What few powers I managed to test -- I liked. I agree that the actual sounds could use a little more flavor, but otherwise great set.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, I reluctantly agree with Eranna below me; the damage level seemed a bit much compared to other Defender secondaries, and I loved the Endurance usage... which means that it's far better than most other sets. 
This set may be "too good" compared to the others.
Presuming I'm right about the Endurance, I think this set is a model for the other sets to ape, not a set that needs to become as wearying as the others.
Greetings,
While I have not advanced my sonic blaster up to the higher levels, the main problems I have and see currently are as follows: (please note these are in my opinion)
1: Sounds - everything sounds so male, on a female character it's just wrong, not to mention the sounds in general seem rushed and mish-mashed in. The howl is similar if not exactly like the ones found on the Council 'were' creatures. I am greatly disappointed with the different sounds, they detract from an otherwise nice blaster set.
2: The power the sonic blaster puts out is _nice_, but I fear it is too powerful in comparison to others. If this is intended, I'm not arguing in the least! But if it is not, nerfing it in the future once it is deemed 'too powerful' would best be done now instead of further on down the line, once people have gotten use to it. 
Just my two cents.
I didn't get all that far into the set, but here are some thoughts:
1.Make sure that the Blaster version does more damage and that the Defender version has a more potent resistance debuff. Alternatively, you might consider making the debuff from the Defender version last a little longer. (Making Defender attacks an inherent benefit to the team.)
2.As many others have said, consider alternate vocal sets for females/regular males/huge males.
Overall, it seems like a great set!
The first cone has nothing in the descriptive text indicating that it is a cone. The icon is an obvious clue, but not everyone understands the icons.
I'll echo (no pun intended) the comments on the sound. It's just not terribly appropriate for females, though the bell ring thing at the end of Howl is pretty cool, I think.
I've got some hard numbers on things. The -Res debuff on the Sonic Attack set seems to be around 12.5% for Blasters and 20% for Defenders. The Defender debuff has a +/-2% variance based on the level of the mob (going down as the mob level goes up). It isn't considered an Energy debuff, curiously enough. I didn't check to see if it was considered a Smashing debuff, or if it's just not affected by resistances. Since the debuffs stack with each other and Sonic isn't exactly a slow set, it's pretty easy to get two or three of these debuffs going at once, which drops a mob's Resist by 40 to 60 percent.
On its own, this is pretty crazy. Enervating Field, for instance, is only a -30 Res debuff with a +/- 3% variance, and I believe it's considered an Energy debuff. Knowing this, I made a Rad/Sonic Defender. The result is insane. Lieutenants and Bosses fall with considerable ease to the nearly 100% Resistance debuff and Sonic's substantial damage. She's doing double damage with each shot after the first three.
I think the Resist debuff needs to be reduced, possibly in return for its duration being increased. Right now, it's insanely powerful, especially when stacked with other -Res powers. Otherwise, I think it's a fine set that might have slightly too high damage or too fast recharge.
I love the set. I wish there was a Sonic secondary for Blasters. 
Erratic had this to say on a different thread of this topic:
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Previously in the game you had the ability of multiple Res Debuff weilding Defenders and Controllers coming together for far more debuff than Sonic Blast (the topic of this thread) provides when paired with other Sonic Blast users.
Consider 8 Radiation Defenders pre-I5:
AMx8 - Adds +200 to base damage, meaning you only need to 3-slot your damage powers to get the other +100% necessary to be at cap.
EFx8 - Adds another 300% to damage to the capped amount for 700%
That has been doable since launch.
The debuff amount is lower on Sonic Blast and has a short duration, unlike things like EF, Tar Patch, or Freezing Rain.
[/ QUOTE ]
And Blue_Volt came up with these numbers:
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Shriek: (Click) You let forth a quick shriek, damaging your target and weakening his Damage Resistance.
BI= 1.3938 smashing +1.3938 energy
--Total: 2.7876
--Buffed: ~3.1361
Type: Single target
Secondary effect: -res
Range: Medium
Scream: (Click) Your Scream can cause serious damage to a target, while weakening his resistance to further damage. Damage: Moderate(DoT), Recharge: Moderate
BI= .38824 (x5) smashing +.38824 (x5)
--Total: 3.8824 (4.27844 effective)
--Buffed: ~4.3677 (~4.8132 effective)
Type: Single target
Secondary effect: -res
Range: Medium
Howl: (Click) A short range, but powerful sonic attack. Damage: High, Recharge: Slow.
BI= 1.3693 smashing + 1.3693 energy
--Total: 2.7386
--Buffed: ~3.0809
Type: PBAoE-Cone
Secondary Effect: -res
Range: Short
Shock Wave: (Click) You call forth a tremendous Shockwave that can knock down foes and deal some Smashing damage in a wide cone area. Damage: Minor, Recharge: Moderate.
BI= 0.88869 smashing + 0.88869 energy
--Total: 1.77738
--Buffed: 1.9996
Type: PBAoE-Cone
Secondary Effect: Knockback
Range: Short
Shout: (Click) You blast your foe with a tremendous Shout, damaging him and reducing his Damage Resistance. Damage: High, Recharge: Moderate.
BI= 2.94699 smashing + 2.94699energy
--Total: 5.89398
--Buffed: ~6.6307
Secondary Effect: -res
Range: Very short
[/ QUOTE ]
Erratic makes a great point about the -res and Blue_Volt's number show this set is pretty much in line with the other sets damage wise. I don't think this set is overpowered.
While playing in the caves today I noticed a problem with, I assume, the alpha level stacking. Mainly, when using sonic blast sets I see the animation on the hanging ivy, but elsewhere I don't.
If they do nerf the cap of the effect of sonics, it will have to be still, somewhat high. If the cap is too low, then Sonics won't be able to fight in higher levels because smashing damage is easily resisted, which is roughly 50% of this powers damage output.
I think this powerset is a very nice concept, but the Sound effects. I love the movie the Incredible Mr. Limpet, but after awhile even his sound effect in the movie could be annoying. That was for a short period of time. This set reminds me of the same tone as that and is enough that I play the game on Mute if there is a sonic nearby or in the party.
Short and sweet: I like the powerset; I'll quite likely roll one on Live. But I hate the sound FX.
PLEASE stick with something gender-neutral for the sounds.
Edit: The sound for Shriek is fine though.
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When I thought of sonics I thought of being like the Shocker or Shriek, firing blasts from my hands/arms. This set apparently takes after characters like Black Canary though, so I'm pretty much boned.
[/ QUOTE ]
Sound coming from your hands? Why? Most people would think Banshee or Siryn before any character making sounds with their hands :/
Personally I would like to see Sonics be more musical sounds rather than yelling/howling. A musical power set for controllers (like a bard) would be a really neat concept also. And then we can get the dance scrapper and the drums tanker... ok maybe not
Thanks for giving us your feedback. We're still watching how Sonic Blast plays out on the Training Room server. No particular info - just wanted to give you an update.
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Thanks for giving us your feedback. We're still watching how Sonic Blast plays out on the Training Room server. No particular info - just wanted to give you an update.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the update!
Maybe I'm being pessimistic but if they were even considering altering the sound effects any I think he might have said something about it here. It'll probably come down to being too much work to alter the sounds or some other reason like that.
I know, I know, "we're happy with sound effects as they are."
That's good. I honestly don't think it's very overpowered.
It's not. Even though it may seem to be overpowered in the lower levels (because it's very powerful in the lower levels, yes), it works out nicely by the time you've gotten to DOs.
I've gotten my sonic/energy blaster to 13 and find it to be quite nice. The set is mainly single-target in the lower levels, and is good at being so. The AoE in set, so far, is disappointing, but rightly so due to the great single-target capabilities.
The recharge, endurance drain, animation speed and damage of this set all seem to be right on. The -res effect is neat because chaining your attacks intelligently gives good reward.
It's good, but it isn't overpowered, and I like it.
Overall, I think the Fire Primary is even more overpowered than Sonic. I just like Sonic because it's new, I've wanted it since I've started playing for my hero Kraze (had his name reserved on Virtue for a LONG time in hope that we'd get a Sonic set), and...that's it.
I really like the sonic set myself (have only tried it on the defender side, however), and though it may seem overpowered due to the stacking -res debuff, defender base damage is lower anyway, so I see this making it easier for sonic defenders to solo. Thumbs way up on this one.
I vote for a change in name, though, as on the test server it is currently sonic attacks. I personally would like to see it be something other than sonic blast too, as 'blast' doesn't seem to fit with sonics. I'd offer a suggestion, but I'm no good at making up names like that
i agree with the current lvl of damage for this powerset. after playing a blaster to lvl 9 i agree that they seem to be faster than other blasters at killing. Perhaps the Def DeBuff should be lowered slightly but i think it is a kick butt set that has attracted me to playing a blaster. please be careful with any alterations made, 'cause this set is very fun and playable.
One note I wanted to make and I didn't see it anywhere else here.
Shout is NOT listed as a short/close range power like Power Burst or Blaze. It is more along the lines of Bitter Ice Blast and Luminous Blast (at least for its icon). It also doesn't say it is a close range power in its description. However, that is how the power acts. You have to be REALLY close to use it. I don't knwo whether that is a bug or it actually is close range and the icon and description are wrong.
Otherwise, I'm loving Sonic Blast so far (as long as it is named that... don't really like Sonic Attacks). I agree with a lot of people on the sounds, but otherwise it is really fun to play.
I'm only a low level Sonic, but my experience so far. its playable. a bit of extra damage is substituted at low levels for powers that mitigate damage (say energies knockback). The overall breadth and damage of the powers is underwhelming-you need the inherant stacked debuffs of the powers to match the DPS of some other lines, so I don't think its gonna be all that "overpowered". It basically feels like the /rad secondary defender line, substituting -res for -def of the rad line.
Agree with the 'strangeness" of the actual sonic sounds, for the first few powers I've heard....
Overall "Sonic Attacks (?)" is a good set. I wonder though, why you decided to change "Sonic Blast" to "Sonic Attacks." Sonic Blast makes perfect sense, just as much as Psychic Blast. Plus, it's kind of weird to be looking at the defender choices and see Sonic Attacks while all the others are named ____ Blast.
I just have a few problems with the aesthetic side of it:
- The colors of the powers and/or buttons should be changed from grey to light blue, or some other color you think would fit. It just becomes a little monotonous after awhile, plus, the inherent and fighting powers have almost the same grey colored buttons.
- The sound effects seemed a little disappointing and a little weird. Animalistic sounds, as much as you'd like them to be don't really fit with what the theme of the set is. They should sound more... um, I guess angelic?? Or at least something that actually sounds like a scream.
- I mentioned this up above, but change Sonic Attacks back to Sonic Blast.
@Ninth Cloud
Justice
[ QUOTE ]
- I mentioned this up above, but change Sonic Attacks back to Sonic Blast.
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed, the name needs to change to Sonic Blast. Otherwise it just doesn't fit with the Blaster primaries/Defender secondaries, which are all named blast.
Quick Question going to something said in the Archery posts - am i missing something or is there NO sniper shot in Sonics - making it the only blaster primary/defender secondary that dosent have one?
Like the set. The damage seems a little high.
Also, I will join the masses who are calling for gender neutral sound effects or, sound effects tailored for the gender of the character.