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Quote:I am one of those players. Already have begun the re-tooling of my name-sake with these changes in mind( only in MIDS), but can still hope that they improve on the proposal before it goes live. What really worries me, is this ; after spending all the effort to add in this wonderful snipe power to my build, will one Spectre reduce my attack chain back to its former un-glory. You see, so far the cost of adding this snipe into my attack chain appears to be loss of tough and weave. That is a HUGE survival hit for a *maybe* full-time T3 blast :/Fair enough, but an alternate perspective is that the sniper mechanics can be easily leveraged to at least some extent by almost any build, builds that focus on leveraging it will do better, and the highest invention builds will tend to do even better. This feature is, speaking generally, a laudable feature for archetype features to tend to have.
The source of frustration in this situation tends to be when a player knows what the best possible outcome is, but either cannot, or doesn't not want to, satisfy the prerequisites to realize it. But not everyone sees it that way. This same source of frustration is a source of entertainment for many other players, including those that never achieve the highest possible performance.
Not too impressed.
The other two changes they proposed are AWESOME ! 2 out of 3 aint bad for a start. -
Quote:Sorry Mystic, I think you missed my main point. Availability of the IO or even choosing to take the powers is not the problem. It is the fact that you NEED to do all that in order to satisfy the requirements for the snipe that I find a problem. You see, adding snipe into a tight build is not a problem, but adding snipe, finding the slots to add to it, and THEN squeezing in Manuevers or Assault before taking Tactics. That is a HUGE effort to try and add Snipe into an attack chain. I suspect those sets with a solid attack chain already will just say screw it. Sets like my favorite Electric Blast are in for some frustration.On my Blasters who would be building for Defense anyways, Yeah. You seem to think Kismets are out of reach at the moment... I just checked the AH, crafted they go for 20mil for lvl 30s
...and let's not forget converters... buy the much cheaper, less useful Kismet IOs and convert them into the +Tohit proc. Problem solved.
What I would rather see is a way to leverage the snipe in normal combat by choosing ONLY powers in the blast set (that last longer than 10 seconds). That is my issue with the snipe proposal. Better explained ?
The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. With no Defiance stacks, the Snipe works like normal. With even one defiance stack it has the new mechanic,, but.. its damage scales up with the number of defiance stacks currently effecting the Blaster. Vioala ! The blaster only needs to work ONE power into his build and no expensive IOs or pools required. It even plays into some strategy. Do I hold back the snipe for more defiance, or fire it now. Build Defiance, Hit Buildup, Snipe = Highest Ranged attack in the game -
Quote:So then, you are looking forward to Kismet and Tactics in every build ?Please no, the devs are getting carried away with the 'stacks' and 'charges' mechanics... It's refreshing that they came up with a more unique and thematic solution for the Snipe changes.
That is what is going to happen.
Well, at least for the sets without a T3 blast, like Electric Blast -
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Taking Stalkers as a model here, they could make the Snipes work off Defiance stacks.
Allow Blasters to fire off an un-interuptable Snipe if they have "X" number of stacks of defiance. "X" being determined however the devs feel is fair, but more than 3 would seem too much. Heck, make the damage of the snipe increase based on the number of stacks. So you could fire it with one stack, or wait till you have 5 and have a much larger blast. -
Quote:Why would I want to respec my build to *add* a snipe that is not already there and not try to take advantage of its new functionality ? Stalkers got the good fix, Blasters got hosedNo one is forced. And I'm guessing the 22% is to make you have to figure out if it's worth the build sacrifices to you.
Besides that, using Snipe with BU/Aim will still be an increase in DPS, whether or not you can perma it (some of course will be able to)
Of course you are correct, no one is forced to take all those powers, but many WILL, and they will also be disappointed. I for one would prefer that the fix to snipes stay within the general use powers of a Blaster and not be leveraged by additional requirements that are very short lived (in the case of Aim/Buildup ) or very costly in powers and slots (Tactics + Kismet ).
Just my opinion -
LOVE the proposed changes so far ! But...
+22% ToHit ?! Really Devs ?
So lets force ranged toons to all take not one, but two, pool powers from leadership AND slot an IO proc, which will, skyrocket in price. Really bad plan.
Lower the number to 20% at least, that equates to a base of 95% to hit, right ?
15% would be even better, but probably dreaming now.
Here is an Idea too, increase the duration of both Aim and Buildup( 20-30 seconds).
More damage for all, less need to get tactics and Kismet. Blasters fixed ! -
Here are my thoughts on a Test method.
A) Pair all Primaries with the same secondary and make that secondary very vanilla in its assistance on the Primary. My choice would be Forcefields. No +dmg, just a generic Defense boost to help get the controller thru the test. Status protection to even out the curve of crippling mezz effecting run times.
B) Each build would be level 50 SO only and using no Incarnate powers slotted.
C) Create a custome AE mission with mobs that are not resistant to any damage types, and deal only smash/lethal to the player.
D) Have the AE test be in two parts. The first part would have large spawns and be designed to test how fast the controller can mow down large groups of standard level enemies. The second mission would contain multiple Hard targets and designed to test how fast the controller can burn down tougher opponents.
E) Compile times for each run and for each mission. Then post and review results.
** You could also restrict and define which pool powers are taken and that each build must have all primary and secondary powers. Even possibly restricting which ancillary is chosen to minimize variables beteen the test subjects ** -
Quote:Maybe you missed that I suggested cutting the recharge in half. I realize you could not use both at once that way, but you would have the effect twice as often.Nor am I hoping you do. Still:
I'd certainly have no problem with that, because adding things doesn't hurt anyone that was currently leveraging any of the existing things. Deleting Aim and boosting BU hurts the players that liked cycling both powers in alternating fashion for a longer net buff. If there was no other way to do what you described, maybe. But there should be other ways, because sets without BU and Aim would have to have this effect also.
Be that as it may, Blasters seem fine to me. Perhaps their inherent could be similar to Super Reflexes, where instead of gaining a scaling Resist when their HPs are reduced, they could get a scaling Defense boost. They were already given more HPs (acts somewhat like inherent resistance). They re-vamped their Inherent and it is much better IMO than the previous version, and scales their damage up with action.
I also like the Idea of Buildup acting like a Break-free in addition to its other effects, and have the Protection buff last 30-40 seconds. The only problem with this would be the powersets without a Buildup power. -
Here are some fun Combos that I have tried and loved, but for different reasons;
Mind - Kinetics (This played like a Psychic Blaster, tons of damage, and great for teams)
Earth - Storm (This controller will one day get to a level to take Fire Mastery and become the Master of all elements. Really difficult on endurance, and WAY too many powers to choose from. Expect to be doing alot of respecs tuning this one)
If you want to avoid the typical Fire-Rad or Fire-Kin build, try Pairing a Primary of your choice with Forcefields. You get Status protection from the bubble as well as easy-to-use Team and Pet buffs that leave you free to focus on your primary. One of the biggest issues with controllers on a team is that they have TWO support sets, and often you will get controllers that play on teams and forget to use their primary to focus on their secondary, or focus on their primary and forget to use their secondary. Well, Forcefields is a set that lets you easily multi-task both sets. -
Hehe
You know I will never change Arcana
What I really hope the devs will do one day is a 10th power to each powerset which is REALLY well thought out and focused on what the particular powerset lacks. In this way the Cottage rule can stand right where they left it. -
WHAT IF:
The Aim power in Blasters primary set was changed to be both Aim and Buildup in strength and Cut the recharge in Half. I.E. +ToHit equal to Aim, +Dmg equal to Buildup.
THEN :
Change the Buildup power in the secondary to an appropriate Absorb/Dmg shield that worked as follows: Any attack that effects the Blaster has 'X' Hit Points absorbed by this toggle effect. If the attack is a melee attack, not only is the dmg absorbed by the shield, but deals the same amount of damage (of the appropriate type : Ex: Fire dmg for Fire Manipulation, Energy for Energy manipulation, etc...) to the attacker as was absorbed.
*The absorb amount would be enhanceable and since it is a toggle, would require the blaster to manage the cost of the shield*
I realize this is the same as, say, a resist toggle, but the absorb effect would be low enough to not turn a blaster into a Tank, because the % of protection would vary on the amount of damage. Example, if the shield Absorbed 10 points from each attack, a 50hp attack would deal 40, equating to a 20% resistance. OTOH a large melee attack which dealt 200 damage would still deal 190 damage, which equals only the equivalent of 5% resist.
Another thought is to do away with the absorb altogether and focus on the "backdraft" effect. What if, this toggle instead gave a small chance to deal full damage back to the attacker and block the blow. This would be un-enhanceable since you cannot deal more damage back to the source than was originally recieved. I would find it very enjoyable to watch a minion try to smack my Blaster, and see the "Backdraft" proc protect me from ANY damage from that hit, but instead "defeat" the enemy trying to attack me in a "fiery" burst. ...."That had to hurt. I guess I should have warned you about getting too close to my rocket boots.... Muahhuahhuah" -
Quote:Someone already responded to this, so I will just add my thoughts to support it. You hardly ever get effect on more than one target, and since Fluffy has several powers to cycle thru, you dont really know what he will do. I was very disappointed in him. It seems he does much more for the Defender AT which typically doesnt employ pets, while the controller (especially one like Illusion) gains less from a pet that likes to run into the middle of a spawn.Slightly tangential (and I know we are talking primary only) but I was wondering how much the addition of dark servant and it's aoe immob changes the damage output of Illusion. [<---rhetorical]
In other words, how much does this particular choice of secondary "improve" the primary when looking at damage output and would you think its one of the more significant pairings that boost production for a primary. And are their other pairings that significantly change the way a primary performs.
Sorry for the tangent.
Dont interpret this as saying Dark Servant should be skipped, just that he was a bit of a letdown. Likely because of higher than necessary expectations. YRMV -
Quote:Your results match mine exactly. In the early days, using flash to set contain before Fireball seemed like a good idea, but in practice, I have more fun and more success just staying behind my Phants and throwing Fireballs. An AoE immob would be icing on the cake.Illusion only has Flash to set AoE containment, but it doesn't have a AoE damage power in the control set. All you need is Blind for setting Containment since your damage depends on pets and your single target attack chain. That AoE containment would be nice when you hit the APP levels, but I suspect that the overall damage from Phantasm and the Phantom Army offset the lack of Containment for the APP blast.
Once Illusion gets that fast attack chain of Blind-SW-APP Blast-SW, it really wipes out low level foes one-by-one remarkably fast thanks to Spectral Damage. Then you and the pets can focus on the tougher guys.
I know that I have tried to use Flash to set AoE Containment as often as possible before using Fireball, and found that it wasn't worth the time to run in, Flash, then hit Fireball. I felt it was better just to stay at range with my single target attack chain and throw in a Fireball whever there was a group and Fireball was up.
Back to your original rankings though, Illusion seems like it could be bumped up the list. Once you put some effort into maximizing the recharge on PA, along with their damage, they are a tremendous amount of damage. This is something that every player would do IMO.
I could, however, be mixing up my feelings about the strength of Illusion because of how PA also taunts, adding personal safety to the controller and cannot be killed, adding reliability as a pet. Illusionists don't have to work as hard to defeat a spawn as say, your average Mind, Earth, Plant, Fire or Ice controller would. -
My suggestions for helping Blasters out are two-fold ;
"Crash-less" Nukes for all. After all, every swingin Incarnate now walks around with a Nuke usuable every other battle or so.
Why not make Blasters unique in that they get this at level 32 and have TWO crashless Nukes once they Incarnate.
Secondly, lets do away with pool defenses giving different values based on ATs. Make the resist of tough and the defense of every other pool power grant the same value to all ATs. This provides Blasters a decent option for durability which other ATs certainly take advantage of now.
These two changes would make my blasters very happy. -
I am with Steele on this one regarding containment. At lower levels your rankings are very accurate, but once you factor in Ancillaries and Containment possibilities at level 50, some of the lower performers start to be more effective (elemental sets). Having played both Mind and Illusion into the higher levels, I would trade my left nut...er...eye for a reliable AoE containment power every fight.
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I would like to chime in regarding the OPs search.
Go Tanker. You will not be disappointed in the end if you sink the effort and influence into the build. I really like Brutes and Scrappers too, but if the desire is to eventually crush +4/x8, Tankers have a tremendous head-start on everyone else.
Choice of Armor. Everyone is giving you good feedback here, so I will add my perspective of a player that has seen "awesome" tankers in action. If you want to go Defense based, choose Shields, if you want to go Resist, choose Electric. It really is that simple. I have seen these two sets do incredible things "in-game". You could also consider Dark Armor instead of Electric depending on your "tastes". I have not grouped with a fully tricked Dark tank, but we have a Forumite that has Videos about his exploits, so I know that it would work as well as Electric in a pinch.
Choice of melee set really comes down to personal choice, but you "should" consider the AoE capabilities of each set. My personal favorites are Martial Arts, Super Strength, Street Justice and Staff melee. I am kinda liking Kinetic Melee as well on my Stalker, but thats a surprising developement. If you are aiming for a "Farm-style" toon then the most capable are Fire and Super Strength. They have been for quite some time and for good reason --> Damage.
Good luck in your search -
My Ill/Dark is only 33 (I dont level as fast as most folks), and this is the first 'troller that I have ever gone to x3 while solo before SOs. This toon can easily solo better than most of my level 50 toons could without an IO build. Me Likes
Can hardly wait until he has some solid IOs into his build. -
Quote:Similar, yes. More damage, certainly. The difference is in when powers are available. The Storm corruptor has to wait longer for their key storm powers, while the Storm/Fire defender gets all the pieces at a pretty early level. Finally, the OP was looking at SO-only, but I thought that sharing how well the Storm/Fire defender came together by adding just that one proc was worth mentioning. After all, who stays SO forever.Would not the Fire/Storm Corruptor be better in every respect in that case?
One of these days, my Storm/Fire defender will surface again, because it was simply THAT good. -
I am actually going to depart from my previously held conceptions about solo-ability, which would inlcude Rad/... Dark/... and Time/... and say specifically Storm/Fire Blast.
Don't get me wrong, the first three definitely can solo, but I recently tried Storm/Fire with the Defender ATO proc in Fire Blast and OMG ! This combo can get all of the powerhouse effects at an early age. This is the first Non-melee combination that I have ever gone to X3 before SOs. Freezing Rain + Rain of Fire + Fireball , mop-up, rinse + repeat. Super fun.
Why do I not currently have one in my arsenal ? Too easy perhaps ? -
Hehe, right there with you. Even my name sake has been re-rolled several times before finally staying with Emp/Electric all the way to 50. I have even re-rolled a level 50 Tank and a level 47 Blaster. I have the condition that is the terminal version of "Alt-itus"
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Quote:You should consider your heart in these matters from time to time, not just the logic.This debate is raging as much here as in my head !
Pros of Dark over Rad
Tar Patch - Not a toggle
Wont cause an anchor to run aimlessly round the mission map
Fade - Helps out with just in case defense
Howling T - Not only - regen but a stun too
Fluffy - Always nice to have
Stuns will not knock off toggles
Tar Patch & Howling T should make solo x8 easier and quicker
Cons
No AM making perma PA more difficult
LR is on a faster recharge
RA requires no hit check however heals for less
Howling T will not be perma
At the moment Im considering investing time into an ill/dark, at the moment.......
I love both Rad and Dark. My first characters to make it into the 20s were an Ill/Rad Controller and a Dark/Elec Defender. Loved them both, but really wanted to Play Ill/Dark not only for concept, but because I felt the combination was perfect. Finally after 8 years of waiting, Ill/Dark has arrived. I say go Ill/Dark because of the fact that you have not done that yet. If you run an Ill/Rad, you are already familiar with the character. It will be like reading your favorite book for the second time. Sure it will be good, but you know how the story ends. -
Having played a few blasters, I am confused as to what the concern is here.
In most MMOs that I have played, there are 4 main divisions of team roles : Tanking, Support, Crowd Control and DPS. Blasters very clearly and easily fall into the DPS role, which they share with at least a couple other ATs. Their role is fairly start-forward and the only things that really bother me about Blasters have to do with, one, the decision to make pool powers give different amounts of protection based on AT. My defenders get much more mileage from powers like tough and weave than my Blasters, which is B*@@$#!T, in my opinion. And secondly, there are times when getting perma-mezzed is a real downside. I would like the Buildup powers to act like a break-free; 10-15 seconds of +Dmg/+ToHit and 30 seconds of Status protection.
But besides those two ideas, Blasters are fine and don't really need anything to define their role better. -
Hello Strato,
Your post is well informed.
The defender primaries cannot be ranked well, which is why I tend to think of them as two sets of rankings; one list would be in team usefullness and the second would be in solo-ability.
I will not try and post how these should go because there are enough sets that I have not played past 30 that my view is skewed towards the early game, but here is the big problem with some sets (Empathy in particular). If a set scored high on team usefullness but low on solo-ability, it may be a very low priority to remedy, whereas the opposite ; low on team usefulness but higher on solo-ability, would command more attention from the devs. And in fact, what probably is the closest to the truth is that the devs would look for evidence that the set was under-performing in "both" categories before any chance of improvement were to occur.
So, rejoice all you TA, FF, and especially Sonic, because you have a much better chance of seeing improvements than Empathy. Although, not by much.