Zamuel

Originally Posted by Castle

The only way I'd be comfortable increasing the drop rates is if we could make then Bind on Pickup, tech which we don't currently have.

Originally Posted by TrueMetal

I like Nemesis ... He's the Archvillain, all the other wannabe's are just toys to him, as shown in Viridian's arc.

Originally Posted by Lazarus

...I'd rather not have dependence on a inherent that only works when you're not doing your job well enough.

Originally Posted by twelfth

Okay, I'm gonna do a modification and combination of Ransim and Raithnor_Mal's suggestions into what I'm calling Combat Manipulation:

Combat Manipulation is about going into a combat situation and being well prepared to take on what comes your way by manipulating the opponent or the situation to your advantage. It has its basis in martial arts, but adapts minor tool usage, and some street saavy to make the user a force to be reckoned with even if they actually use very little direct force.

1 - Bola Snare: Minor DMG(Smash), Foe Immobilize or Slow, -DEF

2 - Storm Kick: Melee, Moderate DMG (Smash)

4 - Combat Senses: Toggle AOE Debuff/Self Buff(Moderate Foe -To Hit; slight self +Regen)

10 - Knuckle Duster: Melee, High DMG(Smash), Foe KnockUp

16 - Tiger's Eye: Self +DMG, +To-Hit

20 - Blinding- or Sleeping Powder: Ranged (Cone), Foe Confuse or Sleep (not sure on this), -To-Hit, -Perception.

28 - Roomsweeper: PBAoE, Moderate DMG(Smash), Foe Knockdown.

35 - Spirit Shout: PBAoE Terrorize, minor DMG (Psi)

38 - Personal Best: Click, +75% EndRdx +75% Regen, +Recharge


My concern with the prior posts is that most of the suggestions have been OMG BLAPPER damage-oriented, when most of the Blaster sets are not geared toward hella tons of damage*. Rather, secondaries are usually best described as alternate strategies to your Primary Blast set. It's about versatility and mitigation, in general (work with me here). So. You have the above.

* Yeah, I know Fire Manip is about damage, and EM feels like it is while in play, but go with me here

Here's the thinking I have behind these:


T1: Ranged Immobilize. Unfortunately it might need a new animation, but 5 of 6 of the secondaries have a Ranged Immobilize. That's really what this should be. Keeps enemies controlled at a distance. I added in a -DEF component for what I imagine is actually a minimal damage effect. Alternatively it could be a respectable slow power with same -DEF. Surprising we haven't seen bolas in the game yet, they're pretty standard Utility-Belt items.

Alternatively, a "Boomerang" stun, which could use a very slight change to the Throwing Knives animation.

T2: Melee Damage. I think Storm Kick is basically on the money here. Maybe rename it to something not obviously a clone of MA (perhaps using MA-Alt animation).

T3: This is basically an inverted Rise to the Challenge. In most sets, this is a Toggle with some utility. In some cases this is Damage, others not. I think RttC is a great power and would be easily placed in here, plus it plays into the idea of this powerset being about "controlling the combat". Inverting the emphasis on -To Hit and +Regen makes it a bit more consistent with Blaster rather than standard melee types.

T4: Damage, with some secondary soft control. Nothing more to say here. Crane Kick is the inspiration here, but since I see this as being a bit more punchy, I think Knock Up is a decent mitigation. Maybe Dial down Damage and crank up Recharge so you're offsetting the fact that Knock Up does not push enemies away.

T5: THIS IS WHERE YOU PUT BUILD UP. All sets except Devices and Energy Manip put it at 16. This is obviously where the devs want BU, don't mess with it. Devices doesn't have BU, and EM's focus is self-buffs rather than enemy debuffs.

T6: More mitigation here. I couldn't decide whether this should be a confuse or a sleep. If its a confuse, it sorta seems odd to make it -ToHit (cause then the mobs couldn't hit each other), but -Perception seems okay on other sides. The -ToHit should synergize with Combat Senses. If this is a sleep, the debuffs should persist even if they are attacked.

T7 - This is just a non-MA specific version of Dragon's Tail. If we were going for new animations, I'd totally go for a Spinning Clothesline effect, but Dragon's Tail is good enough. Alt animation could be that mid-air spin and ground punch thing that I can't remember the name to.

T8 - The T8 is really what I was having a hard time with. What is slotted here varies from secondary to secondary. I decided to go with another moderate control. There's not much resistance to Terrorize, and adding some minor Psi damage seems to make sense in regard to demoralizing enemies. Not sure on the animation here, but between the Howl animation or Psychic Shockwave or something like that, there's something existing that will serve.

T9 - Pulling this from Raithnor Mal's suggestion: "Similar to Energize from Electric Armor without the heal", renamed from "Second Wind" above, add recharge instead of heal to make it a reasonable T9 power. For balance purposes this might end crash or have a hefty recharge. Animation wise I anticipate the MotG/Strength of Will FistPump or something like that.


Anyway. Up for discussion.

Originally Posted by PennyPA

Will try something different for the end.

Originally Posted by Zamuel

Funny thing is that if we were allowed to add screen shake and/or fire visual effects to powers, you could make a tolerable knockoff with the I16 alternate animation they gave Martial Arts AS.