There are tons of fun power set combination options in City of Heroes, but some that stand out above the rest. These are a few fun combos for the Blaster.
Archery/Energy
This one is a sort of classic for me. Archery has always been a great Blaster set due to its short cooldown nuke in Rain of Arrows and both a solid single target and AoE attack chain. Energy Manipulation amplifies Archery’s ability to quickly clear out entire groups in short order with powers such as Boost Range, allowing the Archer to pull off these feats of destruction from significantly longer distances, which means less risk to your squishy self.
Dual Pistols/Martial Combat
This combination is pure fantasy fulfillment. There’s not a whole lot of special synergy here other than theme, though the fact Hail of Bullets is PBAoE works out well if you want to get into melee. If you’ve always wanted to pull off something like Neo in City of Heroes, this is a great pairing to go with. The melee attacks in Martial Combat aren’t a liability, either. Most of them have knockback or knockdown effects attached to them, so you can reserve them for when you just can’t avoid enemies getting in your face and give yourself some space to keep shooting at them.
Fire/Fire
My very first City of Heroes character in 2004 was a demonic Fire/Fire Blaster. It’s one of the most classic options in City of Heroes, but it’s also extremely effective. For those who just want to watch the world burn, the two sets complement each other tons of AoE options and DoTs for days.
Electricity/Energy
If you don’t mind getting into melee range, Elec/Energy can be a solid and somewhat safe Blapper (melee Blaster). Electricity’s gimmick is the fact it drains Endurance from enemies, but unfortunately it’s not that effective outside of certain situations due to the fact enemies must remain fully drained of Endurance to be unable to attack. With Energy Manipulation, you can use Power Boost to significantly boost those Endurance drain effects to where you’ll be able to keep enemies fully drained, allowing you to punch or blast them safely. The key is using Power Boost and Short Circuit (a PBAoE attack) slotted with Endurance Modification to sap enemies. You can then use your other Electricity powers to keep enemy Endurance zeroed out while you finish off your foes. Is it the best combo in the game? No, but it can be fun!
Energy/Energy
Don’t group with this character or everyone will hate you. If you want to just knock crap everywhere and laugh, this is the combo for you. Power Boost is key here for its ability to enhance Knockback effects, which you’ll find on literally all of your ranged attacks and on Power Thrust, whose sole purpose is to throw dudes across the room. Your nuke, Nova, will also knock everything around you into the next galaxy. Have fun, but again, this one’s for solo play.
Got any of your own Blaster combo suggestions? Share ‘em with us in the comments below!