

How to Use

When I first started planning a F3 blaster, this power wasn't given much credit online, but to undervalue it would be a big mistake. First of all, it does a lot of damage. If you play it like a PBAOE attack that just happens to also save your butt now and then by freeing you from immobilization, you'll get a lot more use out of it.

Due to it's nature of scattering enemies, it can be used to protect areas and hold doorways, but that's bad if you don't want them moving. Use it as your last AoE attack (Fire Sword Circle and Combustion (if you have it) first).

Best case scenario is when your enemies are already stuck with an immobilization or hold power (what do you know, something you can actually use Ring of Fire for!).

Recommended # of Slots and Enhancement Priority

	( 5 Slots ) A great power, though sometimes undervalued. 40%   Accuracy (40% Minimum) Default: 75% With max 100% enhancement: 150% Standard. 85%   Damage (85% Minimum) Default: 133 points With max 100% enhancement: 266 points Standard. 40%   Recharge (40% Minimum) Default: 25 sec With max 100% enhancement: 12.5 sec You might even go higher here. Considering its strong dual-use capabilities, having it available when needed is a good idea. 0%   Endurance Reduction (0% Minimum) Default: 5 end With max 100% enhancement: 2.5 end Considering its power, it's a very inexpensive power. Help The enhanceable properties of this power are listed in order of importance. Hover the mouse over each for detailed information and a description.

Hot Feet

Hot Feet - Burn! Just... slowly

Score

1 of 5

Unslotted Strength

0.6 x Brawl (per tic)

Summary

Slows and does damage to enemies in a small radius around you. If you work hard enough and build your defense and resistance enough to be a Blapper, you could use this and use it well. The power itself is very good because the slow synergizes with burn and other PBAOE powers and it does ok damage (even better with "Chance of Damage" IOs).

However, because of how fast you do damage already and the low defense you have naturally, it takes a lot of effort to make this useful for a blaster compared to a Tank or Scrapper. I recommend skipping it.

Summary

Just more damage for you to play with. There's no particular strength to Fire Manipulation so I think that you will mostly end up with this set because you don't like the other sets, because you want raw power, or for a concept character (like Shazel). Of course, that's more than enough of a reason for me 🙂

Temporary travel powers make it easy to wait for real travel powers until later levels

Your primary power set is full of ranged powers and your second is mostly melee range powers. Some people prefer to make "blappers" who are strong in melee range as well as ranged and it makes for a very powerful combination if you can pull it off, but your main powers are ranged.

That doesn't mean you can't get up close and kick butt, the key is to let others handle the aggro then wipe out the enemies before they have the chance to hit you…much. Anyway, read below for my powerpool recommendations and then hit the next page or two for the Fire primary and secondary Powersets.

Power Pool Recommendations

Read my Power Pools Guide for general information on the pools, but the following are Fire Blaster specific issues with power pools.

• Fighting

  If you're desperate for the defensive bonuses of the last two powers in this set, go for it, but the melee range attacks are a waste considering you have plenty of more powerful stuff to choose from in your Primary and Secondary powersets.

• Concealment

  Useful for sneaking up to stuff, sneaking past stuff, or if you play PvP.

• Presence

  This pool is such a waste of time. The final power is good, but the rest are like begging for death for a blaster.

• Medicine

  This can be useful because of the self heal. It also makes you more valuable to the team for obvious reasons, but takes away from other powers you could be taking.

• Leadership

  Useful for the buffs. You could certainly use more defense and attack, but these will draw endurance that you probably won't have. Besides, Blasters get very poor percentages from Leadership powers.

• Teleportation

  Recall friend is always useful if you team a lot, but this power is better for people with natural stealth for Sneak and TP. Teleport Foe is useful for Scrappers to pull an enemy close for elimination, but as a Blaster, this is pointless since you can hit them fine from afar. If neither of these are useful, there's no point in taking Teleport as a travel power.

• Fitness

  There are some Archetypes and builds that can skip the Stamina series. This is not one of them. The only real decision to make here is whether you want Swift or Hurdle. Take Swift if you plan on Fly as a travel power for the speed boost and Hurdle if you take Super Speed. Otherwise, it's up to preference.

• Speed

  Given that basically every power you have is an attack and they all come back fairly quickly, there's very little use for Hasten. Super Speed is fast, but dangerous for squishies because if you get stuck on an environment object while running, any nearby enemies will notice you.

• Leaping

  As a squishy character, Super Jump is a risky power to take because you can land in the middle of a group of enemies and get killed very quickly. However, if you're desperate to have Acrobatics for the immobilization defense, you don't really have an option. On the other hand, fly will prevent knockback effects at the least and you can just avoid story arcs full of or carry inspirations if it's a huge problem.

• Fly

  Fly may be slow, but I've already got Swift from the Fitness pool which will speed it up slightly. It also gives me safe travel and it's the best power for badge hunting so if you are building a badge-er, Fly will be your best bet (it's the one I chose for Shazel).

Inherent Powers

For many of my builds, I leave these unslotted. That's mostly because each power becomes useless over time. In this case, brawl is meaningless after a few levels because you'll use much better attacks instead. Sprint is unecessary after you get real (or temporary) travel powers so there's no point in taking the endurance drain to leave it on. Rest is useful until you get Health and Stamina…. Well, for your fire blaster, it's still useful. When soloing, you'll probably end up resting plenty enough for it to be worth one recharge enhancement. Therefore, my recommended slotting for default powers is as follows:

01: Brawl

01

01: Sprint

01

02: Rest

02

Read the previous page for my take on Defiance.

Origin and AT:

Natural Blaster

Powersets:

Fire Blast, Fire Manipulation, Flame Mastery

Age:

18 Years old

Distinguishing Traits:

Horns. Tail. Hair is on fire

Catchphrase:

It's time for a barbeque!

Story

Shazel - Fire/Fire Blaster

Shazel is a demon princess. She'd never let her friends in Paragon City know, though, because having the great Hak-el-zul for a father is more of a burden than an honor as far as she is concerned. Being the only daughter of the lord of the realm meant she was kept hidden away in the palace under tight guard for as long as she could remember. Lord Zul couldn't hide his love and pride for her and that had made her a target among his enemies.

However, the tighter he squeezed, the more she rebelled. She was fire, not just in form and power, but in personality as well and Hak-el-zul found it hard to control her. After a particularly nasty spat, he had banished her to solitary confinement for a "decade or two to cool off".

Infuriated, she activated the technique she'd so carefully learned in secret from watching the palace shamans. In an instant she appeared in a dark underground chamber surrounded by confused looking humans in robes. The tallest one had stopped chanting mid-sentence to stare at her mouth gaping.

Coming out of the shock, he yelled, "A CHILD? You fools summoned a demon CHILD!?

That did it. If she wouldn't take lip from her own father, she sure as Zof wasn't going to take it from these creepy humans. Moments later, the lesser members had fled the room like flaming bats while Shazel busily tossed white-hot flares at their leader's feet. "Dance you pompous buffoon!" she growled.

Suddenly, a blue flash blasted her new toy across the room and a group of human heroes burst into the room weapons ready. She prepared to fight, but stopped cold when one asked, "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Shazel paused for a moment, confused, until a wicked realization crossed her mind. These heroes though she was a captive. With a malicious twinkle in her eye and a sly smile, she said, "yes I'm fine, but can you get me out of here?"

From there, the heroes led her to Paragon City where she learned more about their world. It wasn't long before she was introduced to Hero Affairs and soon after began hero training. Shazel delighted in the thought of her father furiously trying to find her and someday discovering what she'd been doing all this time.

And the one thing she wouldn't admit even to herself; though she came to the human world to spite her oppressive father, she really liked the City of Heroes and the friends she found there.

Shazel's Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster Guide

1. Shazel's Story
2. About Fire Blasters
3. Fire Blaster Powers
4. Shazel's Fire Blast Guide
5. Shazel's Fire Manipulation Guide
6. Shazel's Flame Mastery Guide
7. Shazel's Build Samples
8. Final Thoughts on the Fire/Fire/Fire Blaster

Let's see… I found that I couldn't begin to handle the Shadow Shard because the accuracy debuffs and holds didn't seem to work at all (but oddly, fear did). Carnies were also very tough due to the strongmen who hit VERY hard. Recluse's Victory is just about a waste of time. If any of the signature Villains notices you, you're in trouble in a hurry. Also, you might be able to play PvP with the right build, but this isn't it. A D3 is good for team PvP, but solo, not so much (damage output is way too low).

On the other hand, badge hunting with Jordan is very easy. Flight helps to find and reach enemies and exploration badges as well as to travel around without getting stuck. Because of invisibility, getting the temp powers and badges in PvP zones is easier too. As a healer, you can get heal badges that non-healers can't.

D3's get the best pet in the game by far and have unique defenses against Psionics which few other characters have (and the only team Psionics defense power). D3's also get the best Rez in the game which doubles as a AoE stun.

In all, I have never once regretted making a D3. The person who told me how fun they were was dead on. Now that several villain types have access to dark powers, it's not as unique as it used to be, but as far as hero-side goes, it's still completely one of a kind.

Bonus: Jordan's 50th

Jordan was a fun character to bring to level 50. Even though I was excited to play with my Kheldians, I knew I would really miss the fight with Jordan. Of course, that's why I made my PB and WS into two aspects of her (couldn't let go ).

You should have seen me that night. Woo! It was an amazing feeling to make it to 50 the first time.

Can we say, ''new toy''? Time to make some Kheldians!

Woot! My Kheldians would be the light and dark parts of Jordan (That's why their symbol and names are Yin and Yang)

Jordan Yin, the light half of Jordan's personality

Jordan Yang, Jordan's darker half as a Peacebringer

Of course, now you can get "epic" archetypes at only level 20 which I think kind of cheapens the whole thrill, but it will allow others to play with them which is good too.

That aside, be sure to check out Jordan's multi-billion influence build. In her "hopefully" final build, I ended up getting rid of Air Superiority and taking Hover instead as a pre-req for Fly. The reason is that I mostly team at higher levels, i17 Vigilance makes me more powerful alone anyway, I don't need the control as much as say a Blaster would, but I DO need the most defense possible.

Other than that, the build is mostly the same as my level 50 on the previous page, just that because of expensive sets, I was able to shuffle slots around for best effect and get to massive set bonus values! Here's a preview:

• 72% regen
• 63% accuracy
• 23% end recovery
• 20% recharge boost
• 16% damage bonus
• 11% hitpoints

Pros

Rescuing a friend in trouble.

Defenders in general are a very versatile type, but as a D3, your variety of gameplay is astounding. You can heal, you can debuff, you can control, you can tank, and you can blast. You have a power for every situation.

Note that you have one of the only powers in the game that gives Psionics resistance to you and the ONLY one that gives Psionics resistance to your whole team.

You will go through the game in relative safety due to your secondary effect of reducing target accuracy. There are times you can take a break in the middle of a battle and come back with enemies still whiffing trying to hit you. Darkness powers also work very well in character design because there are themes and story plots that just work with a dark bent.

Cons

You're weak. Face it. Granted you get some pretty good defense/resistance from some toggle powers and you're hard to hit as long as you debuff the enemies, but when you do get hit, it doesn't take much to take you out. Certain enemies hit so hard that you can be taken out in one swing (Warwolves, certain Rikti bosses, and Carnie Strongmen come to mind).

Speaking of debuffs, an enemy might not be able to hit you at all, but your attacks are so weak that it can take a really long time to take an enemy out. With certain very powerful enemies, you may end up in a stalemate only because you can't do damage fast enough to win.

Doing less damage than a controller is downright embarassing

Fortunately, with Issue 17, they are modifying the Vigilance inherant power so that Defenders get a large damage bonus when soloing. It decreases for each other member on the team so you'll be normal strength on large teams, but at all other times, you'll actually be able to dish it out for once! Let's face it, doing less damage than a controller is kind of embarrassing.

The most serious drawback to a D3 that takes getting used to is that many of your powers require a "victim". For example, you have a pretty good group heal and the best Rez power in the game by far, but you have to have a targeted enemy to use them. However, this is really only a playstyle adjustment and once you get used to it, it's no big deal. Even better, learning this makes playing a Warshade a walk in the park since you will already be used to this drawback.

Updated: I16

01: Dark Blast

44%85.75%21.75%21.75%

01: Twilight Grasp

70%57%57%32.5%

02: Gloom

44%85.75%21.75%21.75%

04: Tar Patch

70%35%35%

06: Air Superiority

43.5%43.5%

08: Shadow Fall

79%24%24%35.5%

10: Darkest Night

70%

12: Recall Friend

35%

14: Fly

57.75%57.75%

16: Howling Twilight

70%

18: Swift

35%

20: Health

70%

22: Moonbeam

60%41%36.75%18%22%22%

24: Stamina

70%

26: Fearsome Stare

62%40%22%18%

28: Tenebrous Tentacles

44.5%44.5%

30: Night Fall

44.5%66.75%22.25%

32: Dark Servant

35%

download a sample Mid's planner build file here

Somewhere between 24 and 32, go and do a Repec trial and use it to put your build on track for this version. Do your best to get either a jump or run Stealth IO and then you can drop Hasten and Super Speed for Air Superiority (a strong attack that helps you keep enemies off their feet) and Fly (or get the jump powers… it's all a matter of preference).

Keep in mind that it's very difficult to even GET to the respec trial if you don't have one of the two Safeguard travel powers or one of your team mates happens to have Recall Friend and can drag you to the reactor.

Also, by this time, you might have started paying attention to set bonuses on IOs. Focus on healing, regen, and damage to make up for your defendery weaknesses (but definitely accuracy too. You don't want you heal to miss!).

Play tips

• Tenebrous Tentacles and Night fall work very well with each other. Typically, you will want to fire Tentacles first to root the enemies in place, then back up to fire Night fall (since Night Fall has a longer range, but a more narrow cone). Use this combo for hunting missions, badge hunting, or really anywhere that you find more than 2 or 3 enemies in a small cluster.
• If you do the Positron TF, the final boss is and Arch-Villain called the Clockwork King. He uses psychic attacks so stay close to your team to make sure that they're covered by Shadow Fall's protection.
• At this point, you have lots of options for control powers, but also good attacks with the Dark Blast powerset.