Talionis
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Posts
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Joined
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I would actually think maybe all Scrappers should be given the choice to become either Brutes or Stalkers because I think that would take care of all the options.
I agree with you that Scrappers and Brutes basically make the same toons. If the Scrapper doesn't make a good Brute then he probably ought to be a Stalker. The Scrapper criticals are very similar to Stalker criticals.
Tanks are the melee archetype that is clearly different. They are basically melee controllers. The other melee archetypes are different types of damage dealers.
Logistically this would be hard to implement and the benefit of eliminating Scrappers seems minimal to me. I think the same thing could be said for changing all Corrupters to Defenders or visa versa. But from a purely technical question of do we have too many Melee archetypes that essentially do the same thing. I would answer yes.
I will also throw out there that I'd love a Debuff Buff/Melee archetype -
Quote:I love the idea you have here. I've always had trouble with powersets making creative choices in this game. In a set like this where we want to look Natural and want to embrace a lot of different possible creative themes this has a lot of potential.Originally Posted by Snowzone
How about the "pet" is a toggle that has a chance of firing off a proc that does three things:
1) Repeat the power you just used with its damage, mez magnitude and buff/debuff values reduced by a third.
2) Create an FX tied to the same proc which creates an after-image of you using the power (similar to the Dual Pistol's after-images).
3) Give a decent positional defence buff to compensate for the lack of an actual pet distraction.
Making the pet something like a ninja or an Oni is more restrictive on concepts than having a dog for a Dark Control pet, so the after-image thing could fit anything from ninjas or Batman-type characters to super-speeders and time manipulators. Making the toggle give a defence buff compensates for the other thing that a pet does - be a distraction - whilst also fitting in the concept of an agile fighter. If it's too much work (which it probably would be) then rather than create an FX it could be a translucent, shadowy, phased, immobile and untargetable pet that is summoned on your character's position that can only use the attack that you just used before being unsummoned. -
Quote:I like Electric Blast more than Rad Blast too! Although the saving grace of Rad Blast is the Photon Torpedo noise. I just felt like I was having a really hard time killing things and it always seemed to take an attack or two more to kill things with Electric Blast than Rad blast.Originally Posted by Lothic
I think this all mostly boils down to the age-old idea of "do you play characters for their concepts" or "do you play characters that are geared towards maximizing their in-game stats"? If the main thing that matters to someone is max DPS then they're not likely going to play an Electric Blaster - but then again that same person is probably not going to play most Defender or Controller types either. *shrugs*
Electric Blast not being as good (at least DPS-wise) as something like Fire Blast or Rad Blast is -NOT- necessarily a bad thing for this game. I'd much rather have different powersets have different characteristics in this game than to have all the Blasts be cookie-cutter "equal" to each other. Put another way: if all Blast powersets did as much damage as say Fire then we'd really only have ONE type of Blaster. I personally like having more than one type to choose from.
As long as this game has more than one Blaster powerset there's always going to be one that does something better than another. They can't all be equal to each other across the board. Obviously pure damage output is an important aspect for a Blaster in general. If that's your absolute top priority you can always pick the powersets that work best for that. But if you actually want to play a character for -OTHER- reasons than just simple min/maxing then we have choices for that.
As a longtime player of an Electric Blaster I would agree that the Endurance Drain feature is hard to maximize and is not as useful as pure DPS in all cases.
But it can actually be far more useful (especially against bosses and AVs) than most people realize if you fully optimize your build for it. The key thing to realize is that Electric Blast is actually meant to be played almost more like a soft-mez Controller or Dominator hybrid than a "pure" damage dealer. In D&D terms it's very much a "multi-classed" powerset between a version of this game's Fighters (Blasters) and Magic Users (Controllers).
To be honest most of the argument for changing the way Endurance Drain works usually only comes from people who have not mastered how to use it. Just because some people don't like it or can't play with it doesn't really mean it deserves to be changed.
I also get that Electric Blast is supposed to be a bit more controllerie (sp?), but I feel like Ice Blast does a better job of being a controller.
I love that Electric Blast is different. I wouldn't want to change any of the powers in the set, except to maybe up the damage a little.
Ideas I like:
Adding more damage to Tesla Cage
Adding an AoE damage when Voltaic Sentinel is summoned.
Possibly just slightly increasing the damage of each Voltaic Sentinel blast
Increasing the damage of Short Circuit
The reason I like Electric Blast set is that it allows for a lot of melee centric attacks with Short Circuit and Ball Lightning both potentially PBAoE. I've always wanted to make a Melee Defender.
I am also with you that the First Dominator was a Electric (Ice is also a good primary) /Ice (You can pick other controllerie secondary?) Blaster. -- I know this is a valid play style. I've just always hated that Electric seems to pay for it with less overall damage and seems to pay for it in damage a lot more than Ice does.
Comparing Electric Blast to Ice Blast is a really good comparison and Ice is usually better in every way. (I do personally like Electric more). -
I didn't know they had made these for i24, cool:
These powersets were announced in the TwitchTV broadcast. They will be in I24 and are free for VIPs:
Martial Combat (blaster secondary)
Chi Push (repel followed by knockback (cool new animation)
Storm Kick (melee)
Dragon Kick (melee)
Dragon's Tail (PBAoE melee)
Burst of Speed (AoE self TP)
Reach for the Limit (Build up auto powerChance for +dam and +ToHit on every power)
Reaction Time (toggle+absorb over time, +revocery, -move on enemy; 10 seconds of +speed on toggle off)
Inner Will (self heal and ,ez breakonly unsable under 50% end or health or when mezzed)
Throw Sand (cone foe stun)
Martial Assault (secondary for Dominators)
Shuriken Throw (has a new animation)
Thunder Kick (meleeMA port)
Trick Shot (chain powershuriken bounces between targets)
Spin Kick (front facing cone like the incarnate power without the teleport)
Envenomed Blades (build up power; adds toxic damage to all attacks for a time)
Dragon's Tail (PBAoE melee)
Caltrops
Masterful Throw (snipe; chance for DoT damage)
Explosive shuriken (single target with chance for splash DoT) -
I totally agree. I have wondered why this and a ninjutsu Assault Set was never made for Dominators.
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Quote:Well I did play a Electric Blast defender and the damage was pretty miserable. I really did notice the difference, especially solo when I changed the toon to a Rad blast defender instead.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Point:
If DPS were the only thing that made a set worth playing, only Fire blasters would ever have existed in the first place.
This may surprise some people, but many people who play and enjoy Electric Blast simply do not care at all that their power set is viewed as bad or underperforming by people on the forums.
My wife is a good example of that. Her main is an E3 blaster, and she does not care in the slightest that you think her character is weak. -
Quote:I don't understand why sleepers are a problem? Electric Blast doesn't have a sleep in the set. Very few power sets that it can be paired with have a sleep ability. In that rare case you could avoid one of the powers.Originally Posted by zachary_EU
Not very good idea. Then it wakes up all sleepers around it. 2 areas are good for elec but only really problematic power is voltaic sentinel.
Also VS is on a long timer. The long timer also keeps the extra AoE from being a part of an attack chain.
Truthfully, I'm just spit balling ideas. The real problem is that Electric is not on par with other sets for Damage Per Second for Single targets or AoE. This is the problem we'd like the Dev's to fix. The way in which they do it is less important.
The mitigation from Endurance Drain is binary (all or nothing) and because of its less valuable because by the time most enemies can be drained of endurance other sets would just have killed the enemies. So Endurance Drain is a feature that is of very small value. -
Quote:I like the idea, but maybe put the Short Circuit when the VS is formed (Thematically the its pulling Electricity out of the Environment to make the VS). VS already has so much front loaded damage. Electric could use more damage AoE or Single Target.Originally Posted by Rejolt
I've always wanted an aoe (Static Discharge, Ball Lightning or Lighting Field) for Voltaic Sentinel. At they very east Short Circuit when VS finally crashed.
I'll take any buffs VS can get. Right now, I'm using VS as a minor build up for the Defiance +20 percent damage.
Short Circuit isn't a ton of damage anyway (and it wouldn't have to be a full damage SC), but with the high recharge of VS, its not a power that could be used in a damage chain anyway. -
Quote:To be honest my character would probably want both the Hip Quiver and the Shoulder/Back quiver.Originally Posted by Roderick
The arrow draw animation is over the shoulder, so it's unlikely we'll get a hip quiver.
I definitely wouldn't be looking for a different animation for the hip quiver -
Quote:I would suggest that if they implement your suggestion, it would negatively affect people who like VS. You should expect some level of displeasure to accompany a suggest to remove an exist power.Originally Posted by SteelRat
Opinion / suggestion. Not a demand. Know the difference
They also have the Cottage Rule to protect people from having a power removed right out from under them. So I don't expect them to implement your suggestion.
You're entitled to your opinions and suggestions, but know that others are also entitled to tell you they dislike your opinion or suggestion and also to shoot holes in your suggestion/opinion, so that the best solutions rise to the top. -
Quote:Improving VS would be a good option, but I don't see them replacing VS with a boring T3 blast.Originally Posted by SteelRat
Really hope that isn't the case. Not a big fan of VS purely from a conceptual basis and making into Electrics T3 essentially makes it unskippable. Rather than updating VS into something that makes it a T3 blast, I'd rather we just have a proper T3 blast and do away with VS altogether. Make it something like a single target attack that has a 25% chance to jump to other nearby mobs (maximum of 4) for 50% additional damage. (numbers pulled from a hat, no idea at all whether this is over powered or not, literally just an idea)
Better thematically and sufficiently different from other blast T3s.
CoH is plagued with a ton of powersets that have very little difference from one powerset to the next. Battle Axe and War Mace were near carbon copies.
VS is a signature power for Electric Blast, even if a lot of people don't like it. Its a hard power to compute in an attack chain. It does its damage over a long period of time and often enemies maybe defeated. The animation time is also a little long.
That said VS is a different power from other attack sets. I want the power to stay. I would just like for the Devs to up the damage output for Electric Blast because in almost all normal situations, the Endurance Drain is a not an actual mitigation device and Electric Blast pays a good price in damage for that extra level of mitigation that really doesn't practically exist. -
I wonder if the Dev's couldn't do it as a contest. Monthly have player's choose their top 10 (more is fine with me, but pick a manageable number for the Dev's). Then the Dev's would implement the desired pieces to code.
It would be the items most wanted by paying players. If the players knew what they were doing then the pieces could be already close to ready to be put into game code-wise. If not then the piece would have to be translated to code.
With ten (or more) a month you get a rate of pieces added to the game that is controllable, so the Dev's could decide how hard it was to verify the pieces were not copied material. The new pieces would be added in with the next patch, patches come much more often now, but it wouldn't be a player side view only. Everyone could see what your character looked like.
This could also be a baby step towards a more player designs every piece of clothing for their toon from head to foot. But a manageable way to move in the direction.
But COH was the first to do AE, so they can think along these lines and this might be the type of idea that could be fleshed out. -
Quiver pieces would be much appreciated.
Back and Hip. Hip would work much like the Samurai belt. I'm not sure the best position for the Back Quiver.
Even one would be really nice! -
I think it may be getting better. I've heard it rumored at least for Defenders you will be able to fire very quick snipes (if you have enough +to hit) and that Nukes are going to become crashless.
If both of these are right then, the Snipe could move into the chain and help drastically to improve Electric. -
Trickshooter, love the set. It does work with a great number of builds providing a natural buff/debuff set. I also loved Kirsten's idea of having multiple animations so that the set would inherently be able to fit into many different themes.
Quote:Originally Posted by Kirsten
This would work perfectly for all sorts of characters, especially if there were multiple animation sets:
Best for:
Natural/Science: Various Equations and Theorems float in midair.
Mutant/Natural: Various parts of the target's body glow Psych-style.
Magic: Instant Runes
Technology: a HUD appears over the user, Some effects on the target.
I'd totally reroll one of my mains with this. -
Quote:Thank you for the advice. Hopefully, it will help.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
If anyone is on a free account and refuses to spend enough to unlock global channels then they can suck it up and deal with it. You get what you pay for.
Keep in mind:
If you are hoping to attract them into the game more fully, you should treat them like Gold not...
Second free players may be purchasing all sorts of stuff to unlock it.
Third, if you don't know how or that you should unlock Global Channels it will hurt your experience.
I may be an idiot, I'm just asking for help idiot proofing finding teams. -
I can never seem to find a good team on Champion. I don't know if its because I'm doing something wrong or what. But anything you can do to make finding a team idiot proof would be nice.
Improved/Easier to use chat channels.
Heck I think I've hurt my chat channel set up and need a good way to reset it.
Maybe a toggle that will help to match you to people looking for teams.
But for new or returning players to come back, you don't want them playing alone. You want them making bonds and playing with others. -
Quote:Even if the game is ready for a "Ranged Tank"; the thought is really counter to what this proposed Archetype would be. I would even suggest, that you can already make a ranged Tank. Take a Forcefield Defender and max out all its Defense Abilities. That would be a ranged tank. If you need even more tank than that, you can go ranged Brute. I think Mu allows for 3 or 4 ranged attacks in one of its Ancillary Power Pools and many people have made successful ranged Brutes.Originally Posted by Dekoy
I think the game is ready for Ranged-Tanks. I think giving the ranged attacks a taunt like how tanks have it built into their attacks would be sweet. Not a tankmage, a Range-Tank is different.
We already have a Ranged Buff/Debuff set, actually two (Corrupters & Defenders).
This Archetype is designed to be able to Buff and Debuff in Melee. Melee and Ranged are pretty much the opposite of one another. -
Quote:I disagree on Ranged Attacks in the Primary or Secondary. The only caveat I would give is that Claws and Spines both have some Ranged Attacks that are already in those and they would be ok.Originally Posted by daveyj3
yes to almost everything
buuuttt i would still prefer it to have the assault sets, with a couple ranged attacks. i would rather, have it be a reduced damage AT... since the self/team buffs would be it's primary, right?
or like you suggested and i think i mentioned, the self/team buffs along the lines of what a SoA has, and the attack secondary being similar to a MMs. of course, different inherent, different base stats, and a couple different effects to pet goody powers, OR... instead of upgrades: meelee attacks.
The other thing Devs might do is increase the range of some of the AoE powers like Consume. Especially those powers that have debuffs attached to them or could have Debuffs added to them. Devs might also pay attention to adding some debuffs to the attacks, much like Defender Debuffs are included in most of the Defender Secondaries.
You also have an opportunity for Ranged attacks in the Ancillary. If you like at Brutes I've seen some funny builds that late become Ranged Attacks because they focus on all the ranged attacks in the ancillaries and get enough Recharge to get those attacks up in a chain.
Having ranged attacks would make the Archetype far too similar to both Corrupters and Defenders that already exist. It needs to be squarely and strongly different. -
Quote:1. I would say this set would have to be Melee only and no Ranged Attacks outside of Ancillary Pools. The safety and positioning advantage of being ranged is what this Archetype gives up and is not good at. It is one of the things that keep it from being a Tankmage. To be honest, before I gave this set Ranged attacks, I'd seriously think about giving the Archetype weakened forms of minions like a Mastermind (IE less of them and without minion upgrade powers).Originally Posted by Leo_G
Another question would be whether this AT should have straight melee sets or assault sets. I've heard the arguments for assault sets but I'm rather torn. Many of them are quite good but some melee sets just offer more to upfront combat, not to mention there are more of them. So melee or assault?
The difference I've always proposed for the secondary (de)buff set is newly created sets of powers specifically balanced for the 'Enforcer AT' called 'Survival' which would simply have self shields and other utilities ranging from debuffs to team buffs. This would include mez protection for the simple fact that being able to nearly ignore one of the weakpoints of your team-support peers should not be given out lightly (in a passive inherent) and probably should require sacrifice to obtain...
But how do you keep this AT in line without overshadowing the other support? That's easy. You don't give the AT access to all the support. It's already common knowledge that a 'healer' empathy that took all the heals but skipped or doesn't use the buffs is far less useful than an empathy that knows how to use all their powers. That technically doesn't make the 'healer' empathy direction 'useless' just limited...
2. I like the idea of trading and tweaking the way the Buff/Debuff powers are to change those powers to include some level of shielding for Melee Defender. Along those lines, I'd suggest that maybe the Melee Defender should have Mastermind level Offensive Buffs and De-Buffs and Defender level Defensive Buffs and Debuffs. Thus, the Melee Defender would get the benefits that help it and the team stay alive, but not the killing things quickly benefit.
Offensive Buffs -- Damage Boost from Fulcrum Shift
Defensive Debuff -- Minus Damage from Fulcrum Shift
3. Not outshining the existing buffing classes would be pretty easy with the breakdown I showed above. I also liked your idea of not porting over every single power from the Defender trees. Missing powers would equal things that other toons could do that this Archetype could not do. -
With my luck the Guild would assign me the Monarch, lol.
Sorry for the sarcasm. I actually like the idea of having more personal big bads. -
Melee Defender is the D & D Marshall or Paladin. It should be rugged, but not tough like Collossus. They don't get the benefit of ranged attacks and have to get close to their opponents and risk getting hit with their strongest attacks, but for that lack of range they are tougher than Blasters. They are varied in what they can do and how they survive.
They are the rugged little generals that fight on the front lines and don't do a lot of damage, but they help those around them do more damage and stay alive longer.
They are a gritty tougher Defender, not a wuss just not superpowered levels. -
I was thinking this set would need higher hit points, possibly bruTe or scrapper level hit points. The archetype has potential to be pretty swingy. Being in melee also opens you to more damaging attacks.
I think the damage and buff levels would depend on what is primaryand what are the secondary power set.
The game is at a point where less easily played archetypes might be seen as a challenge.
Kinetics is a set based in melee, making it work would be fun and it has a good heal.
But we have had good suggestions and bringing up difficulties to overcome is good too. -
Quote:I actually really like this idea. Kind of like instead of a taunt a Battle Cry.Originally Posted by Tenzhi
Not protection, Resistance. I think the debuff resistance would be the bigger boon.
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Quote:I doubt they would make the Mez protection a buff, only two sets FF and Sonic have them and this set already has access to both those buffs. If they do something like that then they would really have to change a power in the buff debuff power set to grant it.Originally Posted by Tenzhi
I would replace Taunt with a power called Rally that did a PBAoE buff of some sort to allies (possibly a solid amount of debuff and mez resistance).