JimG

Okay, I would argue that Kheldians don’t need any help in terms of power. Usually the person saying that really means “Warshades are more powerful than Peacebringers” which might be true under the right circumstances but is not the same thing.

However, Khelds have always had a kind of strange place in how the game works and what it means to play one. Consider this--If you choose the archetype “Blaster” than your hero could be similar to many well-known characters such as the Human Torch, Iceman, or Nick Fury. But if you choose “Kheldian” then you are similar to . . . who exactly? What comic book character is possessed by an alien, has superpowers, and can change form? Basically nobody.

As a result, Kheldians don’t really fit with the other archetypes. They are closer to a traditional “class” in an RPG then they are to a general “archetype” that can be used for many different characters.

The VEATs of Widow and Soldier are similar in that it’s hard to imagine yourself as being anything besides a former member of Arachnos. But since that villain group is featured throughout the gameworld I always found it easier to imagine yourself a member of that group than a human merged with an alien.

I will speak just from my personal experience and bias.

I generally wouldn’t consider a blaster and haven’t run one for several years. The extra damage is not worth the lack of damage mitigation. It’s true there are a few specific builds like Ice/Ice which have some slows and holds, but that’s really the exception. For ranged damage a corrupter, defender, or dominator are all superior given that they all have something (buffs, debuff, and heals) in addition to damage.

However, I am not convinced the devs should spend a single minute doing anything to change this. People seem to generally get excited by new powersets then they are by revamped versions of an old archetype. It’s also far easier to playtest a single powerset than it is to playtest a change to an entire archetype. Even if blasters got something outrageous like a 30% base damage boost I would probably not play one since I mainly solo and I still want mitigation/control over just damage. Of course IOs can be used to help with this, but I’d rather start with a character that already has mitigation.

I also want to point out an interesting contradiction which runs through this thread. People simultaneously want the archetypes to be balanced but also “feel” different. These are both desirably goals but usually they work against each other. The easiest way to balance classes is to make them more similar. If blaster got mezz protection or more debuffs they we would complain they felt too much like corrupters.

I took a quick look at the Defender's forum and wasn't able to find any guides or posts about this. Can you fill in a few more details on how it is watered down?

Thanks for your reply, and you raise an interesting question. If I am mainly solo then defenders get a 30% damage buff. And nowadays Defenders can get Fire. Hmm.

I am tired of melee toons and want to run a corrupter again.

A few years ago I had a Fire/Traps corrupter that I really liked, especially since /traps has mezz-protection.

Nowadays I solo most of the time—family commitments mean I can’t log in very often or for long. I plan to run actual content rather than just sit in the MA, and eventually I would like a powerful hero that can handle +1-ish/X8.

I am attracted to either Ice/Time or Fire/Time and can’t decide. I like the synergy of Ice/Time, plus I have already done Fire. But the extra damage in Fire is just so yummy I am not sure I can give it up. But since I am solo and don’t have mezz protection the soft controls of Ice are tempting.

What do people think? I would consider a different secondary than /Time, but I’m drawn to the “new shiny” powerset.