Fire Help, Please

thedarkshadowen · October 2012

Hello,

I really enjoy my fire toon, but he seems a bit squishy - can plow through most content, but I've been frustrated with the crypts for Tako because when I get to the end room, I get creamed by the boss. Could be play style, but wondering if I can shore up the build a bit defensively without sacrificing too much offense.

I do find he has End issues - not sure if the Thermal Reverberation changes will help with that or not. Here's the current build (he's 37 at the moment):

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Thermal Knight

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Ego (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Disciple
Level 6: Agile
Level 9: Energetic
Level 12: Daredevil
Level 15: Accurate
Level 18: Shooter
Level 21: Tireless

Powers:
Level 1: Throw Fire
Level 1: Fiery Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Fireball (Rank 2, Unstable Accelerant)
Level 8: Conflagration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Thermal Reverberation
Level 14: Concentration
Level 17: Flashfire (Rank 2, Sweltering Heat)
Level 20: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Masterful Dodge
Level 26: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Trail Blazer)
Level 29: Force Shield (Rank 2, Force Sheathe)
Level 32: Field Surge (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Circle of Arcane Power (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38:

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Fire Flight (Rank 2)
Level 35: Teleportation

Specializations:
Ego: Force of Will (2/2)
Ego: Insight (3/3)
Ego: Follow Through (3/3)
Ego: Sixth Sense (2/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (2/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (1/3)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)

Recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

piro2gen · November 2012

Replace Field Surge with Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Reiki). Get some dodge/avoidance gear. BCR is so-so on its own, but rocks with solid dodge and especially when MD is up.

Add Summon Shadows (R2, Devouring Darkness). They do nice damage and heal you. A mini damage over time and heal over time.

Tako crypts:
- "Your soul will be mine" ... block this
- bosses use darkness set. Can get nasty. Block big attacks.

Energy:
- there is cost and cooldown reduction gear. It makes a huge difference. I think you should be fine with some solid gear.

jasinblaze · November 2012

do the offense/defense loop it will toughen up any character
the best defense warden or guardian/aggressive stance - vindicator

s3rju · November 2012

force sheath scales off REC, and so is circle of arcane power. those two should pretty much cover up the energy problems, you can also take something like overdrive on top of that but tbh it's not neccessary.

i'd switch field surge for unbreakable and take BCR as the last power, or switch field surge for BCR and take an active offense as the last power.

@piro, im seeing he ranked up flashfire and I know you like to hang around the PTS alot, do you happen to know if the changes to fire went live? what about the buffs to munition and such?

thedarkshadowen · November 2012

Would you recommend switching out SSS End for Rec and Thermal Reverberation for Overdrive or just go gear talents for Rec?

piro2gen · November 2012

s3rju wrote: »

...
@piro, im seeing he ranked up flashfire and I know you like to hang around the PTS alot, do you happen to know if the changes to fire went live? what about the buffs to munition and such?

Didn't tested fire, but Two Gun Mojo is bigger (on test char damage went from ~650 to 1000+). I hope there is no nerf.

titotito333999 · November 2012

Here's my 2 cents... I have a very survivable PvE Pseudo-Fire build, mostly because he stays at 100' range (no need for energy builder) and because of super low cooldowns. Here's a variation on my build with some added survivability:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: 100' Range DPS/Survivable Pseudo-Fire Build

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Recovery (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Disciple
Level 6: Agile
Level 9: Brilliant
Level 12: Tireless
Level 15: Coordinated
Level 18: Impresario
Level 21: Negotiator

Powers:
Level 1: Strafe
Level 1: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind)
Level 6: Concentration
Level 8: Fiery Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Ice Sheath (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Resurgent Reiki)
Level 17: Masterful Dodge
Level 20: Unbreakable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Smoke Grenade (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Explosive Arrow (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Defile (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 38: Circle of Primal Dominion (Rank 2)

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Teleportation
Level 35: Fire Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Specializations:
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (1/3)
Dexterity: Brush It Off (2/2)
Dexterity: Power Swell (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

If you attack from far away most mobs have different and weaker attacks. Just pick a spot high/far enough(51'-100') and rain down infinite Explosive Arrows on groups or Defiles on Bosses. All the Active defenses/offences, BCR, Evasive, Smoke Nade, Fire Snake, will proc MSI nonstop. You will need as much INT as possible for this build, and as much REC as your play style requires, I like to have my energy bar almost full at rest. With all that INT + Cooldown redux gear you will always have one Active Defense up and 2-3 BCR's. A don't forget to get that Dodge gear also.

thedarkshadowen · November 2012

Thanks for the feedback - still not sure where to go - will have to play with the PTS a bit more on Thermal Reverb changes.

Thanks!

ajanus · November 2012

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name:

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Ego (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: Quick Trigger
Level 6: Indomitable
Level 9: Agile
Level 12: Energetic
Level 15: Shooter
Level 18: Accurate
Level 21: Daredevil

Powers:
Level 1: Throw Fire
Level 1: Fireball (Unstable Accelerant)
Level 6: Thermal Reverberation
Level 8: Fiery Form (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Conflagration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Flashfire
Level 17: Concentration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Masterful Dodge
Level 23: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Unbreakable
Level 29: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Trail Blazer)
Level 32: Pyromancer's Blades (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Electric Sheath (Matter ? Energy Union)
Level 38: Defile (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Fire Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Acrobatics (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Specializations:
Ego: Insight (3/3)
Ego: Aggression (2/2)
Ego: Follow Through (3/3)
Ego: Sixth Sense (2/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (3/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Elusive (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Ego Mastery (1/1)

This is my fire build. The dps is insane, but the trick to survival is managing when to use your actives.

For instance, what I do, is my setup: Flashfire, Fireball, Snake, Blades if on a boss...THEN, I pop a defensive cooldown before I start maintaining a Conflag, if necessary. Sometimes, if I know a boss can do a nasty alpha, I will pop the active defense anyways, even if I am not in trouble. This ensures I will get a full Conflag maintain off, usually eliminating the target. Preemptive defenses will also help should you get aggro after your setup, which you could very easily do.

Conviction is there for the "in-between" defensive cooldowns, as well as the advantage bubble on Electric Sheath to use during defensive downtimes.

The thing with fire is that you always want to be maintaining Conflag...and I found cycling 2 defensive powers was the key to allowing that to happen.

You always want to make sure your buffs/debuffs are up: Flashfire for energy, Fire Snake for the debuff, and Unstable Accelerant from Fireball. I don't tend to use Blades during every fight, only time-based and burn phases. Then Conflag until everything is toast.

I tend to cycle Masterful Dodge, then Electric Sheath/Conviction, then Unbreakable...should fights last that long.

For gear:

Offense: Crit Chance, Crit Chance modifier
Defense: Avoidance, Dodge modifier
Utility: Cost Reduction, Cost Reduction modifier

The numbers can get pretty intense during fights. I have seen my Conflags get up to 4800ish a tic. That's every .5 seconds, making Conflag alone pushing 9600 dps. That isn't counting the actual damage from everything else, and definitely will skyrocket with Pyromancer's Blades out too.

technozeus · November 2012

Hello there,
I'm building a fire char too and I saw your buildings with a lot of interest.
Only one thing I don't understand:
- how can you change your Archetype during the game?
Because I started with fire powers (so I have The Inferno archetype), but your buildings have Freeform.:S
Freeform archetype doesn't exist at the beginning of the game.
Thanks in advance

ajanus · November 2012

If you are silver, you either need to buy a freeform character slot, or pay a monthly subscription by going gold. Then all of your character slots become freeform.

If you stay silver and purchase a freeform slot, I think you have to make a new character in that spot...not 100% sure on that though.

If you go gold, you can either just make a new character up as a freeform, or you can buy a "Retrain" token for your current Inferno to make him/her freeform.

Fire Help, Please

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