Fire Powerset - why so awkward?

magpieuk2014

Hmm. Am I missing something with this set? Everytime I try and level a fire character I get bored and frustrated.

The early levelling attacks are dull (Fire Strike, step fowards) and over-complicated (Fiery Escalation? 25% bonus on an attack which does less than 100 damage, hmm), Fireball takes an age to charge compared to other Tier blast attacks, energy is a constant problem until you get Thermal Reverberation, and a set which derives most of its offensive power from maintaned attacks doesn't seem to give much consideration to defence. I'm persisting with the Blazing Archetype but Fire Freeforms are painful to make and play. Any suggestions as to better routes for more enjoyable levelling?

pwestolemyname

Hmmm... interesting, my fire character was the easiest to level. I did take Defiance as her passive, for leveling, but once she got her AOEs, most stuff just melted. At lower levels, Energy is a serious problem, so just gear for Rec and End until you get higher level. For low levels, I ran mostly Rec, End, and Con

pantagruel01

For a leveling build that I'm going to retcon at level 40, I'd probably go with:
Tutorial: throw fire, fire strike.
Level 6: retcon out of fire strike, add fiery form and fire breath.
Level 8: retcon out of fire breath, add thermal reverb and conflagration.
Level 11: add fiery will (it's not a great endgame choice, but should be fine for leveling)
Level 14: add incinerate.

That's pretty much it for key powers, though a reliable way to apply burning effects is handy (flashfire or incendiary grenade). As for your defense, it's "dead things don't do damage".

magpieuk2014

Cheers both. I take the point about using a defensive passive but that feels a bit generic, especially as this is a set with two passives and two toggles. Having to go with REC/END as the two basic superstats (and get an EU at level 8) does seem like overkill but I guess I can live with it if that's what the set needs. It is a bit rubbish having all those maintained attacks which you can't actually maintain and tinky-wink powers like Fire Strike, though; for a DPS set it is quite painful to level!

pantagruel01

Having energy problems at lower levels is normal for all sets. You don't *have* to take the EU then, but often EUs are 'why not?' powers. Actually, if I'm using fiery will, I'd probably go with:
level 6: retcon out of fire strike, add fiery will and flame breath
level 8: retcon out of flame breath, add fiery form and conflagration.
level 11: thermal reverb