My one response post is to quote this:
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Wanted to explain the reasons for changing Burn...
It became apparent that Burn was the trump power...with it, a Tanker needed to do nothing else. He could lay down a Burn patch and Taunt foes in and out of it. The damage was so great that the Burn patch itself would do the defeating; the Tanker only needed to hit Taunt.
The question has come up - "what's the point of Burn now?" Well, it still offers Immobilization defense (we're actually going to increase that duration). And Burn does do a lot of damage. Taunt alone might not bring mobs into Burn continually, but stunning, holding, immobilizing mobs in Burn is just plain devastating.
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Sorry, Statesman, but I don't see it. A tanker has to make choices evaluating two questions:
(1) Does this make me stronger for a group?
(2) Does this make me stronger solo?
The answer to question (1) for Burn is an unequivocal no. Most fire tankers take CJ, so the immobilization aid is marginal. Burn drives enemies away from you, causing you to 'spread aggro' around and potentially getting your teammates killed. Moreover, the amount of damage Burn does on a team is fairly minimal unless your team is VERY defensively oriented. My experience with Burn was that it was fun to lay down here and there, but by and large, only sped things up ever so slightly; that's very different from the solo experience where Burn was my bread and butter vs non-bosses.
The answer to (2) is an even MORE unequivocal no. Fire/Ice tankers might answer in the affirmative; they are the exception, rather than the rule. As a Fire/EM tanker, for example, there's very little point to Burn.
A. I cannot hold anyone
B. I cannot immobilize anyone
C. I can stun enemies, but they walk dizzily out of the Burn patch anyhow (or, despite being stunned, they JUMP out)
So with stuff fleeing away, it makes no sense to bother. I have precious little room in my build for fluff; it makes more sense to just take whirling hands sooner, and then take buildup or fiery embrace rather than taking Burn at all.
I've analyzed Fire Tanks and tanks in general at length, so you can review my previous comments; I'd like to add, however, that it is key to note that Fire Tanks have no resistance to knockback, which means to be a strong defensive tank, we need our 2 main shields, plus 5 pool powers - 3 to get Acrobatics, 2 to get Tough; and then the toggles are so expensive, we need Stamina to be able to use them. So that's a 10-power defense, basically, and that's not counting healing flames or burn itself. So their "strength" was their offense; but Burn, frankly, adds almost nothing. When it's useful (teamed), you don't need it, especially now that it has been nerfed; when you're solo, it's just useless.
I suggest you just scrap the power entirely, and come up with something balanced that doesn't conflict with the AI. In fact, if you want to REALLY do something nice:
(1) Change burn to a straight DoT or damage effect; make it whatever damage you feel is appropriate for a power in the slot.
(2) Add +res(knockback) to it.
You're golden. Just start from scratch, make it balanced, make it useful. If you add +res(knockback) even as it is, it might be worth it - after all, better a primary than a pool, and damage is a bonus.
If you leave it as it is currently, you are making a terrible mistake, I feel. And I am not much for saying the sky is falling; I have 11 characters on 2 accounts, from L6-L50 across all ATs. I was fine with most changes. I really think you need to re-address the changes to Ice Tanks and the Burn issue. I know that Burn was too good before. Rather than making it a useful shadow of its former self, start from the ground up and think outside the box a bit.
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