I haven't played this set... just been reading this thread and have a suggestion for the devs with respect to sound fx.
Make the sounds gender neutral, both low and high sounds, and stick to harmonics (like psychic scream) that have a voice-like quality. Lots of reverb.
I don't want to play a sonic-based hero that howls and makes shotgun sounds.
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The sonic Blast power is fun, what I have played of it any way, however with the other nerfs going thru with I5 I think it is a tad bit to powerful, with the game as it is currently on the live server this power will do well as is. The sonic blast power set would add another dimension of fun to the game, however with the I5 nerfs, this will cause the game to shift back to City of Blasters, sonic blasters specifically. Also, the sound effects need a little tweaking, no human specific sound if you dont have different sounds for different genders.
I have only played my 6 Sonic/Energy Blaster a little (busy on Inv changes), but overall I like the set except for the sounds.
Howl on a female avatar sounds awful. I really would like a more 'neutral' sound or keyed to gender so I don't sound like a male monster. Scream does not seem to sound like a scream either, but it's tolerable. Shockwave seems like it does not really fit either, but again not terribly so. I have only played with these 3 powers from the Blast Primary so far, but if we can get more appropriate sounds, it looks to be a fun set.
I'm really happy with this set and how if fits with the other blaster powers. It doesn't have the mad AOE's that fire has or the damage and control of assault, but it is has good (if not spectacular) DPS that is even better in groups where the damage resistance debuff works for more than just one player.
The effects of the powers I have so far (just the first 3 in the set) are fun to watch, but the Howl sound seems weird to me. It isn't grating on the nerves like some looping powers I won't mention, but it just seems odd that the werewolf sound is reused. Also, it doesn't seem impactful. . . Howl would be a fine sound for a buff or a summons, but it doesn't sound like it would hurt anything.
This is a powerset I've been waiting for since I bought CoH over a year ago. On the whole I'm pleased with the set. It doesnt seem over powered when you compare it to other attack sets.
Ice has an inherent slow factor, Fire keeps doing damage over time, Energy has .. well energy (which many mobs in later levels dont have an inherent defence against), Electricity has end drain, semi-holds and a pet, Assault Rifle has a grab bag of secondary effects as well as doing high damage and an inherent acc to all powers.
Most of the Sonic Attack powers initially do minor to moderate damage, it lacks a low level AoE and many mobs are resistant to smashing damage in the high end game. When you hit a mob with a sonic power, he's still coming after you, his attacks dont slow down and he isnt any easier for your teammates to hit. Not having a Snipe power, while initially dismaying, makes sense with the nature of this power set and will help balance out the set vs mobs in the later levels.
The graphics seem fine as is.. after all, what color is sound anyways? The sound effects need an overhaul. As has been stated, either more gender neutral or a male and female specific set of sounds would be greatly appreciated.
All in all I look forward to playing this set.
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I was just thinking that this set should have an inherent power called Sonar. This ability would give them +perception, only really usable in the arena right now, but invis can bend light but not sound. SO thier special ability allows them to see like bats. Just a little idea to add more uniqueness.
I find myself agreeing with Erratic.
As a player who now only plays blasters, I find all the blaster sets that are also Defender secondaries highly questionable blaster powers. Energy does not really knock my socks off; Electricity just doesn't look that great. Archery's cone attack seems way to difficult to use.
From a defender's perspective, the debuff is a useful alternate to doing damage. A blaster probably won't notice--things will die very quickly in any case.
Someone suggested that this will put sonic on par with fire. I think that's, well, quite wrong. It doesn't have AoEs and I understand that at least one of its AoEs do knockback. Not a problem fire has.
It might be on par with ice--it might be better than ice (after it gets its disorients later in the set) at single target because Ice's slow and insane end costs (which, hey, could come down) are just not worth it when fighting purples.
I agree with Erratic, as a Blaster Primary this set is not overpowered. If the Defenders think the sets too good for them, then nerf the Defender's set. The BI numbers I've seen for the Blaster Primary look in line with every other set. I play Blasters a lot, and I see this set as being quite challanged in the higher levels. No AoEs and no snipe, imagine tangling with Malta, Carnies, or even Tsoo with this set. Yes you can two-shot Hellions and Skulls, Fire-Breath + Build-up will take out every white to Yellow minon you can get in the cone, they'll run around burning and shooting for a bit first, but you'll take out 3 or 4 of them.
To take out 3 minions with Sonic Attack you'll need to cycle 6 attacks give or take. Most Blaster sets can arrest 3 minions with less clicks, so the endurance costs will need to be low and the attacks will need to cycle fast or a solo sonic blaster will be toast.
That said I really do like this set as a "Boss-Killer". I can see Sonic Blasters being heavily recruited for AVs or being great in small teams for taking down the key bad guy mobs in a hurry. When I've teamed with Sonic Blasters on test I usually target through them and try to get the rest of the team to do so as well. They work great in teams, and start fast with the damaging powers being front loaded in the set. I'm less than enthused about the higher tier powers in this set, but YMMV.
I've only gotten my Sonic/Nrg Blaster up to 6th, but my Archer characters are in the teens and have teamed with lots of Sonics. I don't see the Sonics numbers being any bigger than mine, and Damage is what Blasters are all about.
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I was just thinking that this set should have an inherent power called Sonar. This ability would give them +perception, only really usable in the arena right now, but invis can bend light but not sound. SO thier special ability allows them to see like bats. Just a little idea to add more uniqueness.
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I really like the idea of an increase perception power, but it would be a better fit in a Sonic Secondary, if they ever make one.
I think I am confused on how CoH determines their Damage category for power descriptions. For instance they list:
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Shriek You let forth a quick Shriek, damaging your target and weakening his Damage Resistance. Damage: Minor Recharge: Fast
Howl A short range, but powerful sonic attack. Damage: High , Recharge: Slow
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But from playing my sonic blaster and defender, they did (prior to last patch) EXACTLY the same damage. Both did a smashing and energy component that is the identical damage. Neither is a dot, both simply do a single shot of two damage types. So why is Shreik not listed as High while Howl is?
And now, when I logged into Test to test it once more before I posted this, I see that howl now actually does less damage. They both still have the Smashing and Energy component that have the same base, but now the damage that Howl does is less than Shriek.
So is the damage description just a typo or am I missing something (which is entirely possible..).
This may be something that I just missed along the way, but I've had this question before and never figured it out. This just reminded me of it again.
Thanks for reading!
Hex Demon
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Shriek Damage: Minor Recharge: Fast
Howl Damage: High , Recharge: Slow
But from playing my sonic blaster and defender, they did (prior to last patch) EXACTLY the same damage.
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It's a typo. The Howl also does minor damage. It'll be fixed as a bug.
BB
Im kind of disappointed that they increased recharge times...here I thought I was going to be able to do without hasten.
Okay, I was waiting for the nerf to come so I could test it out and post and since that was yesterday I think it's time for my comments, heh.
Anyway, my opera singer is up to 22 and I've gotten a fair amount of at least low level experience both grouping and solo. The grouping experience is a bit skewed since most of my groups are mostly composed of sonic and archery blasters and defenders though, heh. Anyway, here are observations from a level 22 sonic/energy blaster:
Overview:
Sonic is a fun set, pretty different from the other blaster primaries. I'm not sure how it will do in the higher levels (40+) but I'm pretty sure it will be playable and not overpowered through the early and midlevels (certainly not overpowered after the nerfs that hit yesterday.)
Strengths:
Sonic has three big strengths. First is a very nice secondary effect, which not only helps us out but also the rest of the group. Secondly, very good single target damage (due in large part to the secondary effect.) And good crowd control, sleeps and knockbacks weren't considered particularly good CC except while solo but I5 is going to change that, and I'm betting even higher level groups will welcome the occasional sleep or knockback.
Weaknesses:
Sonic has two big weaknesses (which are actually the strengths of most other blaster primaries.) First is range, we only have one real ranged attack that does even moderate damage, any other attack we have is either minor damage or requires us to be really close, not a big issue at lower levels but might be later on, especially if controllers and tanks can't keep ahold of the bad guys (i.e. in I5).
The other big weakness is lack of AoE damage. We have three useful cone powers but only one is really damaging and it's pretty weak damage wise (especially after yesterday's nerfs.) Our nova is pretty much it for serious AoE damage and it has the usual nova type problems, no range, high endurance, high recharge.
Anyway, here are my comments on the first seven powers (the only ones I have so far.)
Shriek and Scream:
These go together as a nice one-two punch and our only really "ranged" powers. Decent damage, recharge, range, etc., pretty much both needed for most sonic blasters since sometimes being a blasters means you really don't want to get close.
Howl:
Decent cone attack but especially after yesterday's nerf don't expect much from it since we don't really have other AoE attacks to add to it. In groups AoEs are just far more efficient than single target attacks so still probably a good choice, if for nothing else than an AoE resist debuff. Note though, that damage wise this is more like the lower powered standard ranged AoEs (like ball lightning or fireball) than the higher damage cone ones (like flamethrower or breath fire.) Personally I think the damage for this should be upped some (or at least unnerfed) due to the lack of range.
Shockwave:
The only power I may not get when sonic blast goes live. Nice but pretty situational, neglible damage but very nice knockback. Maybe it'll be more useful in the 40+ world of I5, I'm not sure though. Probably pretty nice if trying to make a blastroller.
Shout:
Very nice power but no range, not quite a melee attack but closer to a melee attack than a real ranged one. Combined with our other attacks gives us great single target potential (got an equal level Dr. Vahz down to less than half hitpoints before my lucks ran out and I had to run, heh.)
Amplify:
It's aim, you know it, you probably love it, doesn't really need commenting on.
Siren's song:
Very nice ability, solo it's phenomenal. Sonic has great single target damage and a large cone sleep turns pretty much every fight solo into one-on-one. Grouping it has the usual problems with other sleeps, though I'm betting that once I5 hits sleeps are going to look alot more appealling. Decent damage for a control ability, more than shockwave, less than howl. Probably worth slotting up for damage if you mostly group, probably not if you mostly solo.
I don't have screech or dreadful wail but assuming these are essentially beanbag and nova they will be nice additions.
Overall I think the set is in good shape, a little different than other blaster sets so the high levels may not work out as well, but it's fun and functional though the early levels.
My only real suggestion for improvement is to increase the damage for howl, at least up to what it was before yesterday. Currently solo it's just not worth it and in groups I use it more as a debuff than a damage.
(Oh, also since I really like the opera singer concept a female sound effects would be greatly appreciated.)
(Edit: Changed power names to the correct ones in spots to reduce confusion, heh.)
Yay! They added an apostophe to "Siren's".
"Cupcake cupcake cupcake; Cupcake. Merry_Mint is the best." - Abraham Lincoln
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Howl:
Decent cone attack but especially after yesterday's nerf don't expect much from it since we don't really have other AoE attacks to add to it. In groups AoEs are just far more efficient than single target attacks so still probably a good choice, if for nothing else than an AoE resist debuff. Note though, that damage wise this is more like the lower powered standard ranged AoEs (like ball lightning or fireball) than the higher damage cone ones (like flamethrower or breath fire.) Personally I think the damage for this should be upped some (or at least unnerfed) due to the lack of range.
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I think the range on Howl is fine, but they stepped on the damage a bit too much. My level 5 Sonic Blaster's Howl now does less damage against level 1s than it used to against level 5s. Um...wow, that's a hell of a change. I agree that it needed to be a bit lower, but as it is the only AOE damage the set gets before 32, it could stand to be better than it is now. Maybe turn Shout into a second, similar cone (make it narrower and longer for color perhaps).
The idea of such precision using sound waves is a little whacky to begin with. I was surprised that there are so few AOE abilities in the set.
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I'm going to be honest with you and share my opinion about the sound effects.
They are loud, and very distracting. My first impression was, "how could anyone stand to play this set to 50 without quiting out of sheer annoyance over the sounds... no matter how good the powers are". I appreciate the council's sonic sounds, and would like to see something along those lines, something a bit more sonic.
I just wanted to express my disapproval with the level 8 power sound. This sounds a bit like a train, and it trails on for quite a bit. Its annoying to start off with, but then i realize that it lasts so long, i'm effectively making 2 sounds at once when i switch to another power. Do i have to voice boxes? Could we shorten the length of the level 8 power? Or make it so our sounds don't overlap each other?
Thanks gang for all your help with this set! Just wanted to say I'm still reading...
Is it me or does sonic do way to much damage.
Maybe it's different in the higher lvls.
Voltaic Shock.
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"how could anyone stand to play this set to 50 without quiting out of sheer annoyance over the sounds... no matter how good the powers are"
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Funny, this has always been my feeling towards Dark Armor...
Guess this is another set to play with the sound off. 
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Is it me or does sonic do way to much damage.
Maybe it's different in the higher lvls.
Voltaic Shock.
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Y'know, I was thinking about this too. My friend and I were testing a archery/dev blaster and a sonic/sonic defender on test, and the defenders very first attack power (which is minor damage if I recall correctly) was doing as much as the blasters aimed shot (which is moderate damage). This seems a little strange to me, as defenders are supposed to do 66% the damage of blasters, and yet, he was doing just as much damage as my blaster with a minor damage attack.
My Sonic Blaster takes 3 shots to take down one even con minion, while my FireBlaster takes down 3 minions in 2 attacks. My Sonic Blaster is still in DOs and not fully slotted yet, while Frosteburn's attacks are fully slotted with SOs so I may be spoiled. The Brawl Index numbers I've seen others put up for the Sonic set are in line with other Blaster Primaries. So, no it does not to too much damage.
I haven't been overwhelmed with the damage, especially since sonic blast is lacking in AoE damage. The set certianly has a niche in teams though, and as a Defender set Sonic Blast is dang cool, but no more powerfull than Radiation Blast.
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Is it me or does sonic do way to much damage.
Maybe it's different in the higher lvls.
Voltaic Shock.
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Y'know, I was thinking about this too. My friend and I were testing a archery/dev blaster and a sonic/sonic defender on test, and the defenders very first attack power (which is minor damage if I recall correctly) was doing as much as the blasters aimed shot (which is moderate damage). This seems a little strange to me, as defenders are supposed to do 66% the damage of blasters, and yet, he was doing just as much damage as my blaster with a minor damage attack.
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Comapre it to another blaster set than the archery one and you'll see that it sonics is in-line with the other blaster sets, but not nearly as damaging as damage intensive sets like fire or assault (accept in groups maybe. . . if you count the added damage from their damage debuff).
Archery is an odd set. The damage is crap for each power use because they have such a SUPER fast recharge time on their powers. It's like playing a defender with hasten on from level 1.
This is kind of neat because you can go archery and choose not to get Hasten, but it is kind of cruddy too because the other blaster sets WITH Hasten will be doing more DPS later in the game than archery.
Archery (w/o Hasten): Low damage for each shot/Super fast shots. Good DPS.
Other Blaster Sets (w/o Hasten): Medium damage for each shot/Moderate Recharge. Good DPS.
Archery (w/Hasten): Low damage per shot/INCREDIBLY fast skill recharge. Good DPS but limited by the speed of attack animations and player button presses.
Other Blaster Sets (w/Hasten): Moderate damage per shot/Super Fast Skill Recharge. Great DPS. Always powers to hit and more damage per shot than Archery.
I guess I should put my thoughts in while I still have time.
First a little about what I've played while testing. I made up 4 different characters with Sonic and I have to say I like the set alot. 3 these characters have been defenders.
Sonic/Sonic
Rad/Sonic
Kinetic/Sonic
Each of these builds as a Defender lends itself to very different play styles and team compositions.
I've heard alot of chatter on the boards about Sonic Blast doing too much damage, I'd have to say I disagree. When compared to the damage that a controller does to a held character (using an Illusion/Trick Archery Controller for comparison), a defender stacks up right in line if not slight below the damage per attack. The defenders have more attacks that do actual damage then a controller does, but that is true for all defender secondaries. Along the same lines, people have posted that the DR debuff is too big. Again, I have to disagree. Using my Rad/Sonic Defender with both Hasten and Accelerate Metabolism, I could only get about a 33-35% boost in the damage I did based on the DR debuff. And that included the +DMG boost from AccMet. Can a DR debuff actually take you to negative DR? If not, then I would not worry too much about stacking from multiple players. If DR debuffs can take you to a negative, then putting a cap on max DR debuff would seem the best way to protect. Just like there is a cap on heroes DR buffs.
One of the other topics people have been posting about was the END cost of Sonic. I can say from experience that once you get past the first 2 powers in the Sonic Blast set, END is a definitely factor in the set. If AccMet was down, I was running out of END by then end of each encounter with mobs of 4 even level minions. The END was especially heinous for AoE/Cone attacks like Howl.
The big point I can agree with most posters on is the sound effects. Shriek and Screem are ok, but Howl really needs some work. I've been tempted to break out my Midi keyboard and send in some wave files to use.
As some others posted I'd also like to see the visual effects come from the mouth., and the idea of pulling 1 hand up to the mouth for Shreik and 2 hands for Scream sounds really cool.
Here is what I've put together for stats for the first 4 powers for Defenders...
Shreik: Ranged, Minor DMG(Smashing/Energy), Foe -Res(All) [END Cost 5]
Scream: Ranged, Moderate DoT(Smashing/Energy), Foe -Res(All) [END Cost 8]
Howl: Ranged (Cone), Minor DMG(Smashing/Energy), Foe -Res(All) [END Cost 12]
Shockwave: Ranged (Cone), Minor DMG(Smashing/Energy), Foe Knockback [END Cost 14]
Note that my stats do not agree with what the game list. Howl, Shreik & Shockwave all have the same pretty much the same base damage. Howl says it is Moderate, but I think not. Additionally, Shreik, Scream and Howl say they only do Smashing damage, but they are Smashing/Energy. Only Shockwave's description is 100% accurate.
Hopefully we will see a text correction in the next test release. I'd like to see the powers stay as they are.
Well, that was my 2 influence worth on Sonic Blast. I look forward to the dev's feedback.
I know all things can change, but unfortunately the effects of your powers are something you experience every time you hit the button.
I just...eh...The sounds really disappointed me. The first sound sounded like someone took two or three existing game sounds and ground them together. And then animal noises and the like?
I'd like to hear something...harmonic. Something angelic, ethereal, vocal at least. I know some might complain that wouldn't be very masculine for a man. But really, is a woof howl any better for a woman? There has to be some middle ground I'd hope.