Post by ashen on Feb 2, 2011 21:44:51 GMT -5
Are you ready to absolutely destroy your foes (hopefully before they can do the same to you) ?
If the answer to that question is yes, you should consider rolling with an Inferno. There are few option in this game, freeform or AT, that do as much AoE damage as the Fire set. The cool thing about this AT is that it includes the best AoE DPS powers from the full set. You may not have some of the defensive possibilities of a freeform character, but you will do every bit as much damage as they do.
Now do keep in mind that this is, in my opinion without a doubt, the squishiest AT in the game. No self heal, avenger stance, no defensive passive, this not an AT for the weak of heart. Hit 'em, hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast. Kill them before they can hurt you too much. Thats what the inferno is all about, so if you are a defensive player you might as well stop reading now.
So, for the rest of you superhuman Kamakazes here we go.
STATS
SS: End and Rec, you will have great max energy and equilibrium (starting energy). Also your Energy Builder power will fill your energy bar more quickly than is possible with any other stat combination.
For your talents I suggest the following:
+5 End/Rec
+5 End/Pre
+5 Rec/Pre
+5 End/Con
+5 Rec/Con
+5 Con/Pre
You are boosting your Super Stats because they increase your damage bonus and your energy management. Boosting Con increases your survivability a bit. Boosting your Pre increases the effectiveness of the power Thermal Reverberation, and reduces the threat you generate. The threat reduction only matters in a team, but can be important since your AoE damage will b e so high that it might otherwise be very easy for you to accidentally pull aggro off of your group's tank. Since you are a much softer target than he will be that means a face plant.
POWERS/ADVANTAGES
Throw Fire (Rank 1):
I wouldnt spend any advantage points on this at all. Your energy management will be so good that even at rank 1 it will be more than sufficient to get the ball rolling for you. The advantages are nice in theory, but you will have no difficulty applying clinging flames with other powers, so save your advantage points.
Fire Strike (Rank 1):
In the long run you will stop using this power once you get Fireball so I wouldnt spend advantage points here. Its a fairly weak single target attack, but it will get you to level 6 where things pick up dramatically.
Fireball (Rank 1 + Unstable Accelerant):
Great power. Good single target damage, not too shabby AoE damage, and has the single most damaging advantage in the game. Unstable Accelerant. I dont normally like to say that you MUST take a certain advantage, but UA is that advantage. If you dont take it youre character will be radically reduced in power compared to a fire wielder who does. Essentially what this advantage does is decrease a target's defenses against the damage of the burning effect of clinging flames as well as the damage over time effects of some of your other powers. The net increase in damage to your target from subsequent powers is truly awe inspiring.
Fiery Form (Rank 3):
Simply put this takes your fire damage from bing phenomenal and into unbelievable.
Pyre (rank 2, Backdraft):
Pyre is one of the powers which has its effectiveness increased by the UA advantage on Fireball. Charge this power and watch your foes melt. I sugggest the Backdraft advantage rather than rank 3 simply because it is a means of reducing incoming damage, while keeping the damage potential very high.
Fire Shield (rank 3):
Not everyone will agree with me, and perhaps they are right, but I believe that increasing the effectiveness of your block so that you can turtle up while allowing your AoE damage over time effects to destroy your foes is an effective tactic.
Conflagration (rank 2, Burning Rain):
I hope that I dont offend with this nxt sentence but...Now you are an AoE DPS god. Hit a group of targets with this after debuffing their defenses with Fireball/UA, and they are dead. It may take a moment for them to fall over, but it is a foregone conclusion for all but the toughest foes.
Thermal Reverberation:
You dont need to rank, or even think about this power after you get it. It provides energy gain from all nearby foes who are affected by your clinging flames effect.
Immolation (rank 3)
This is for those situations where either you are low on energy (a very short term situation for you) or just want some extra damage. Remember when I said that fiery form took your damage into unbelievable ? Well Immolation makes that previous level of damage seem trivial by comparison, for a few seconds. Remember this also will help you break out of holds, so keeping it in reserve for that sort of situation isnt a bad idea for an AT with so little in the way of defenses to keep you alive while paralyzed.
Heat Wave (rank 2, Engulfing Flames)
The advantage reduces this power's damage output, but UA increases it. In addition the advantage decreases the target's defenses against all of your fire attacks. This debuff stacks with that from UA. The net result is truly stratospheric levels of damage. I shold make clear that Fire Snake is a great power and a perfectly viable alternative to Heat Wave for those who like it conceptually, but I think you will find Heat Wave to be a more deadly option.
Flashfire (rank 2, Sweltering Heat)
The only reason I suggest Sweltering Heat over rank three here is that the AoE damage over time damage you are generating is pretty impressive, and reducing your foes' ability to escape it is a good idea.
GEARGear to support the stats I mentioned in the talent section and you will be fine. I take +Endurance on Kill gear on many of my characters (particularly those with powerful AoE attacks), but I doubt very much that you will find a need for it on this AT. If you do find yourself to be less endurance efficient than you like a single piece of +EoK gear might be a good option for you.
One gear option I have considered for this AT is + Health on Kill. The health gain from each individual kill may be pretty small, but your ability to destroy groups of mobs in a very short time could allow this option to provide a not insignificant boost to your survivability.
Hope this helps.
If the answer to that question is yes, you should consider rolling with an Inferno. There are few option in this game, freeform or AT, that do as much AoE damage as the Fire set. The cool thing about this AT is that it includes the best AoE DPS powers from the full set. You may not have some of the defensive possibilities of a freeform character, but you will do every bit as much damage as they do.
Now do keep in mind that this is, in my opinion without a doubt, the squishiest AT in the game. No self heal, avenger stance, no defensive passive, this not an AT for the weak of heart. Hit 'em, hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast. Kill them before they can hurt you too much. Thats what the inferno is all about, so if you are a defensive player you might as well stop reading now.
So, for the rest of you superhuman Kamakazes here we go.
STATS
SS: End and Rec, you will have great max energy and equilibrium (starting energy). Also your Energy Builder power will fill your energy bar more quickly than is possible with any other stat combination.
For your talents I suggest the following:
+5 End/Rec
+5 End/Pre
+5 Rec/Pre
+5 End/Con
+5 Rec/Con
+5 Con/Pre
You are boosting your Super Stats because they increase your damage bonus and your energy management. Boosting Con increases your survivability a bit. Boosting your Pre increases the effectiveness of the power Thermal Reverberation, and reduces the threat you generate. The threat reduction only matters in a team, but can be important since your AoE damage will b e so high that it might otherwise be very easy for you to accidentally pull aggro off of your group's tank. Since you are a much softer target than he will be that means a face plant.
POWERS/ADVANTAGES
Throw Fire (Rank 1):
I wouldnt spend any advantage points on this at all. Your energy management will be so good that even at rank 1 it will be more than sufficient to get the ball rolling for you. The advantages are nice in theory, but you will have no difficulty applying clinging flames with other powers, so save your advantage points.
Fire Strike (Rank 1):
In the long run you will stop using this power once you get Fireball so I wouldnt spend advantage points here. Its a fairly weak single target attack, but it will get you to level 6 where things pick up dramatically.
Fireball (Rank 1 + Unstable Accelerant):
Great power. Good single target damage, not too shabby AoE damage, and has the single most damaging advantage in the game. Unstable Accelerant. I dont normally like to say that you MUST take a certain advantage, but UA is that advantage. If you dont take it youre character will be radically reduced in power compared to a fire wielder who does. Essentially what this advantage does is decrease a target's defenses against the damage of the burning effect of clinging flames as well as the damage over time effects of some of your other powers. The net increase in damage to your target from subsequent powers is truly awe inspiring.
Fiery Form (Rank 3):
Simply put this takes your fire damage from bing phenomenal and into unbelievable.
Pyre (rank 2, Backdraft):
Pyre is one of the powers which has its effectiveness increased by the UA advantage on Fireball. Charge this power and watch your foes melt. I sugggest the Backdraft advantage rather than rank 3 simply because it is a means of reducing incoming damage, while keeping the damage potential very high.
Fire Shield (rank 3):
Not everyone will agree with me, and perhaps they are right, but I believe that increasing the effectiveness of your block so that you can turtle up while allowing your AoE damage over time effects to destroy your foes is an effective tactic.
Conflagration (rank 2, Burning Rain):
I hope that I dont offend with this nxt sentence but...Now you are an AoE DPS god. Hit a group of targets with this after debuffing their defenses with Fireball/UA, and they are dead. It may take a moment for them to fall over, but it is a foregone conclusion for all but the toughest foes.
Thermal Reverberation:
You dont need to rank, or even think about this power after you get it. It provides energy gain from all nearby foes who are affected by your clinging flames effect.
Immolation (rank 3)
This is for those situations where either you are low on energy (a very short term situation for you) or just want some extra damage. Remember when I said that fiery form took your damage into unbelievable ? Well Immolation makes that previous level of damage seem trivial by comparison, for a few seconds. Remember this also will help you break out of holds, so keeping it in reserve for that sort of situation isnt a bad idea for an AT with so little in the way of defenses to keep you alive while paralyzed.
Heat Wave (rank 2, Engulfing Flames)
The advantage reduces this power's damage output, but UA increases it. In addition the advantage decreases the target's defenses against all of your fire attacks. This debuff stacks with that from UA. The net result is truly stratospheric levels of damage. I shold make clear that Fire Snake is a great power and a perfectly viable alternative to Heat Wave for those who like it conceptually, but I think you will find Heat Wave to be a more deadly option.
Flashfire (rank 2, Sweltering Heat)
The only reason I suggest Sweltering Heat over rank three here is that the AoE damage over time damage you are generating is pretty impressive, and reducing your foes' ability to escape it is a good idea.
GEARGear to support the stats I mentioned in the talent section and you will be fine. I take +Endurance on Kill gear on many of my characters (particularly those with powerful AoE attacks), but I doubt very much that you will find a need for it on this AT. If you do find yourself to be less endurance efficient than you like a single piece of +EoK gear might be a good option for you.
One gear option I have considered for this AT is + Health on Kill. The health gain from each individual kill may be pretty small, but your ability to destroy groups of mobs in a very short time could allow this option to provide a not insignificant boost to your survivability.
Hope this helps.
