StratoNexus

Re-read Silver Gale's post, slowly.

I do actually see quite a lot of other Brutes besides SS/FA in game. I think a lot of people do play them and it is only natural that the forums are full of questions about them, since the forums is where you go to learn about stuff, including farming. Despite that, people play other brutes and other ATs.

Pointing to SS/FA brutes is actually a vindication for the OP. A build like SS/FA can exist, yet most people still play other things.

Most other MMOs only let you play a few characters. Therefore you have to be more cautious about what you make. You can't just waste a character slot on some slightly weaker character. For VIPs, character slots are not quite the premium they are in other MMOs. Why isn't every defender Rad or Traps /Sonic?

Just like Power Customization ISN'T going to happen. Just like inherent Fitness, ISN'T going to happen.

What is wrong with Frostfire's background?

Maybe this is a sign the devs are going to fix Quartzes!

Don't cop out just because we disagree. If everyone has to agree with your post and your opinion in order to be considered valid, then you are the one with unrealistic expectations. The fact that I like the way the current mechanic for disintegration works in no way means it should not be changed at all, just that I like it as is and see real drawbacks to making it less dangerous.

I'd love to see some changes in Keyes. I'd like to see only 6 terminals per reactor, 2 per floor, instead of the current 10 per, with 4, 4, then 2 on the floors. I'd like to see a more clear way to know who is being disintegrated. I'd like the flashy notification for entanglement to go away (partly to aid in seeing who is being disintegrated) since there is no use to the flashy notification. I'd like the Time Stop to actually stop everything except Anti-Matter. That means Disintegration and Obliteration Beam stop (as well as our own regen and recovery and even recharge if it was possible).

Severe? I do not think that word means what you think it means. I have seen some stuff that indicates a mild drop, but nothing that indicates a severe one. What are you referencing when you say we know of a severe drop off in blaster popularity in the high levels?

Meh, what you posted feels pretty much like current nukes. Kill all the minions and Lts., neutralize the bosses. No single spawn is worth a crash, ever. Rage, SoW, and Unstoppable all last for mutliple spawns (or in the case of SoW and Unstoppable allow one to last vs. a very strong opponent). I can see the benefit of your improved nuke with the real, unavoidable crash, but it seems only barely better than the current version and still not worth even the shorter crash. If nukes could somehow work on multiple spawns (or had a significant impact during a fight vs. a very strong opponent), then a crash would make sense to me (kind of like your Raging Lunatics idea might work). However, I don't really want to change what the nukes do or turn them into something else.

It is true, I often get to use my nukes on two spawns, but, of course, the 16 target cap means it is not really two spawns. I actually love the nukes, just like most every player I ever meet in game. My "main" blaster doesn't have it, because I am damn well not turning 7 (or 8) toggles back on all the time and she is a walking nuke every 12 seconds anyway. I have skipped it on a few defenders, mostly those that run lots of toggles or where it doesn't fit thematically. But generally I take it and use it (and on my Emp/Ice/Dark, I almost feel it is worth the crash, especially in places like on top of the towers in the ITF, but Blizzard is kind of unique, especially when Soul Drain is maxed).

Just because you mostly play an Energy blaster and keep the enemy out of the reach of your melee allies doesn't mean their on paper damage shouldn't be counted in some way!

Indeed, on most teams it can be very easy for blasters to leverage the range advantage. I frequently kill stuff while armored ATs are still just trying to run over to them. I frequently have ranger teammates kill stuff while I am trying to run to it when I play an armored character. Even when teams go all splits and start tackling multiple spawns, a blaster may be able to keep up for a bit.

There are many angels displayed in game both in Paragon and in the RI. The two new vendors in Ouro are only the latest.

When being disintegrated, the only thing that should be damaging you is disintegrate. If you are remaining next to AM or you are standing on top of allies you need to adjust your tactics. There is no reason that with heals and respites you should be below full when the last tick hits. That is the point of the Disintegrate game. Before the final tick, you must be at full health. If they change that last tick to anything less, the game loses any play value.

Honestly, if it was less and you could likely ignore it while just spamming attacks and letting AoE healing fix you up. It sounds like that is what you are asking for, something you could ignore and just let AoE healing cover. The entire point of this mechanic is to force one person to disengage for 15 seconds while they and leaguemates use respites/heals/regen buffs to keep them alive.

Indeed. But I had figured we were giving up on equalizing the leveling and reward earning potential. At this point, I am interested in QOL tweaks that are also straight buffs, even though they will not have a major impact on the normal metrics. I am just looking to eliminate the annoying or obviously older design concepts. Not that I would be opposed to Raging Lunatics, but I am more interested in just removing some of the more egregious drawbacks that already exist in the sets.

I consider the -recovery part of the crash; when I refer to the crash, I mean all of it. That type of crash for these Nukes has no place in this game. If they left the end crash, but removed the recovery debuff, that would be good, but a nuke is no Unstoppable, Rage, or even SoW and there should be zero drawback to using it. The long recharge is already payment enough.

I don't dislike that type of crash, as I am perfectly happy with Unstoppable, Rage, and SoW. But even if we made the nuke instantly obliterate even bosses or maybe even EBs, they still would not be worth the harsh crash, IMO. I cannot see a way to reconcile Nukes having a crash for blasters, outside of your Raging Lunatic concept. I love the idea behind Inferno and Nova. I even like the idea behind needing some moments to recover from that type of power. But what the nukes do gameplay wise, does not really match the way they work in a story environment and the crash is just inappropriate.

Interestingly, I was thinking of that type of power for my dreamed of Katana Manip. Something where you bolt into the center, slam the hilt of the sword into the ground, and all the foes around you fall down.

I am not sure when I came around to this idea, but I think it was sometime in I13 or 14. I was really frustrated that Blasters were not given any real changes in I11, but since I loved blasters from I5 on, I rolled with it. I was livid when I saw that VEATs were basically blasters, with the stuff we suggested in I10 to make blasters better (mostly because while I'd like to play VEATs, I'd prefer to play one based on fire or electricity or ice or something other than clawes, bullets, energy, and/or Psi). Eventually, I realized how awesome it was that blasters were allowed to continue as is.

"Fixing" blasters takes away a big element of their current gameplay, reliance on teammates (or an expensive IO build and good inspiration use). It is tough to reconcile a gameplay element that is as far out of "balance" as blasters, but I think it is kind of cool.

That being said, there are still many, many things that could be done to improve the blaster state without making them just like the other ATs.

Nukes that don't crash (maybe a modestly faster recharge as well).

They could get a bonus to their move speeds, the better to facilitate moving in and out of melee. Possibly even added control and friction.

Snipes with some advantage (for starters, it could gain a defiance bonus that actually represented its full animation time).

Offensive toggles do not shutdown when mezzed, just suppress.

Perhaps some +perception/perception debuff resistance to Aim and maybe even Build Up.

They could regain the endurance advantage they once had over other ATs.

As the AT that is designed to "require" ally support, I think they should be able to benefit from it more than they currently do. While raising the HP cap or resistance cap are ideas along this vein, there are other unique things that could be done that do not infringe as much on making them more like scrappers. The unique things may be harder though, because they would likely require new techs.

More specific stuff could be done for individual sets, Swap Ammo could be made to matter more, /Devices could be given a once over, VS could be made less of a hassle, Blazing Aura could be altered, etc.

Ironically, for many of my characters I'd much prefer a perma-pet that added 75-100 DPS and smaller levels of (de)buffing.

The hurricane does indeed still work on the untouchable pet. Their version of the cane has lost the repel, but still has the chance to occasionally do some KB. I recommend making a bind to control this pets movement, as the hurricane is a massive debuff and well worth using as much as possible.

/bind button4 "petcom_name "Monsoon" goto"