StratoNexus
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Posts
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Quote:Mmmm. Water Blast/Kinetic Manipulation blaster sounds yummy.Originally Posted by Tsuji
We do, kind of. On test water blast uses some of Kinetic Melee's animations, although most of them are new. -
Quote:And I don't think Yogi was trying to bring them into the discussion. It was more of an off hand remark, a momentary aside.Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
It wasn't germane to the discussion though. He has been trying to do a completely separate comparison of blaster damage and scrapper damage without anything extraneous figured in (like survivability and mez) IOs and incarnate powers shouldn't enter the discussion for the same reasons.
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Quote:To be fair, that is not really the point that was being made. The AoE attacks in Sonic should count no matter what, their damage is low, but not negligible. Yogi was simply stating that incarnate stuff and IOs can make them even more potent, not that they were needed.Originally Posted by Schismatrix
Exactly. i play Incarnates less than 5% of the time. Most of my time is spent playing alts under level 40. Incarnate abilities are never an acceptable mechanism for compensating/balancing an underperforming AT.
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Quote:Archery was definitely changed for balance reasons. All the tier 1 and tier 2 blasts were also looked at and adjusted as needed for balance (to make them more equal for Defiance 2). Assault Rifle animations were adjusted to buff them. Gun Drone's animation was shortened to make the power better. While I am sure some of those needs were obvious to the devs themselves, I like to think repeated requests by players for quicker animations in a lot of those sets were also a factor.Originally Posted by Starsman
There was a small window of time where many powers had animation times adjusted, but this was not due to a suggestion or balance reason, but instead as a "bug fix". It was BABs removing extra dead rooted time many powers suffered off, in some cases the cast times actually increased (see Stone Melee.)
There was a pass on melee attack sets to eliminate the pauses, primarily in weapon sets of armored ATs. During that pass a lot of oddities were ironed out, some of which affected blaster secondaries (Fire Sword Circle (got worse), Fire Sword (got better), and Energy Punch (got worse) come to mind). But all of the stuff on my list that was changed was changed on purpose to improve the powers.
That said, most of the animation changes I wanted to see have been made already, although I always thought 1.67 seconds was too long for the tier 2 powers (that would be more where tier 3 powers should be). Tesla Cage, Voltaic Sentinel, and Combustion are really the only ones I still feel strongly about (well, I also want my 1.5 second FSC back, but that isn't happening). Technically, I feel strongly about Trip Mine and Time Bomb, but those both have other issues I'd want to see fixed in addition to reasonable animation times.
This is a difficult topic for me to get into. I spent a lot of energy back in 2007 only to see the barest of changes made to the blaster AT (and then saw VEATs made with a lot of the suggestions from that thread). I said then and I will say now, the only way to make them on par without making them dominators is to also give them some regular mitigation in the form of resistance, defense, +HPs, or regen/healing (and now the new absorb could be thrown in).
I love the idea of short duration mez/debuffs on a lot of blaster attacks, but I still think it won't be enough to help as much as "needed". -
Quote:Black Pebble joined us in beta runs. They mentioned internal testing. I am sure several of the devs have played it on live with their regular characters.Originally Posted by _Hush_
I hope this doesn't sound ridiculous , but has the development even try doing really hard way trial themselves?
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Quote:Ironically, a large number of the powers I listed for animation changes in 2007 have already been altered, most of them falling in line with my suggestions. Knowing that animation changes can be problematic, I did also include the, "If the animation changes are not possible, then try this."Originally Posted by Starsman
StratoNexus, I don't think animation changes are an option based on all we have learned about the animation system over the years.
Maybe I should not have posted that list here, since it is five years old and much of it had already been addressed, but I thought it was interesting to see the 5 year old suggestions and consider it in light of changes that had already happened as well as the continuing blaster concerns (but I am likely prone to thinking that what I have to say is more interesting than it really is
).
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Quote:But you can compare them to scrappers and brutes and figure that out. You do not need to compare them to all other ATs as well.Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
Establishing a baseline and seeing whether Blasters are above or below it given their role.
I don't think the base damage mods are largely irrelevant. I think they are one of many points of reference.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
So, as someone stated prior; largely irrelevant? (as a reply to my inquiry of relevance... and as long as it keeps coming up, I will continue to question its relevance.)
Maybe I don't play right, but I am fairly confident my blasters do not get an average of 28% increase in damage from defiance, especially my level 50 blasters.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
When a crit occurs, I'm sure its an amazing thing (love them on my Stalkers) but if your Fireball only crits, on average, 8% of the time then you're only getting a 12% bonus to your lifetime (whatever power) damage vs a Blaster's, on average, 28% Defiance bonus
link please, I am missing where average damage of the AoEs was discussed rather than just the number of AoEs they had access to.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
Actually, that statement was made
Yeah, I am not sure what was meant by that. My numbers differ from yours (blasters get 68 AoEs across primary and secondaries, scrappers get 62 across primaries and secondaries), but I still get blasters averaging more AoEs than scrappers, specifically most blaster combinations can access more AoEs than most scrapper combinations.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
and no; Scrappers do not have more AoEs:
I did not include APPs (and scrapper APPs do have more damage oriented AoEs than blasters, but blasters do have a fair smattering of AoE effects in their APPs) and I included every AoE effect, things like Invincibility and Lightning Clap were not excluded. Arcanaville will have to clarify her intent, because it seems the statement is incorrect.
This can get tricky, but having your best attacks back faster can also improve burst damage, since you can more often use them. However, in general I find rotating Aim and Build Up even on a non-recharge intensive build allows me access to one of those buffs 2 out 3 spawns (Build Up spawn A, Aim on spawn B, neither are recharged for spawn C) and with some focus on recharge every spawn.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
For DPS? Yes. For Burst? No. Funny thing is, when I was actually defending Form of the Mind vs. Form of the Body using the same argument; I was getting shot down on the basis of effect on burst damage. But if we are to use it then its impact on both DP types need to be quantified and averaged in; just like the other damage buffs powers.
I do like Aim and Build Up a lot, and having both is indeed nice and I can't imagine not having them. However, it is hard to deny the potentcy of Build Up and AAO or maybe Power Siphon and Fiery Embrace (although FE's recharge is too long for an AT that depends so heavily on that kind of buff, IMO) or Build Up and Lightning Reflexes+Lightning Field.
No one said that, what was said was the damage buffs that scrappers have access to are stronger on average (taken individually). Scrappers have access to Build Up, but also a smattering of better +damage powers than Aim or Build Up.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
You just can't state that Melees excel in damage buffs by saying, "Although 76% of Blaster Primaries and 86% of their Secondaries have a buff power; it all moot because Kinetic melee has Siphon Power."
In the future, if you refrain from the above type of silly comment, I will not respond in kind. For now though:Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
So everybody should run out and roll Shield/Electric; Electric/Shield as opposed to any and all Blasters or other melee combinations?
Indeed. Or everyone should take blast sets with true nukes, secondaries with Build Up, as well as make sure to take Burnout. Because that was the obvious point my example was making, that we should all conform to one ideal...
Or maybe I was just saying that your example of blaster nuking wasn't pertinent nor as potent as you thought? Nah, more likely I was suggesting the devs should turn off all other powerset combinations besides Shield/Electric.
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Quote:My first MM was Merc/Poison and I always felt unbelievably strong, definitely right up there with my best scrappers and controllers and hard targets just withered under the Poison debuffs. I played on Unyielding and never had an issue. Got to the late 20s and mostly abandoned the character for many reasons, none of which were because I thought it was weak. Eventually got it into the low 30s by playing it every now and again.Originally Posted by Kirsten
I've been playing a Mercs/Poisons MM named "Wonkondescending" (yes, it's for the contest...) and so far he's been pretty cool.
Then I made a Demon/Storm. I never knew MMs could be that strong. My Merc/Poison, as good as it is, is feeble in comparison.
I like MMs, but I prefer other ATs, despite MMs great strength. -
Quote:Why is that an interesting discussion? Do we really need to discuss obvious exaggeration or someone who talks out of context? It is likely when someone says blaster damage is mediocre, they mean mediocre compared to other ATs that specialize in damage or they are talking nonsense. I do not think it is a needed conversation to compare blaster damage to tanker damage and then go, well everything is fine, blasters do more DPA than defenders. Blaster damage should be compared to scrappers and brutes (and doms and stalkers and maybe corruptors), because those are the other ATs designed to inflict damage primarily. Why do you want to compare their damage to other ATs that are not designed to primarily deal damage? What does it demonstrate if at least blasters can usually outdamage Peacebringers?Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
I am aware of the damage creep, however, my questioning stems from the fact that some players are claiming that this creep is somehow invalidating Blaster damage; making it mediocre. I kind of wanna see this on paper; Blasters' median rank compared to all ATs... not just Scrappers and Brutes.
Go ahead. But that is more to the point of the DPA discussion below. This fact is simply stating that scrappers have the best melee and ranged damage mod. Nothing more. These are examples of where blasters could have a clear lead, but instead the waters are muddy.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
(previously queried) So, if we put together an average ranged Blaster chain vs an average melee Scrapper chain...?
My experience with my Blaze mastery scrappers leads me to believe in the math that says scrapper crits have a significant impact on scrapper damage that in many cases makes them superior damage to blasters (Fireball crits make me go WOAH!)Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
(previously queried) Posts 391 and 397.
But that is not the statement that was made. The statement is simply that scrappers on average have more AoEs. That is a fact. Size of the AoEs, target limits, and damage output do not change that fact. Again, this is an example of where blasters could have a clear edge, but instead the waters are muddy.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
My numbers say otherwise; the contention point being the average damage of the AoEs (Burst? DPS?)
Hmmm. SR gets +recharge and slow resists. +20% recharge almost assuredly has a bigger impact on damage output than Aim. And those other stronger melee class buffs are not being presented as the norm. They are simply being stated as EXISTING for non-blasters. Not as the norm, but as possible to have.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
My skepticism at this point is that the stronger melee class buffs (Rage, Siphon, Follow Up, AAO, etc) are being presented as the norm but aren't being averaged in to give a realistic picture of expectation. (If we're going to tell a player to choose a Scrapper over a Blaster because Scrappers put out better damage buff numbers (based to AAO/FE) and they get all excited and roll a Staff/SR...
First, anyone can take the damage of a power and divide it by the animation time and find the DPA of those powers. Second, when Arcanaville says she is not guessing on a design principle, it means a dev told her. You have to choose whether or not to believe her yourself. Melee attacks having better DPA than range attacks seems like a reasonable design principle, since you may have briefer time periods of possible interaction, you need to have better DPA (think PvP or Doom Patches in PvE).Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
Basis (not doubting, just asking)?
No reasonable person is saying blaster damage is poor. Simply that it is not all that much better or not at all better than other damage dealers.Quote:Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
To the point where its not a selling point any more for Blasters? I have yet to see that proven.
Especially when I can show off a Aim+BU+Nuke+(pills)+Burnout+Aim+BU+Nuke combo.
I played my level 39 Shield/Electric tanker recently. I am unimpressed by what can be done to two spawns with nukes and Burnout after experiencing Lightning Rod + Shield Charge. -
Quote:That depends on the argument. If you are arguing that scrappers have better offense than blasters, true. If you are more simply arguing that scrappers have a smattering of better +damage powers than blasters and encroach on blaster offense, you likely do not need to go that far.Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
If we're going to compare an entire AT to another then a median should be taken. Comparing an entire ATs against a few outliers (positive or negative) skews the argument.
Arcanaville listed a series of facts (only two of which are arguable), followed by the proposition that scrappers encroached on blaster damage, not that scrappers totally surpassed blaster damage. To the following list she made, remember to add my list from post 403.
Scrappers have a higher melee damage modifier than Blasters
cheat and use it for their primary and secondary ranged attacks where its equal to the Blaster ranged modifier
have even higher average base damage due to crits (this is arguable I guess, but the math I have done shows it to be generally true)
have the same damage strength cap
have a higher number of AoEs on average
have stronger self damage buffing powers on average (this is the crux of the current argument, and it is valid to discuss that having both Aim and Build Up is better than having Build Up plus any number of other tools scrappers have for increasing damage, but I think the scrappers come out ahead (in general), but that might be hard to prove to people who feel otherwise)
have higher DPA on average by design
having vastly superior damage mitigation on average
would you say its more likely they might encroach on Blaster offense? -
Looking back in time is fun. I recently found some old posts I had made. Here is a list of the suggestions I had made in 2007 for fixing blasters then.
Global Blaster Changes
Blasters gain 0.4 endurance to their maximum endurance/level
Aim, Build Up and Full Auto grant mag 4 (at all levels, no scaling) protection from Hold/Stun/Sleep for 12 seconds, and can be activated while held/stunned/slept.
Targeting Drone grants mag 3 (at all levels, no scaling) protection from Hold/Stun/Sleep which lasts 10 seconds per tick (that way it actually might still help when something overcomes it and detoggles it). It also grants 30% resistance to Hold/Stun/Sleep/Confuse/Fear effects for 10 seconds per tick.
Set Targeted Changes
Priority One
Blazing Arrow - reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less.
Explosive Arrow - reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less.
Burst - reduce animation to 1.3 seconds or less
Flamethrower - reduce animation to 2.67 seconds or less
Ignite - reduce animation to 2.67 seconds or less
Charged Bolts - reduce animation to 1.3 seconds or less
Lightning Bolt - reduce animation to 1.3 seconds or less
Voltaic Sentinel - reduce animation to 1 second or less
Power Bolt - reduce animation to 1.3 seconds or less
Power Burst - reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less
Shout - Reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less
Priority Two
Aimed Shot add 50% chance of mag 3 stun with a 5 second duration.
Fistful of Arrows add -9.375% ToHit to Target for 6 seconds
Energy Torrent the chance for KB on the enemy targeted is increased to 100%, remains at 60% for the rest of the enemies hit
Explosive Blast Knockback changed to KnockUp
Caltrops increase damage by 20%
Cloaking Device make it suppress only when clicking glowies like Energy Auras cloak
Trip Mine reduce animation to 3 seconds; allow power to accept interrupt enhancers
Time Bomb reduce animation to 3 seconds; allow power to accept interrupt enhancers
Auto Turret Reduce recharge to 90 seconds. Reduce animation to 3 seconds.
Chilblain reduce time of ticks to 5 seconds instead of 9.2
Electric Fence reduce time of ticks to 5 seconds instead of 8.2
Blazing Aura increase radius to 10 feet, reduce endurance cost to 1.04 per tick
Consume reduce recharge to 90 seconds
Hot Feet add jump like controller version, consider making it tick every second with half its current damage value
Priority Three
Stunning Shot reduce animation to 1 second or less
Beanbag - reduce animation to 1 second or less
Full Auto Reduce animation to 4 seconds, change damage ticks to correlate.
Tesla Cage- reduce animation to 1 second or less
Rain of Fire reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less
Ice Storm reduce animation to 1.5 seconds or less
Screech - reduce animation to 1 second or less
Stun reduce animation to 1 second or less
Combustion reduce animation to 2 seconds or less, add a 60% chance for an unenhanceable mag 4 Terrorized effect with a 5 second duration
Frozen Aura Increase radius to 20 feet. Add a 9 second duration mag 1 sleep effect, so that Lts. Are also affected, but for a shorter period of time. Add a 20 second duration -20% recharge, -20% move speeds.
Priority Four
Review animations for possible shortening on the following powers: Aimed Shot, Fistful of Arrows, Slug, Buckshot, M-30 Grenade, Short Circuit, Power Blast, Explosive Blast, Flares, Scream, Shriek, Howl, Shockwave, Fire Sword, Web Grenade, Taser, Ice Sword, and Ice Patch.
If the animation changes are not possible, then try this.
Global Blaster Changes
Blasters gain 0.4 endurance to their maximum endurance/level
Aim, Build Up and Full Auto grant mag 4 (at all levels, no scaling) protection from Hold/Stun/Sleep for 12 seconds, and can be activated while held/stunned/slept.
Targeting Drone grants mag 3 (at all levels, no scaling) protection from Hold/Stun/Sleep which lasts 10 seconds per tick (that way it actually might still help when something overcomes it and detoggles it). It also grants 30% resistance to Hold/Stun/Sleep/Confuse/Fear effects for 10 seconds per tick.
Priority One
Lightning Field add 1.5 scale Defense Range and AoE, 2 scale Resist Sm/Le/En
Conserve Power reduce recharge to 360 seconds; add 1 scale Defense Range and AoE, 2 scale Resist Sm/Le/En/Neg
Blazing Aura add 1.5 scale Defense Range and AoE, 2 scale Resist Sm/Le/Fire/Cold
Hot Feet Add 1.5 scale Defense Melee, Mag 2 protection vs Hold/Stun/Sleep
Smoke Grenade increase to hit debuff to ~10%
Cloaking Device increase defense to 1 scale suppressable, 1 scale non-suppressable
Chilling Embrace - add 1.5 scale Defense Range and AoE, 2 scale Resist Sm/Le/Fire/Cold
Priority Two
Aimed Shot add 50% chance of mag 3 stun with a 5 second duration.
Fistful of Arrows add -9.375% ToHit to Target for 6 seconds
Energy Torrent the chance for KB on the enemy targeted is increased to 100%, remains at 60% for the rest of the enemies hit
Explosive Blast Knockback changed to KnockUp
Caltrops increase damage by 20%
Cloaking Device make it suppress only when clicking glowies like Energy Auras cloak
Trip Mine - allow power to accept interrupt enhancers
Time Bomb - allow power to accept interrupt enhancers
Auto Turret Reduce recharge to 90 seconds.
Chilblain reduce time of ticks to 5 seconds instead of 9.2
Frozen Aura Increase radius to 20 feet. Add a 9 second duration mag 1 sleep effect, so that Lts. Are also affected, but for a shorter period of time. Add a 20 second duration -20% recharge, -20% move speeds.
Electric Fence reduce time of ticks to 5 seconds instead of 8.2
Combustion reduce animation to 2 seconds or less, add a 60% chance for an unenhanceable mag 4 Terrorized effect with a 5 second duration
Blazing Aura increase radius to 10 feet, reduce endurance cost to 1.04 per tick
Consume reduce recharge to 90 seconds
Hot Feet add jump like controller version, consider making it tick every second with half its current damage value -
Quote:To be honest, I do not think the median was the primary point that Arcanaville was making. Rather, the fact is blasters do not get the best +damage buffs. That was the primary point. Blasters do not get Rage. They do not get AAO. Until recently they did not get Soul Drain. They don't get Accelerate Matabolism or Fulcrum Shift (not even just a personal version).Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
So an actual median needs to be determined on both primary and secondary side and a median for both determined... if my thoughts are in order on this.
But if you do want to go median, then you will also need to start including the other offensive benefits armored ATs get besides +damage. -
Quote:Back in the Defiance thread Castle started (in 2007) he said:Originally Posted by Starsman
Hmmm.. what if we return the old blaster defiance bar? This time make the bar be full by default out of combat, it degrades by getting attacked, not by attacking.
It refills out of combat. The more full it is the bigger the buff. The buff, ideally, would be based on your primary and secondary following the rules I suggested earlier. A Fire/Devices may have a combo of Resistance and defense, a Fire/Fire would be pure resistance.
"Effectively increasing the damage of every opening volley by 50 to 75% would help, no?" (He mentioned this in reference to the idea of gaining a damage buff from staying still).
I threw this idea out:
Fervor
Blasters begin their conflicts in a high state of preparedness and/or excitement, but lack the staying power of other ATs. If blaster’s come under assault, they quickly lose their focus and some of the best laid plans may unravel a bit. While blasters always maintain their excellent ability to inflict damage, they do lose some of their offensive edge, but, more dangerously, they become much more susceptible to enemy attacks if they become harried.
The Fervor meter starts off full. Let’s say it has 200 pts.
The Fervor meter regenerates 3 points every half second, if you are not activating powers. If you have activated a power within the last 5 seconds, the Fervor meter regenerates 1 point every half second instead.
Every time a blaster is attacked (including AoEs), the Fervor meter loses 15 points.
At full Fervor, a blaster gains +40% Accuracy, +80% damage, +12% defense vs. Range and AoE, +15% resist all, and 5 mag mez protection vs. Stuns/Sleeps/Holds. I think a linear scaling of these with the Fervor meter would be fine, although one could argue that the defense and resists could scale down at a faster rate, so that they were gone by the time the bar was at half, but the Acc, Dam, and Mez resist bonuses still existed, just at half their normal value.
This rewards a blaster for “smart” play. This rewards a team for protecting the blaster from attacks. A solo blaster can count on Fervor to help them start fights, and they can take the non-suicidal method of utilizing Fervor simply by resting a bit. Fervor should not have a dramatic impact on overall kill speed, because a quick moving solo blaster will lose Fervor. Mezzes will still be dangerous to blasters, especially in longer fights, but at least a blaster will have been able to accomplish something before they get mezzed, instead of the current situation of getting mezzed in the beginning and watching scrappers kill everything. -
Quote:Mez resistance in high amounts can help, I know Accelerate Metabolism has saved me from death by mez due to it shortening the length of the mez.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
So we have attack while mezzed, and mez protection. And then we have the controller version, which is alpha mez them before they can mez you. Are there any other ways to reduce the threat of mez besides those three?
Defense or to-hit debuffs can prevent a fair amount of mez.
Pets can draw aggro to prevent mez and also if your character gets mezzed enemies will often switch off to an active pet.
AI manipulation can prevent some mez, but that requires a high amount of knowledge and skill.
Toggle suppression rather than shut-off has been a big help, that could be extended to blaster offensive toggles (Chilling Embrace, Lightning Field, Hot Feet, etc.)
Blaze.
Edit: Found another one while searching my old notes from 2007.
Blaster secondary attacks (including Trip Mines, Caltrops, Hot Feet, etc.) all have a -40% mez power debuff which lasts for 15 seconds. (see Benumb)
It wouldn't have to be secondary powers that added -mez power, that was just the idea I had back then. -
Quote:On top of that, scrappers actually have more +offense than you are giving them credit for in that post (a fact I know you are aware of, but I feel it is important to add at this point for those who are questioning how scrappers and blasters compare), because you are just looking at +damage powers.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
So even though all I said was that Scrappers get the strongest and the most variety of damage self buffs, if you want to average the self buff amounts for both Blasters and Scrappers, something I would not necessarily consider a valid comparison, Blasters still lose.
Scrappers have 3 secondaries and 1 primary with a damage aura and are better suited to leveraging damage auras (blasters have 3 secondaries with damage auras).
Scrappers have 3 secondaries that add +recharge and six which resist slows (blasters have nothing that adds +recharge or resists slows).
Most scrapper secondaries have two powers that boost recovery, reduce end costs, or regain endurance (Dark, SR, and Invuln only have 1, Energy and Electric have 3). Two scrapper APPs have powers that aid end management. Five of seven blaster secondaries offer 1 end management power (three blaster APP powers also have some end help). Several scrapper secondaries also resist end drain and/or recovery debuffs, one blaster secondary resists drain.
Resurgence adds significantly to offense, but that is slightly offset by a period of lower offense.
Invincibility adds +to-hit and several scrapper secondary powers grant +perception as well as some APP powers. One blaster secondary has access to +perception and it also grants +to-hit.
Blasters get one -regen power, scrappers have none (yet). -
Quote:I am fine with that idea, as I said, make the powers better, do not add a gimmick that just adds some bonus for taking more primary/secondary powers. Adding defense debuff resistance to Grant Cover is not the same as suggesting that 4% defense debuff resistance be granted for every shield power taken.Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
Except we do have precedent for this. The extra defense debuff resistance that Shield Defense needed, and was given, was placed in a power no one was taking precisely to force players to take that power.
Honestly if a preponderance of players are taking all the same pool powers (fighting for mitigation and a +rech IO, speed for hasten's +rech, leaping for unsuppressed movement, mitigation, Immob protection and +rech IO, Concealment for alpha survival, mitigation, +rech IOs, and a rescue power pre-Epic powers) these effects should be added to existing powers in the Secondary (the secondaries contain the powers that are most often skipped) that solves several blaster issues:
1) You don't have to take a non-thematic pool power to shore up your weakness.
2) You get to have the things your AT/power set is lacking AND you get to have the situational secondary power you would regularly skip so that you have it to use in those very rare situations that it would be useful.
3) It gives you the opportunity to choose pool powers that are thematic rather than feeling locked into the same old (and far too many) pool powers.
Adding 15% Sm/Le/Fire resists to Blazing Aura, is not the same as suggesting blasters get mag 1 mez protection and 2% ranged defense for each primary and secondary power that is recharged and ready to use. -
Quote:The constant damage /Fire is dealing breaks the fear effect quite frequently. I got more survivability out of melee core.Originally Posted by VashNKnives
The radial control hybrid to be exact. Has anyone tried a /fire or other AoE AT that has little to no self-preservation abilities? How do you find the fear/terrorize? I know its a mag 2 on first shot, but it lasts 10 seconds and I'm pretty sure one of my 6 or 7 AoEs would hit twice to fear bosses.
Does this entice you to use it over assault, support, or melee?
DoT (especially in an AOE) + Fear is not a great combination, sadly. -
Quote:And this is a pretty darn fun one to have!Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Everyone's gotta have a hobby.
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Quote:While there is a baseline, there is also an average. Even if everything performs above the baseline, if an AT wanders too far from that average, I expect something will be changed.Originally Posted by Alekhine
I will agree with you, that there should be a baseline performance across the board. It's just a matter of what that is. Even with that baseline, some ATs and powersets will rise above that baseline.
Blasters could perform above the minimum expected baseline, but if they perform too far below the average, that will also trigger a change. -
Quote:Well, regeneration is already like that, but can't they do absorb as a periodic smaller buff?Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Its very likely the devs would want to improve general survivability without adding tanking ability, of which absorbing large alpha strikes is a significant component. Something more ... sustainable without being burst-resistant would probably be more likely to meet with the devs' general approval.
Something like 200 HPs that lasts 5 seconds, but refreshes every 5 seconds and then refreshes 3 or 4 times? -
Quote:I can agree with that in the general sense, but I would not want to "fix" that by encouraging taking primary or secondary powers that are poor, just to get the other bonus you suggest. I'd rather those primary and secondary powers not be poor.Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
That would suggest that the blaster primary and secondary powers are inferior to pools in some (or multiple) way(s) an "upside down" situation that should be remedied.
That way you can choose to take pool powers for theme and be losing out on a few good powers from your primary/secondary, but not also losing out on some bonus you get for taking as many primary/secondary powers as possible. -
Quote:While I like the spirit of the idea, I don't think it is necessarily a good idea to incentivize power choice in that particular way. There is nothing wrong with a build that only takes 10-13 powers from their primary and secondary, IMO.Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
That would allow us to take all of our primary and secondary powers (even if we didn't use or even slot them all, since we won't because they don't animate fast enough) instead of the pool powers that most blasters dip into to make up for the mitigation the blaster lacks.
If the powers are bad, they should be improved, and not by adding a gimmick that encourages taking a power just to get a passive bonus that is not actually tied to the power. -
Quote:I still loathe that change, but love the forums too much to not to come here.Originally Posted by Rajani Isa
I've just never heard of it being an issue here.
It used to be fine with changing IPs. If they're worried about the password being jacked, well, they're the ones that made us use the same for the game. -
Quote:What you call solo content, I think of more as soloable content. I will solo it occasionally, but generally prefer to gather a small 2 to 4 man team for that content instead.Originally Posted by dugfromthearth
Do you play a solo game in CoX (all or part time)? What part of it works for you, and what part drives you away?
Large kill all missions turn me off. I'll sometimes kill all (most) on a large map because I want to, but I am not fond of needing to kill everything on a giant map. I also prefer missions that cross zones, I am not a fan of every mission in an arc taking place in the same zone (although the way newer arcs send me to a different zone inside the missions while all the doors are in the same zone actually works for me, it feels like I am spanning more of the world (but I do also like doors actually being in various zones as well)). -
Quote:So that means this system is flawed and not in a small way. Although, if it is possible to fix it, then any fix would apply to both double hit and the PPM system, so that is a positive thing.Originally Posted by UberGuy
There is absolutely no question that the recharge factor is being calculated dynamically. It's using the PPM system, and that's what the PPM system does. In I24, they were planning on having it respond dynamically to global buffs like Speed Boost. There is no conceivable way for that to happen based on a table lookup. (Edit: They changed this plan, so it will only respond to enhanced recharge, but that remains dynamic. It just will change in practice less often.)