I'm pretty familar with the general arguments and rational, but I don't buy into them. I after the fundamental philosophy here, and I don't want to accept the status quo. All range does is give you 100% defense verus melee, and well MOB is shorthand for Mobile Object, they can move into melee and they all ranged attacks as well, so they are far from defenseless from ranged attacks. And think about it, does having high damage melee attacks mearly serve as a rational to lower your ranged damage then if you did not have them available from the power sets?? Ranged attacks are just as valid in melee as they are at range, nothing in the game mechanics says otherwise, so why would you need both? Defenders and Controllers may have lower damage but they also have a prevailance of Buffs and Debuffs which augment the amount of damage they can deliever in total as well as many sources of damage mitagation allowing them to drag out the fight longer. I think there has been too much compromise in the Archtype design of Blasters, an that the actual threat of them spinning out of balance is way exagerated considering their level of risk and vunerablity and propensity to generate aggro, something they had to give Tankers an inherent powers to keep the Blaster from taking it all.
[ QUOTE ]
Actually, I'll throw one more on the barbie here:
A very, very long time ago, Statesman told us Electric Blasters that our strength was using Endurance Drain on Bosses and ArchVillains.
You may or may not be aware, but AVs are almost next to impossible to drain. I've spammed Short Circuit and Power Sink next to them and never seen so much as a budge in their Endurance Bar.
They have 800 Endurance, and insane Endurance Recovery.
Perhaps you could look at their apparent immunity to Endurance Drain.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. I have a Rad/thermal corrupter and experience this problem. I have an ability called heal exhaustion, that is supposed to floor recovery and regeneration. Well, on some AV's, it only works for regen.. Recovery is not effected at all.
The power is working as it should on most monsters, but AV's seem to have such a massive recovery speed and a huge amount of END that it really makes the ability useless.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
edit: Oh, and have you seen the single target damage capability of a Fire/ Brute? It's BLAPPER-level, and has an elemental damage component.
[/ QUOTE ]
But...Arc_Salvo...there's a guy in the brute forum insisting that fiery melee for brutes is teh gimp!
(I, er, don't believe a word of it)
[/ QUOTE ]
He's what now? 
Wow... does he have Stamina yet? Enough defenses taken/slotted to where he can take enough aggro to keep his fury high?
Wait a minute, why am I posting this here?!!! *sighs and heads over to Brute forums*
...now if only he were posting something reasonable, well thought out and inoffensive... then I could flame him... but since he isn't... I guess I can't. *shrugs*
Arc Salvo: Okay hold one sec guys, we can't just rush in blindly vs these Nemesis, they've got these ranged aoe's tha-
Teammate1(charging in): Shut up, Arc Salvo, you lame*$% Viewtiful Joe wannabe! What do you know?!
Teammate2(also charging): yeah, ST#& arc salvo u PWR RANGR U!
Arc Salvo: *sigh*
Well I might as well chime in with a little something. Everyone has done very well covering everything so I'll throw in a suggestion. Personally, my only problem is with defiance. My suggestion to help was mentioned over in the suggestions section (imagine that 
) though I forget who beat me to it (by two months) and that is to make it a click power like domination.
Have the meter build up as we take damage but not lose it if we're healed then when it's full or near full we can hit it if we think the time is right. This way we wouldn't draw extra aggro from the extra damage if we don't want it (low health+extra aggro=dead blaster) and could get that cool animation for when it activates and when it wears off. 
Of course the numbers would have to be played with so it's not overpowered but I think it would make a lot of blasters happy since most of us ignore it with how it is now.
First off - thank you. It's been a long time since I felt my posts in the blasters section were even being read.
I've posted before about /devices, and I know one of the threads I posted in is linked to here, so I won't write an essay.
My main issues are:
Trip mine - I think this is bugged as it often fails to detonate, especially in pvp I've noticed this a lot recently.
Lack of build up - Since ED meant we could no longer 6 slot for damage (which we were able to do as we had targeting drone and no build up) we struggle to reach the same damage output as other blaster secondaries. Maybe add a 33% damage buff to targeting drone as a solution to this.
Cloaking Device - Needs to have higher stealth for pvp as it's currently not worth it (I took the stealth power pool instead).
Taser - Please can it toggle drop (and maybe have a small -end component)
Time Bomb - Currently worthless imo (teams won't wait for it and timing is hard to get right especially in pvp). Maybe it could release a poison during it's countdown to 'hold' people at it's location.
Auto Turret - Needs a lot of love, needs a bigger taunt on it, especially in pvp.
Reading this thread i'm actually wondering..
Are there really buggy blasters powers? I think not much..
Are there balance issues?
Yes i think so for arrows, AR, fire secondary...
Are there concept problems?
Very much so, defiance, the function of blaster secondaries.
A very anoying gameplay when solo or in PUGs.
Even more we have been yelling the secondaries are flawed since what.. I3 I4? earlier?
and nothing is done..
An inherent power that did nothing to solve the problem was added.
we got a bit more hit points, well let me tell you those hp don't matter.
defense in epics? or resistance for that matter.. yeah very nice. if not every group at that level would have a mezzer in it.
Although a power that roots like flares can be a pain, the functionallity of the nukes can be questionable and opinions are widespread, i would personally like a reevaluation of blaster in general, what their role is and how the powers fit in.
On GOOD teams a blaster does a lot of damage but in all other situations a scrapper outshines a blaster a lot.
In solo EVERYTHING except some defender builds are better than blasters. (yes i think defenders deserve help too).
I agree with blasters having no defense, but i think the secondaries should become more equal (loose al but one of the PBAoE's from the fire secondaries, put in something usefull).
And, at LEAST for solo play.. PLEASE let us have some resistance against mezzes..
i'd offer up a power for this without thinking but my tray can only keep so much breakfrees..
[ QUOTE ]
More to the point, I grabbed Red Zero's list and Revolver Laws list and will be going over them. Thanks for reposting them (both here, and in the other thead.)
[/ QUOTE ]
I just wanted to say thanks to _Castle_ for looking at our issues, and thanks to everyone who has posted here so far. Blasters are my favorite AT, and IMHO there is no question that we need an upgrade.
Keep those ideas coming in!
Ideally, the tank will die precisely as everyone else starts fighting, allowing aggro to be spread evenly among the blaster. -seebs, "How to Suck at CoH/CoV" Guide
Thanks, Castle. You've been a very 'get it done' kind of guy. I'm glad to see you on the blaster forums.
The biggest things that I see that need work (from playing my characters) is (as stated previously), the end drain of the electric set...specifically in regards to PvP. As it is now, it is not worth slotting the drain aspect, which goes against everything that ED was supposed to (encouraging slotting other enhancements). If I am understanding right now, the drain in PvP is 25% of PvE.
I'd love to see it 100% effective in PvP, but having at least a 50-75% drain would certainly make it worthwhile to slot. 25% is useless. By the time I get in and SC the enemy, he has plenty of time to wallop my no-mez, no-defense self before I can do much of anything (SC has a decent act. time, ya know!). So, in the risk vs. reward category, I think since all the 'drain' moves must be performed at AoE (except TB), that it would be nice to make that risk worth it. It's no more 'damaging' than a hold is, and fits in with the mold of what the elec blaster was supposedly intended to be. Gecko told us some time ago that our elec blasters were going to be something special in PvP...however, really, we're just regular blasters with nothing on the side (although our animation rules!)
I know Circuit Boy has repeatedly laid out reasons why this needs to be looked at and I just want to /agree. Most blaster side effects are still fully functional in PvP (my ice blaster's slow is wonderful!), but elec is lacking...I'm sure others have gripes, but these are just from the ones I've played alot.
Defiance would be my other issue. I don't want to be on my deathbed before my 'inherit' kicks in. I think a lower activation would be much more functional and noticable. I really like the concept of defiance, but in practice, it just equals death. I read Statesman's address on how to 'run in defiance', although I would seriously doubt that he has tried it much....anytime I've tried to 'stay in defiance', I get dead....fast. Kinda defeats the purpose of having it. I have no problem with the percentage of damage +...just when it kicks in. I think it should start in earlier.
Thanks again for listening.
@Celt on VICTORY!
Heroes - Mr. BoJangles, Boom-stick, GalacticCelt, Hap Hazard, Judas Cradle, Knotwork, Riddle of Flame, Archangel Lucius, Boomerang, Mrs. BoJangles
Villains - Mike Brady
[ QUOTE ]
If any secondaries need to be looked at, I'd say /Fire and /Ice are much further up on the list than /Elec.
[/ QUOTE ]
It does seem that /fire needs attention badly, but IMHO /elec is worse off than /ice, primarily because the end drain secondary effect is no where near as useful and is actually worthless in PvP, whiles icy's secondary works quite well. So it's more about the secondary effect rather than a specific powerset.
My current end drain suggestion to adjust matters is to triple the basic end drain of all such powers and add x sec -end recovery in both elec/ and /elec in order to make it reasonable to slot them for end mod and actually have something happen on each successful attack that can eventually effect the outcome of the fight, just like the other secondary effects. Short Circuit and Power Sink could get raised 2x or perhaps only 1.5x, to make them more effective in more situations. For PvP the story is a little more complicated, but I think explicit promises that Elec blasters would be very happy in PvP because of End drain have not been kept.
There is a nice recent thread with some backstory on End Drain in the Archetypes and Powers General Discussion forum here
[ QUOTE ]
My suggestion? This may be controversial and it may have been said before.. but I think we should get rid of "True" nukes and replace them with Full Auto/Rain of Arrows like powers.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's been said before. Yeah, I was the one that brought up how much more usefull it would be for blasters to have non-situational powers like scrappers do in their primary sets.
My rational is different though. We already have situational powers in our secondary sets, so whey do we have situational powers in our primary set? Really, why? That just doesn't make any sense.
So, I advocated makeing the nukes high damage powers of some kind. Perhaps some powers could be designed like Head Splitter but with a range of 40' so that you would basicaly have a line attack but one that recharged fast enough to be used about twice a fight and did head-splitter sized damage. You could hit a boss and cut right through all the minions to get to him.
I am fully supportive of the nukes being changed to non-situational powers.
However, I don't think that _Castle_ can actually do anything about the actual design of the sets.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
My suggestion? This may be controversial and it may have been said before.. but I think we should get rid of "True" nukes and replace them with Full Auto/Rain of Arrows like powers.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's been said before. Yeah, I was the one that brought up how much more usefull it would be for blasters to have non-situational powers like scrappers do in their primary sets.
My rational is different though. We already have situational powers in our secondary sets, so whey do we have situational powers in our primary set? Really, why? That just doesn't make any sense.
So, I advocated makeing the nukes high damage powers of some kind. Perhaps some powers could be designed like Head Splitter but with a range of 40' so that you would basicaly have a line attack but one that recharged fast enough to be used about twice a fight and did head-splitter sized damage. You could hit a boss and cut right through all the minions to get to him.
[/ QUOTE ]
Mmmm. Could we make the electric one chain lightning? *falls over drooling and twitching in delight* I've wanted a power that was AE of some sort and animated as a lightning bolt-esque power that jumped from one enemy in its area to the next since, well, I rolled my first character.
Some or all of these may have been covered before, but I'll post them anyway.
AR
AR forces a redraw when using any power that isn't in the primary. It would be nice if you could at least not put the gun away to use self-buffs such as Build Up and Hasten. That doesn't seem too hard to code, although I'll admit I'm not a programmer.
Ignite's short range, small area and fear effect make this power very difficult to use, highly situational and almost useless on teams. A larger area would make it more useful as a crowd control power. Faster DoT would cause enemies to take more damage before they run out of it. A longer range would make it easier to use as a targeted drop.
M30 grenade does the same damage as buckshot, for a higher end cost, longer recharge, and a scattering knockback that annoys teams and doesn't synergize with the cone AoEs in the set. The longer range does NOT balance this power.
UNNERF FULL AUTO!!! (had to say it)
Electric Blast
The primary lacks a decent attack chain. Even with attacks slotted for recharge, and using Zapp in the chain, you get gaps.
The shorter range on charged Bolts is just annoying.
Ice Blast
The end cost of Bitter Freeze Ray is a little high for what it does. The hold+(ice bolt) damage is balanced by the long recharge and long activation times. IMO.
Sonic Blast
Dreadful Wail lacks any real visual. It's a great nuke, powerwise. But when a Nova or Inferno goes off, it's a big flashy explosion, you're prepared for everything to die. Dreadful Wail it's like "Huh??? Did you just nuke or something?" A small issue admittedly, but still....
Fire Manipulation
The set as a whole is lacking in that it doesn't provide any way of making enemies SORRY they got into melee with you. All the other secondaries have a power to deal with an enemy who wanders into melee. /Energy and /Elec have powerful single-target attacks with status effects attached. /Ice and /Elec have single-target holds. /Dev has Taser and Caltrops. /Fire gets a bunch of PbAOEs that make that guy in melee laugh maniacally as he kills you. Fire needs something, fast activating, to deal with a melee enemy. I vote for Greater Fire Sword.
Blazing Aura, Burn, Combustion....huh? A lot of players, especially new players, choose Fire/Fire for thematic reasons. Do you REALLY need a secondary that does what your primary already does BETTER, and at range? Tanks, you can keep these powers. I can't count the times that people I know, experienced players in many cases, took Combustion because it sounded good....They used it twice before the word "respec" started kicking around.
Hot Feet: So an /energy or /elec blaster is coming up on level 38....yay, cool new power. A /fire blaster coming up on 38....Aid Other or Recall Friend?
I would also like to second (or third) the suggestion made by several people here that Build Up be moved to the third-tier power in all the secondaries. They moved powers around in the tank secondaries, so there is now precedent. Having Build Up available early would encourage new blasters to take it and learn to use it.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
My suggestion? This may be controversial and it may have been said before.. but I think we should get rid of "True" nukes and replace them with Full Auto/Rain of Arrows like powers.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's been said before. Yeah, I was the one that brought up how much more usefull it would be for blasters to have non-situational powers like scrappers do in their primary sets.
My rational is different though. We already have situational powers in our secondary sets, so whey do we have situational powers in our primary set? Really, why? That just doesn't make any sense.
So, I advocated makeing the nukes high damage powers of some kind. Perhaps some powers could be designed like Head Splitter but with a range of 40' so that you would basicaly have a line attack but one that recharged fast enough to be used about twice a fight and did head-splitter sized damage. You could hit a boss and cut right through all the minions to get to him.
[/ QUOTE ]
Mmmm. Could we make the electric one chain lightning? *falls over drooling and twitching in delight* I've wanted a power that was AE of some sort and animated as a lightning bolt-esque power that jumped from one enemy in its area to the next since, well, I rolled my first character.
[/ QUOTE ]
That would be nice to see. Not sure how they would do that though. Well, I could see how they could do it. They could have a bolt animate from you to a target, then that mob generates a bolt spawn that targets the nearest enemy and fires a bolt animation at it and so on.
Yeah, that could be done. I would rather have that than Voltaic Sentinal. Even if it didn't do that much damage.
[ QUOTE ]
Ice Blast- unresolved
Bug: Blizzard: Every primary has a nuke, they drain all end and leave you unable to recover end for a short time (10 seconds). Blizzard drains and doesn't allow you to recover for the duartion of the blizzard + 10 seconds. blizzard's duration is 20 seconds so that is like 30 seconds we have to go without end recovery. (submitted by Icerian) NOTE: THIS MAY BE FIXED NOW.
Bug: Bitter Freeze Ray: The Foe freezes before the animation is done. (submitted by MageStorm)
Balance: Blizzard doesn't stack up with Nova or Inferno. If you are defeated before Blizzard ends, Blizzard stops (which is very easy to do because you don't have any endurance). (submitted by Sockem)
Balance: Blizzard doesn't get any bonus from Aim and Build Up making it less effective then other Nuke-type attacks. (submitted by Icerian)
[/ QUOTE ]
Can I add a wishlist request? Compared to the **BOOM** of Nova and other high end powers, the light, gentle snowstorm of blizzard looks like a wuss. Can we get a REAL blizzard, with torrnets of blinding snow and howling wind and - you know other blizzard like effects.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
My suggestion? This may be controversial and it may have been said before.. but I think we should get rid of "True" nukes and replace them with Full Auto/Rain of Arrows like powers.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's been said before. Yeah, I was the one that brought up how much more usefull it would be for blasters to have non-situational powers like scrappers do in their primary sets.
My rational is different though. We already have situational powers in our secondary sets, so whey do we have situational powers in our primary set? Really, why? That just doesn't make any sense.
So, I advocated makeing the nukes high damage powers of some kind. Perhaps some powers could be designed like Head Splitter but with a range of 40' so that you would basicaly have a line attack but one that recharged fast enough to be used about twice a fight and did head-splitter sized damage. You could hit a boss and cut right through all the minions to get to him.
I am fully supportive of the nukes being changed to non-situational powers.
However, I don't think that _Castle_ can actually do anything about the actual design of the sets.
[/ QUOTE ]
Back when this was discussed the first (second, third, fourth?) time, I disagreed with this sentiment. My reasons are now the same as they were then: I would much rather the blaster primaries' damage be attack-chain balanced without taking the tier nine powers into account at all, and then the tier 9 powers be added as extra bonuses, than having the blaster primaries balanced on the presumption that the blasters will eventually have another high damage attack way out at 32. Given that blasters start off with no mitigation, its much more critical that blasters get their "meat and potatoes" attacks as early as possible: I'm actually an advocate of designing blaster primaries so that they could make (relatively) full attack chains within the first three attacks they get, and having *all* other attacks be situational additions.
In otherwords, I'm in favor of having *more* situational attacks, provided that the non-situational ones that are left are themselves reasonably adequate.
I.e. if I could make a full attack chain with bolt, blast, and burst, I'm fine with torrent being the situational attack I use as an opener for the knockback, say, or occasionally to kick foes that are rushing forward. The problem isn't that blaster primaries have situational powers: situational powers are good for diversity. The problem is that because of recharge scarcity (powers take a long time to become available in general) we're always tending to have to use situational powers *outside* their optimal situation.
32 is too long to wait for a "necessary" power, so by my definition, it has to be situational. Whether its high damage somewhat slow to recharge like full auto, or higher damage even slower to recharge like nova is mostly a matter of preference (I like the more frequent damage of FA, but standing rooted while applying a DoT has serious disadvantages over stealthing in and firing a nova - its not unambiguous which one is better).
*IF* the level 32 power is going to be useful constantly, instead of on long timer, it should be something that is situationally (but usefully) beneficial in other ways besides being forced to be infrequent. The best candidate for "frequently available but much more situational usage" powers would be (PB)AoE soft control. For example, while I would hate hate hate to lose my nova, I would at least think it was a fair trade if I got the equivalent of something like a very high order PBAoE knockdown with significant chance to disorient. That would be almost as good of an opener on groups as nova: less damage, but possibly more effective against LTs and Bosses. Something like that on a 90-120 second base timer could be used every couple of fights.
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
Arcanna, I am very much in agreement that blasters should have their attack chains pretty much laid down by the time they hit their teens but I don't think that blasters need situational powers in addition to what they already have in their secondary.
What you described as a replacement to nova is something that I would consider a great secondary power. I think that blasters can have a good attack chain starting out and then as the levels progress pick up powers that can be helpfull in certain situations. The final powers though should allow them to basicaly upgrade their ranged attack chain at a time when they really need that attack chain to be strong enough to deal with the masses of mezzing mobs.
I am with you in regards to making the first powers the bread and butter, I just think that the bread and butter can get better as time goes on.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ice Blast- unresolved
Bug: Blizzard: Every primary has a nuke, they drain all end and leave you unable to recover end for a short time (10 seconds). Blizzard drains and doesn't allow you to recover for the duartion of the blizzard + 10 seconds. blizzard's duration is 20 seconds so that is like 30 seconds we have to go without end recovery. (submitted by Icerian) NOTE: THIS MAY BE FIXED NOW.
Bug: Bitter Freeze Ray: The Foe freezes before the animation is done. (submitted by MageStorm)
Balance: Blizzard doesn't stack up with Nova or Inferno. If you are defeated before Blizzard ends, Blizzard stops (which is very easy to do because you don't have any endurance). (submitted by Sockem)
Balance: Blizzard doesn't get any bonus from Aim and Build Up making it less effective then other Nuke-type attacks. (submitted by Icerian)
[/ QUOTE ]
Can I add a wishlist request? Compared to the **BOOM** of Nova and other high end powers, the light, gentle snowstorm of blizzard looks like a wuss. Can we get a REAL blizzard, with torrnets of blinding snow and howling wind and - you know other blizzard like effects.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's an easy request to fulfill. Add the effects for snowstorm from the Storm/ defender set, and perhaps even the under-rain ice patch from Freezing Rain.
Arc Salvo: Okay hold one sec guys, we can't just rush in blindly vs these Nemesis, they've got these ranged aoe's tha-
Teammate1(charging in): Shut up, Arc Salvo, you lame*$% Viewtiful Joe wannabe! What do you know?!
Teammate2(also charging): yeah, ST#& arc salvo u PWR RANGR U!
Arc Salvo: *sigh*
[ QUOTE ]
Arcanna, I am very much in agreement that blasters should have their attack chains pretty much laid down by the time they hit their teens but I don't think that blasters need situational powers in addition to what they already have in their secondary.
What you described as a replacement to nova is something that I would consider a great secondary power. I think that blasters can have a good attack chain starting out and then as the levels progress pick up powers that can be helpfull in certain situations. The final powers though should allow them to basicaly upgrade their ranged attack chain at a time when they really need that attack chain to be strong enough to deal with the masses of mezzing mobs.
I am with you in regards to making the first powers the bread and butter, I just think that the bread and butter can get better as time goes on.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't so much disagree with this sentiment as I have a parallel one. I have an aesthetic dislike for a situation where, say, we could make a full attack chain with power bolt, power blast, and torrent at low levels, and then eventually, we can "upgrade" that chain to power blast, power burst, (new) nova. It orphans powers and takes up power slots. I'd much rather "upgrades" come in the form of self buffs, like build up. So I see "upgrades" mostly coming from the secondary: build up, boost range, power boost, conserve power, for example. In effect, I'd rather have my power bolt work better over time, than have my power bolt replaced with a "better" power.
Doing it that way gives us more options to put other powers in the primary that are there just for variety's sake - either situational powers, or powers that aren't necessarily "better" or "worse" but are subject to player taste (i.e. TK verses CAK in the MA set).
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Arcanna, I am very much in agreement that blasters should have their attack chains pretty much laid down by the time they hit their teens but I don't think that blasters need situational powers in addition to what they already have in their secondary.
What you described as a replacement to nova is something that I would consider a great secondary power. I think that blasters can have a good attack chain starting out and then as the levels progress pick up powers that can be helpfull in certain situations. The final powers though should allow them to basicaly upgrade their ranged attack chain at a time when they really need that attack chain to be strong enough to deal with the masses of mezzing mobs.
I am with you in regards to making the first powers the bread and butter, I just think that the bread and butter can get better as time goes on.
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't so much disagree with this sentiment as I have a parallel one. I have an aesthetic dislike for a situation where, say, we could make a full attack chain with power bolt, power blast, and torrent at low levels, and then eventually, we can "upgrade" that chain to power blast, power burst, (new) nova. It orphans powers and takes up power slots. I'd much rather "upgrades" come in the form of self buffs, like build up. So I see "upgrades" mostly coming from the secondary: build up, boost range, power boost, conserve power, for example. In effect, I'd rather have my power bolt work better over time, than have my power bolt replaced with a "better" power.
Doing it that way gives us more options to put other powers in the primary that are there just for variety's sake - either situational powers, or powers that aren't necessarily "better" or "worse" but are subject to player taste (i.e. TK verses CAK in the MA set).
[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly. One of the best things about City of Heroes is that you don't have a mess of bland "upgrades" that do the same thing as something you already have, only better. You get a power at level 1, you use it all the way to level 50, and it stays useful and effective, though enhancements and coupling it with other stuff.
I don't want to get into a replace mode. Some scrappers are already like this, and I don't like it. I see a lot of builds posts on the scrapper boards that basically take very few attacks pre-, say, 18. This just seems like exploiting respeccability, and tends to indicate that some sets in there are going against the CoH mantra of "high level powers = specificity not just more overall power."
I don't want to see blasters fall into that.
I agree -- help our early attacks build a better chain on their own, and then we can afford to do more situational stuff at the top.
Short and sweet: ED hit blaster damage output capability. We have low Hp, no defense, no mez protection. The boards are rife with posts about the innability to even kill an even con foe with one shot with SNIPE. Rebalance Blasters damage output: it needs an increase/adjustment up. Make mobs less able to resist damage types. In any event, we need to be the .44 mag of hanguns again. Not the .32 snub nose.
I would ask that Blaster: Energy secondary, Power Boost be able to increase the damage of Build Up and Aim up to the 400% damage cap. And that it buff all power effects of a Blaster's primary and seconday powers (ie Fire's DoT).
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone addressed the 2 second wait time after Ranged shot (where you can't attack) in Archery/ yet? I know it's in Concern and Redzero's reposts of the old consolidated issues thread, but I think it's worth repeating. No other snipe has that downtime to deal with, and I'm pretty damn sure it's a bug.
[/ QUOTE ]
I *think* I fixed that when I fixed it for Defenders. I tested it and it's better, but not perfect. I'll wait 'til it reaches you guys before making a final determination.
[/ QUOTE ]
How about the wait time for Fire Sword Circle? Don't know how many times I have used it on my brute and died right afterwards because too much aggro and not being able to cast my heal or even use a respite.
Accuracy. Seems that I can never hit anything, and by the time I do I am out of endurance. I understand the need for not having 100% accuracy but I think the fact that blasters have "thin skins" we should be able to have a chance to hit better than someone who can take a beating.
Issue: Bitter Freeze Ray is under-powered, especially in comparision to the three holds offered in the blast epics. For example: Bitter Freeze Ray vs. Shocking Bolt
Bitter Freeze Ray:
ACC bonus: 0%
Damage: 3.6 BI
End cost: 15
Activation: 3.7 seconds
Recharge: 20 second
Range: 80 feet
Hold Duration: 15 seconds
Shocking Bolt:
ACC bonus: 0%
Damage: 3.6 BI (DOT)
End cost: 10
Activation: 2 seconds
Recharge: 16 second
Range: 80 feet
Hold Duration: 10 seconds
So Shocking Bolt has better activation time, lower end cost, AND recharges quicker. On top of that Char has a 1 second activation time and shares the same recharge and end cost as Shocking Bolt. The only thing better about Bitter Freeze Ray is the extra hold duration and that we can get it at level 26. However, these are not valid trade-offs for its long activation time, higher end cost, and higher recharge.
I would like to emphasis that the major problem with this power is the unusually long activation time. 3.7 seconds is long time to be doing nothing but 'posing'. At least with Full Auto your doing lots of damge during those six seconds, but with Bitter Freeze Ray you are just posing... and more posing to get this minor damage w/hold attack off. Also, this power doesn't fit easily into an Ice Blaster's attack chain, especially under a Buildup and/or Aim. A combo of Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, Bitter Ice Blast, and Freeze Ray will do the samething as a Bitter Freeze Ray but with TONS more damage and it would only take .5 seconds more to get off.
Bitter Freeze Ray is a power that's routinely skipped, and when it is taken, its only real use is a combat opener, much like a snipe however it does really low damage incomparison to one too...
Possible suggestions to fix Bitter Freeze Ray:
1) New animation. (The current, nearly 4 second animation is NOT fun...) Preferibly something 1 second, maybe 2. This I consider, is the number 1 thing that needs to change, regardless of what other changes are done to the power. The power is just not useful with the current activation time.
2) Reduction in recharge and End cost, and reduction in hold duration to compensate. As it stands Bitter Freeze Ray using a lot of end bar just to fire it off, as stated above it uses 50% more End and still has longer recharge then the epic holds.
Honestly, I wouldn't really care how long the hold duration on Bitter Freeze Ray is, even if it's just 5 seconds... For the trade-off of a low hold duration, I would like to see some bonus over the epic holds to compensate: More damage or lower End cost, or lower recharge, something...
3) If giving Ice Blasters a second short activation hold power is over-powered in your eyes, then prehaps give us a new non-hold power. Something like Infrigidate. The Ice Blaster set, as a whole, has several AOE slow powers that actually work alright; Frost Breath, Ice Storm, and Blizzard. But lacks single-target slow powers besides the blasts themselves, and by the time you notice their slow affect on the target, the target is almost dead or IS dead.
So the suggestion is, give us a power similar to Infrigidate, but with a slightly reduced amount of -slow and -recharge, and axe out the other effects, and to compensate give us a minor damage component, like what Bitter Freeze Ray already has.
You could call it Benumb Ice Blast:
'A deadly blast of ice so cold that it numbs the target to its very core, slowing its attack and movement speed, while also damaging the target as well.'
You could even use the Infrigidate animation, which means less work for your art department, and the Ice Blaster (Corruptor as well maybe?) couldn't stack two holds on a target, BUT would help keep the target out of melee range. 
[ QUOTE ]
edit: Oh, and have you seen the single target damage capability of a Fire/ Brute? It's BLAPPER-level, and has an elemental damage component.
[/ QUOTE ]
But...Arc_Salvo...there's a guy in the brute forum insisting that fiery melee for brutes is teh gimp!
(I, er, don't believe a word of it)
Elsegame: Champions Online: @BellaStrega ||| Battle.net: Ashleigh#1834 ||| Bioware Social Network: BellaStrega ||| EA Origin: Bella_Strega ||| Steam: BellaStrega ||| The first Guild Wars: Kali Magdalene ||| The Secret World: BelleStarr (Arcadia)