ClawsandEffect

Question for you:

If the power Aim didn't exist at all, if it were never in any of the other blast sets, would you be saying "This powerset needs an accuracy and damage boosting power on a long recharge that lasts for 10 seconds" ?

Or are you saying it needs Aim simply because other powersets have it?

Oedipous Tex has a point, looking at powersets as nothing but a collection of numbers doesn't say everything about them. You even said yourself that Dual Pistols has some good points.

A powerset does not have to be mathmatically superior in order to be fun to play. If that were the case, everyone would be playing whichever set was determined to be numerically the best.

Personally, I kind of LIKE the fact that Dual Pistols doesn't have Aim. I skipped both Aim and Build Up on my fire/fire and ice/elec blasters and actually have more fun with the characters without them than I ever did with them. I didn't like waiting to attack because Aim and Build Up weren't recharged yet, and basically having my entire play session revolving around 2 powers that I was told I'd be gimping myself if I didn't have them and use them every time they are up. Maybe I wasn't putting out the best DPS I possibly could....but I didn't really care.

I'm not an authority on how to play the game, hell I'm not really much of an authority on anything. But I do know that your average player just wants to play the game and have fun doing it, and doesn't really care that they could be putting out more DPS by doing this instead of that, or that Dual Pistols not having Aim is apparently a problem.

When I decide what powersets I want to play I consider a few things.

Is it visually appealing?
If not, can I customize it to be visually appealing?
Are the animations cool?
Can I come up with an interesting character with this set?
Does it have any cool/unique mechanics in it?
Does this set flow well in combat?

All those things add up into "fun to play"

I have NEVER asked "Does this set have Aim?" in deciding what set to play. And I can't imagine that all that many people do asked that question.

I'm getting the feeling that the devs are trying to get away from every set relying on the crutch of Aim and/or Build Up. Look at some of the sets that have come out recently: Dual Blades has the same mechanic as Claws for damage boosting, Kinetic Melee has Power Siphon, Dual Pistols doesn't have Aim. They gutted Blaster Psi Blast in order to cram Aim into it (still widely regarded as a bad move from what I see, only PvPers really seem to like it) Not a whole lot of the more recent powersets have Aim or Build Up (with the exception of stalker melee sets, those will probably always have Build Up)

Really, putting Aim into a set seems kind of like a cop out:

"I can't think of a 9th power for this set!"
"Is it a blast set?"
"Yeah!"
"Just put Aim in it and the players will never know we couldn't think of anything else to add!"

So, in short, I disagree that Dual Pistols not having Aim is a problem.

My Spines/Fire took off after I had Quills, Blazing Aura, and Stamina, and had it slotted with SOs.

Yes, it's single target damage sucks, but it's one of few sets that you can get through missions with by literally just standing there. Multiple damage auras rock, so I would pair it with Fire (which just got loads better), Electric, or Dark (classic combination)

Since you kept deleting them by level 10 you haven't witnessed the awesome that is Throw Spines followed by jumping into a mob and hitting Spine Burst while your auras tick away. (Also of note, with Quills running, your spines stay out, so it eliminates the majority of the redraw when you do things like hit a heal)

One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

If the Resistance's plans work and they get rid of Cole, then they would very much be heroes. Always keep in mind....history is written by the winners.

Are the servers down?

Personally, I LIKE the fact that it's hard as hell to get through in one piece.

I was on the verge of quitting because the game became "Press button = Gain xp"

Then Praetoria came along and it was "Holy crap! I actually have to pay attention again!"

And on the bright side, any new player who makes it through Praetoria is much less likely to become a level 50 perma-noob.

heh.

After the BotZ nerf, my original build was about 3% away from softcapped. I see how you solved that problem, but I'm not going to be acquiring a Gladiator's Armor 3% piece anytime soon.