Mr. Fireworks (Vorcha Soldier)

Alternative Title: The Master Blaster Caster

Preface

So the other day I saw some pretty awesome builds on this subreddit and I must say, it was a pretty good day. I liked seeing other people have ideas and expressing them, so thanks for that.

Also, my op-ed schedule seems to be "whenever the hell I feel like it" sadly. I will try my best to space them out so that I don't flood this place with my ego (despite other thoughts from my id).

Introduction

So Soldiers are supposed to be the weapon-based class; their success heavily hinges on what weapon they are handling. This is bad news for those who don't enjoy guns as much as powers. Playing around with the Vorcha Soldier while trying to make Carnage work gave me this idea. The basic strategy is use Flamer as a primer for Fire Explosions while Carnage detonates them. Given the nature of these powers, there are many Fire Explosions to be had.

Hmm, it seems I got something in the mail from Curtis. All I see scribbled on it is SHIELD DAMAGE IS LAME, CARNAGE BLOWS, and WHY YOU HATE SUPER REGEN. These shall be addressed to keep Curtis from showing up at my front door.

Flamer

Along with Inferno Grenades, Flamer is an excellent primer for Fire Explosions. It can be cancelled early for a faster recycle time, can sweep an area for multiple Fire Explosions ready to be detonated, and has a damage over time effect.

Reach was taken so that the Vorcha doesn't have to get danger close to burn them with Flamer. 15m is a pretty good distance if you ask me, and not dying is also pretty good.

Duration was taken to both increase damage over an engagement and have faster cooldowns to use Carnage as a detonator. Sure, Duration doesn't add additional direct damage, but allows for 60% longer time to use the Flamer, which helps deal more damage over a long engagement. In addition, because the longer duration, there is a larger fraction where you can reload cancel. This gives a faster cooldown per time using the Flamer.

And Shield Damage? Flamer is meant for priming, not dealing pure damage. In addition, dealing more damage to shields means that Fire Explosions can deal more damage to armor/health.

Fun Fact- With Duration and Shield Damage, a Phantom on Gold can die with ~8 seconds without the damage over time effect.

Carnage

Both a primer and detonator of Fire Explosions, it is a pretty solid power. It also doesn't have a range limitations, making it all around useful. I'd recommend using this as a detonator and as a ranged attack when closing in to an enemy outside of Flamer range.

At close range though, Flamer is generally better at attacking heavier targets while Carnage may be used to finish off weaker enemies. Carnage rarely has uses outside these scenarios.

Passives

Fire Explosion's power is dependent on the ranks of both the primer and detonator powers, along with any power combo multiplier (according to ThisIsAaron), so this is why both Flamer and Carnage have 6 points in it.

This is why power damage is neglected and only capacity rank 4 is taken. You may wish to skip passives altogether, but I like having a few points in passives for some extra weapon damage and being allowed to carry heavier weapons for better cooldowns.

I also prefer having a large health pool with some regenerative capacity as opposed to the other way around, hence why there are 6 points in Fitness and 4 in Bloodlust.

As far as passives, Fitness, and Bloodust are concerned, take your own favorite combination.

Weaponry

Pretty much irrelevant as long as you have something that is lightweight. I use the Eagle for its versatility. Most of the damage will come from Fire Explosions and Flamer, so pick your favorite gun.

I suggest that you can get down to roughly 140% before Carnage gets significantly hit with the cooldown penalties (3.33 sec), but that is a personal opinion on the matter.

Gear

Although Omni-Capacitors may seem like a good idea (Flamer is a Tech power and faster recharge means more Fire Explosions), I prefer to use gear that can help the team such as Medigel Transmitter or Armored Compartments, as no one will complain about free revives or extra consumables to help the team.

As noted before, most of the damage will come from Fire Explosions and those are not affected by power damage, while the power recharge provides a small increase in Fire Explosion rate.

tl;dr- So any gear helping with consumable capacity, tech damage, or power recharge would be most beneficial.

Conclusion

So want to have a Soldier that doesn't depend on weaponry? Try this guy. It can nuke a spawn by torching all the enemies and then spamming them with detonators. It works exceptionally well.

So there's a comment section below. I recommend you do so because I love getting orange mail to fuel my glorious e-peen. So go out there and have a blast with this guy.