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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.