I don't have a problem with the sounds or animations -- like others, I would like female sounds for my female heroes, but I'm not holding my breath.
Compared to Archery, the set seems very high damage, low endurance. Of course, this could just be a matter of only having used the first 3 attacks (I have a sonic/sonic defender).
I think we need people in the 40's as both blasters and defenders to set up attack chains and see how the DPS and DPE look, before we can say sonic is overpowered.
I've been playing a Sonic/Energy Blaster on Test and really enjoying it.
A few notes:
- Sonic Blast seems mainly to have cone attacks and no AoEs aside from the final power. While I understand these power are coming from the hero's mouth, I don't see why they should all have to be cone attacks. When I speak, people can hear me even if they aren't directly in front of me. It should be the same way for Sonic attacks. Maybe not all of them have to change, but I think it'd be good to have at least one AOE before 32.
- One thing you might've overlooked: Defenders get Aim powers in their secondary, Blasters get them in their primary. Because the Sonic Blast set for Blasters seems to be a direct copy of the set the Defenders get, a Sonic Blaster can get two forms of Aim. For example, my Sonic/Energy Blaster has Build Up *and* Amplify. I'd suggest replacing Amplify with a Snipe, since Sonic Blasters don't have one.
- Also, I agree on the sounds. While sound doesn't play as big of a part in other powersets, Sonic is one that should be designed with it as a significant importance. Don't just reuse old sounds please. I especially don't like Shriek.
best to start a power a little under powered than over powered. No one screams when you buff, everyone screams when you nerf.
As a general MMOG rule of thumb, error on the side of hard out the door and buff on player response.
-k
fun set
gender specific sounds would be a nice touch.
it IS the sonic set after all.
the secondary effects seem a little out of place for a blaster set though. might as well release psionic/radiation and Dark blast for blasters well.
I have been wanting to see a sonic power set in coh since beta. So far I like this set. It seems to work well for my new defender.
Real heroes jump off skyscrapers!!!!!!!
[ QUOTE ]
I've been playing a Sonic/Energy Blaster on Test and really enjoying it.
A few notes:
- Sonic Blast seems mainly to have cone attacks and no AoEs aside from the final power. While I understand these power are coming from the hero's mouth, I don't see why they should all have to be cone attacks. When I speak, people can hear me even if they aren't directly in front of me. It should be the same way for Sonic attacks. Maybe not all of them have to change, but I think it'd be good to have at least one AOE before 32.
- One thing you might've overlooked: Defenders get Aim powers in their secondary, Blasters get them in their primary. Because the Sonic Blast set for Blasters seems to be a direct copy of the set the Defenders get, a Sonic Blaster can get two forms of Aim. For example, my Sonic/Energy Blaster has Build Up *and* Amplify. I'd suggest replacing Amplify with a Snipe, since Sonic Blasters don't have one.
- Also, I agree on the sounds. While sound doesn't play as big of a part in other powersets, Sonic is one that should be designed with it as a significant importance. Don't just reuse old sounds please. I especially don't like Shriek.
[/ QUOTE ]
What in the nine hells are you talking about?
Build up comes in Blaster secondaries.
Fire Blast- Aim
Ice Blast - Aim
Energy Blast - Aim
Elec Blast- Aim
Almost every single Blaster primary has aim. This is nothing new. In fact, it is the intent, because blasters need ways to amplify their damage.
I think sonic blast is a great set. It's got a nice secondary effect both defenders and blasters will appreciate
that said...
It really needs to have a sonic secondary to match it for blasters. Blasters need more options to give them variety and more than just devices secondary as the only non melee based secondary set. making a sonic secondary (and an archery secondary) for blasters would not only let people make concept based toons with matching abilities but it also increases the variety of blasters we'll see in game
Jem - Ill/Rad Controller Lv 50+3 Nic - Mind/Psi Dominator Lv 50+3 Lady Liberation - Invuln/SS Tanker Lv 50+1 Invicitx - Demon/Pain Mastermind Lv 50+1 Celeste - Emp/Arch Defender Lv 50+1 Nightsilver - DB/WP Scrapper Lv 34 Dusk Howl - StJ/Regen Brute Lv 32 Kyriani - Time/Energy Defender Lv 41Psifire - FF/Psi Defender Lv 50
Star Lighter - LB/LA Peacebringer Lv 30
Gender specificity is a must. After hearing the sounds, I do not want to make a female Sonic Blaster, which is my intent-- who would with all the sounds being distinctly male or animalistic?
[ QUOTE ]
What in the nine hells are you talking about?
Build up comes in Blaster secondaries.
Fire Blast- Aim
Ice Blast - Aim
Energy Blast - Aim
Elec Blast- Aim
[/ QUOTE ]
You're right. I was looking at Assault Rifle when I made this opinion. I hadn't looked into it as closely as I should've.
The sounds for Sonic Blast are awesome. I love how they sound, with the exception of Howl. It just sounds like reused werewolf sfx, which is lame.
Some people have said that it may be a bit too powerful for defender secondaries. I'm not sure about this, but the defenders seem to be doing quite a bit more damage than usual on test.
Of concern is the -res on the blaster version of powers. I think it needs to cap with one application, because it's pretty much a permanent +20% to damage as it stands.
My post is mostly from defender perspective since I didn't try sonic blaster.
I'd say the base damage for the set's attacks is a bit too high. It seems to be the most endurance efficient even for its base damage and then the -res buff hits in.
The -res component needs to be different for defenders and blaster if it isn't already. Currently for my defender it seems to increase damage by 21% which is a bit high since it stacks with other resistance lowering powers and with itself. It is unenhanceable though.
Personally I'd give 10% debuff for defenders and 5% for blasters. Additionally I'd lower the base damage by 20% for defenders and perhaps small adjustment to blasters as well. I'd also remove stacking from same power so that for example Scream doesn't stack with itself, but still stacks with Shriek. Currently it is way too easy for defenders to enhance the damage by stacking -res component from both attacks and primaries. Even if this drops the debuff lower than similar blasts from other sets, one must remember that -res component is the most powerful debuff in the game since it helps you to defeat enemies faster. We all know damage is the king in this game.
As to endurance costs. My suggestion is that rather than upping end costs for this powerset, decrease end costs for other powersets to get into line with this. It makes living pre-stamina much more easier. Increasing endurance cost would only hurt lower level characters and become pointless to higher level characters who can 6 slot stamina.
- Thremaine
I love this set. The sounds are great, the secondary effect is awesome. The damage is really nice. I didnt have a chance to test out the higher lvl stuff but from the glimpse I got I really enjoyed it.
I'm looking forward to use this set when I reroll my defender (currently using forcefield/psionic blast).
Looks: Ok, although I had hoped for more "beams" of circles instead of weird cloud formations. Cones look good, if only the single target powers were more like extremely narrow cones I'd be happy.
oooooooo <-- something like this is what I mean. Now imagine all the circles lined up at a 90 degree angle, parallell to each other.
Sounds: Not good. My suggestion is really pure waveforms of varying lengths. The psionic set has nice sound effects. Something similar to those, but faster and higher pitched might work for many powers. Someone said they didn't want 50's sci-fi noises, but that's exactly what might work for a generic, non-gender-specific set of sounds. Find some nice theremin sounds and get inspiration from that.
What I would hate is for the sonic set to sound like cheap laser beams, burps, gargles and dog-howls, like it does today. Sonar pings, deep bass, echoes, lots of vibrations, that is what I want. Since the powers (that I have seen) are all very similar visually the sounds should be what sets them apart.
Function: No complaints here. I like the high-damage and resistance debuff. To prevent insane stacking of debuffs you might consider part of the debuff "non-stackable" so that each extra debuff only reduces the target's resistance by an additional 5% instead of the full effect, or something like that. The first debuff takes away about 20% resist, the second drops it to 25%, the third to 30%, etc. I don't actually know if this limitation is necessary though, since I haven't been able to get up to higher than level 8. Maybe the smashing resists of 99% of all villains over level 10 is enough to make the set balanced. (Numbers are merely perceived approximations and may not be accurate.)
All in all I'm looking forward to using this set on Live.
Winner of Players' Choice Best Villainous Arc 2010: Fear and Loathing on Striga; ID #350522
Debuff from the attacks is too powerful. All in all with the changes to every other powerset this particular primary/secondary is making every other choice but archery look craptastic in comparison.
Don't get me wrong, the set makes me feel somewhat heroic, but that doesn't seem to be the direction the game is going. If you wish to keep the Everquest theme you are headed toward and to continue to divest yourself from what made this game popular in the first place, ie superheroes, then this set needs a good bit of toning down.
Sailor eX
"Not in the face!"
<sigh> Viv says its no longer "all me".
http://wendy-mags.mybrute.com/
I think balancing this will be tough.
Pros
Low Endurance Cost
Seemingly high damage
Res Debuff Rocks
Cons
No snipe
high end damage descriptions imply poor end-game
The damage thing I do not think will be an issue since the debuff is real nice. Doing a medium damage attack while factering in the debug seems like a good attack.
But so far, taking the first three powers and only using training enhancements, it seems somewhat overpowered. As a L3-L7 I could take on a Orange and Red con minion. Multiple Orange and 5-8 Yellow minions were not that hard.
On the other hand, with no debt till L10, I was experimenting with Defiance against these mobs and may not be so daring after L10.
After playing around the set up to Shockwave, I like it pretty well. I'm not sure how useful shockwave will be (I just got it) as the knockback might piss a bunch of other AT's off, but as a controlish power, it might be worth it.
My only gripe is the same as most have stated, that I wish there were female/male specific sound effects.
Yuck. the powers are okay, but the sounds are horrible - animations are good, recharge times good, damage done good... but sheesh - how annoying is this going to be to play (and just as bad to have one in your team!)
Like oh-so-many Testers, I've created a Sonic Blaster. My initial response--as soon as Outbreak--was that the powerset was too powerful. I found myself using Shriek on Contaminated and reducing their hit points by 3/4ths in one shot...far surpassing my Assault Rifle and Electric Blaster damage at low levels. (And is damage done over 1 second really "Done over Time", as the power description states?)
It gets better. The damage Reistance debuff means that long fights may actually turn to favor the Blaster. My Sonic build was based on my Electric build, which featured Energy Manipulation to really amp up the Endurance Drain. So, my Sonic build inherited that. It only took me a short length of time to do the math...
Sonic Blast + Build Up + Power Boost + Perma-Hasten + Defiance + (at high levels) Vanguard Medallion = ...Nemesis, Schmesis. Invulnerability builds crumple beneath me (not that this is saying as much as it used to). What is the lower cap on Resistance Debuff? If I can lower an enemy's innate Resistance to 50% of base, I'm effectively doing twice as much damage. Factor that into the maximum of 500% (with Defiance or Kinetic Defender buffs), and I'm doing 10 times what I would normally do.
...I'm not really a fan of powergaming.
Quote:
|
Newton: I observed Mercury's perihelion moving 43 arc-seconds per century more than it should. Is this WAI? --Einstein |
Dear Developers,
Please ignore the people expressing concerns that the debuff in sonics might be too powerful.
It seem as if such people really haven't put any thought into the fact that on Live servers they (a) won't be playing in an environment where they are grouped with 8 other people also using the same debuff, (b) that when you look at it increasing the damage on an attack that deal 100 damage base to 110 or 105 (for those suggesting a 10% or 5% buff instead) is meaningless, (c) that the set does not have a snipe, or (d) that the set does not have the traditional 2 forms of AE damage. (One wonders how much damage Fire does with its burn effect by comparison. . .and has anyone ever called it overpowered?)
I've tried it both as a Blaster and a Defender on Test and frankly its fast and fun, and the "wow" value of overpowering level 1 to level 4 targets comes down quickly as you transition out of the levels where everyone and their grandma is able to take on multiple oranges and get away with it.
Under construction
End cost doesn't enough for the recharge time and the damage done.
Soloing Defender at lvl 10 and 11, my problem isn't end like it is usually for defenders at that level. Its my Health. Even with the debuffs I'm having issues taking more then one badguy at a time. Though admittedly I have no toggles going (Sonic Debuff is the primary) when i do solo. Like my other defenders.
So that might be the balance there. More Offense less defense.
the other issue is the second power the DOT.. the debuff is apply after the first tick and the rest of the ticks are boosted, this debuff should be applied after the the last tick.
As to the rest of it. The low range, no snipe no AOE (except for the nova) balance out the fact of the 20% damg res debuff, stacking to 60% with the first three if you loop it adding the sonic siphon, enverating field or tar patch for 90% even thing i think it will be hard to keep that rate up as most of it is single target.
Arcs: 7041 Teleporter Authority
Gonna have to add my voice to the "Sounds are... not so good" camp.
When I started the game, I chose the surname "vox" for all of my characters in anticipation of sonic blasters (waaay back when... before Issue 1...)
At any rate, to me, the sounds in this set are just... urgh...
The first one is ok, but the RAGH!!! for Scream? 
I didn't even TAKE howl because I heard someone use it and... just... no.
Shockwave... this is about the only sound in the set I think is OK, but I don't know... maybe a bit of tweaking
Shout's isn't too bad, but it is WAY TOO LONG! And as someone else mentioned, it sounds a little too 1950s for me.
Haven't heard any of the others yet.
Look, with a Sonic hero, the sounds of his / her powers should make the Enemy think the WORLD IS COMING TO AN END! More BASS! Less 1950s Sci Fi!
Pretty please? 
-Escher
"I swear you could fling a man hole cover across the street and hit more notes than 90% of those idiots on American Idol" -Desmodos
"Every time you post I feel like I been hit with a fist full of smart! Thanks." - Volken re: Sucker Punch
Arc #36984 V'kta A'cha Vox'm
Seems to be designed not to need Stamina. I approve.
I also like that the buffs are less intrusive on the buffee than FF.
Damage is good, similar to /Rad I think.
The robot revolt begins!
stacking -RES is too powerful esp with the defender/Controller -RES and the controller 2x damage bonus
Love the damage.
Love the activation times.
The sound. I feel there should be different sounds for Huge Men, Regular Men, and Women for those role players out there.
Scrapper Slotting Basics
Brute Slotting Basics
[ QUOTE ]
I hate to say it, but if you are going to balance this power, do so now. In relation to Archery it is hands down the best Blast set for Defenders in the game. The damage is good, the side effect is good and the low endurance usage is better. It is very likeable and has great potential.
[/ QUOTE ]
I have to agree. I haven't played this set beyond level 6 but if the descriptions of the powers are accurate, having a set like this which has access to Aim, and has damage resistance debuff in key powers to be followed up by other high damage attack powers, might be imbalanced. Damage resistance debuff has been in the hands of Defenders and Controllers for the most part. There are Radiation Defenders that can debuff defense but no Radiation Blasters. Already I can see combinations with Radiation for Defenders and EM for Blasters making this set very powerful. As a Radiation/Sonic after using Radiation Infection, Lingering Radiation, and Enervating Field, every hit this set would score more and more damage. Add in Aim and Screech (disorient) and you'd basically have the Defender Radiation Secondary set except that this set does quite a bit more damage. For PvP with the reduced defense people have in Issue 5 this set would basically be for cutting down Controllers, Blasters, and other Defenders extremely quickly. Aim --> Disorient -- chain of attacks that continously debuff damage resistance. With Sonic/EM you have a lot of disorient attacks, with Aim, Buildup, Powerboost, and Total Focus. Once a single disorient lands, it's pretty much over.