Which is what Tundara has been asking for a long time now. As you say, it's an easy fix that would lead to several of us standing up for the devs if anyone ever tried to say "/Ice Melee never gets any love." Or...we could just keep this thread going until everyone started paying attention to it, thus making the devs look.... Hmm...what would the better option be?
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Small correction RR, but Ice Melee has 3 attacks in it's first tiers. Than has nothing until level 28 (Frozen Touch). Frozen Touch is actually its best ST attack overall.
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Well I don't regard that as a good attack since it's got a 16 second recharge on it - and it's nothing like Total Focus which offers a stun or KO Blow which offers a hold. If FT did the same damage as KO Blow, or near to it, I'd reconsider it. But it's not really designed well as an attack, since it is more of a hold with good damage.
If that were an 8 second recharge with the same damage, I'd consider it a legit attack, IMO. 
GIS is actually more DPS than KO blow, rage aside. FT is also more control per second, as you can feasibly stack FT with itself.
But, therein lies a problem. IMO powers with low recharge should have low activations. There at least needs to be some kind of standard.
Exactly, the activation time is what kills GIS.
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Which is what Tundara has been asking for a long time now. As you say, it's an easy fix that would lead to several of us standing up for the devs if anyone ever tried to say "/Ice Melee never gets any love." Or...we could just keep this thread going until everyone started paying attention to it, thus making the devs look.... Hmm...what would the better option be?
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They already have looked at the thread. See Castle's statement.
As for keeping threads alive, I can assure you from personal experience that it has no bearing on their decision, having kept up the Stalker Fight for quite some time myself. Yes, they know the playerbase is unhappy with Ice Melee. That alone might get it some fixes, but apparently, debating its mitigation, damage, or whatever will not.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
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IMO powers with low recharge should have low activations
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You can take my 'barb swipe - flurry' endless melee chain of doooom from my cold dead (and terribly fast) hands!
Happy Birthday, Ice Knight!!!!
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
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Happy Birthday, Ice Knight!!!!
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Birthday! YAY!!!!
*Dashes of to the Tanker Kitchen to whip up many frosted treats*
Happy happy B-Day Ice Knight!
=^_^=b
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They already have looked at the thread. See Castle's statement.
As for keeping threads alive, I can assure you from personal experience that it has no bearing on their decision, having kept up the Stalker Fight for quite some time myself. Yes, they know the playerbase is unhappy with Ice Melee. That alone might get it some fixes, but apparently, debating its mitigation, damage, or whatever will not.
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I've quoted and made reference to Castle's statement. I know they have seen it. Not what I said. I said everyone - meaning, people who initially have no opinion pop in and say, "Whoa, you guys are making a great point on this. You've got my support!" I tend to think in terms of affecting change, even if it takes way too long to do so.
You are very right, though. Giving all the logic behind it seems to be of no consequence, which is strange. I know the devs are paying attention to what we want, ala Issue 11. It just seems this would be such a simple fix that wouldn't completely destroy the "Balance Microcosm" that we hear so much about.
I think either Tundara's idea or Ice_Ember's idea are both viable, easy-to-implement options, but even the "hard" option of just replacing the power with something comparable to the other sets should really be on the table here.
I challenge someone to point out a tier 9 offensive power that is more unbalanced with it's counterparts within the AT.
/e hideunderdesk
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I challenge someone to point out a tier 9 offensive power that is more unbalanced with it's counterparts within the AT.
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I got a good laugh at this.
Answer: Rise of the Phoenix. Yes, it is an offensive power. With two damage/mez HO's it does more damage than any Ice melee attack and it in NO way compares to any tanker power at 32. Each of the others that is available is way more useful IMO.
There are others, but hey...
YMMV---IMO
Ice Ember
Hmm...I'm thinking you knew I meant a Melee power, but you're right, I didn't say that. Rephrasing, look at offensive sets across the ATs and find something that is more whacked out than Frozen Aura within that AT.
I can't think of one, but I'm not much of an expert or hand at the non-Melee AT's. There could be one, but I find that very unlikely. A pbAoE Mag 2 Sleep just doesn't make any sense for a Melee AT. If it did damage as well, that would be another matter, but without damage, the power is just laughable. More so because a few levels later you can get Salt Crystals which just slaps FA silly, does a few kicks to the groin, and then laughs as FA curls into a fetal position whimpering for mercy.
=. .=
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Hmm...I'm thinking you knew I meant a Melee power, but you're right, I didn't say that. Rephrasing, look at offensive sets across the ATs and find something that is more whacked out than Frozen Aura within that AT.
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/e sarcasm
I couldnt resist, and I hope you got a good chuckle too...
Probably the other power that is most out of line with any other is Spines tier 1, Barb Swipe. It has about a 3 second activation and does typical tier 1 damage. And even as a Spines attack, it is pure lethal without the Toxic bonus on other powers.
The other attacks in spines more than make up for the poor attack. But, just like Frozen Aura, it has a really cool animation.
YMMV---IMOIce Ember
Yes, I laughed. 
On the subject, I checked out the Powerset Comparison numbers in Mids' v1.21. Here's the funny thing to me (I know this is all a repeat). Fact: GIS barely touches the other sets' damaging power(s) within the AT. I think it's funny that Castle used the word "ignore" for what Ice Tankers do with FA. Why in the world would I take a PBAoE sleep that is completely negated by a damage aura, which is required because the rest of my set (/Ice Melee) is underpowered?
And why would I even consider FA as my "Ooo, I can't wait to get to 38" power when I was just given a power that requires me to take a bio break while it activates (again, for less damage than a Tier 3 Heavy Mallet)?
/e insulted
I know I'm repeating everything that's been said on this, but it's just a very logical approach that hasn't seen a logical response. Personally, as long as I'm playing the game, I won't delete my Ice Tanker(s). I like the concept and the look, but I'm not sure why this issue has been downplayed with the idea that "datamining says you're wrong". Nope, your datamining comments show me you are avoiding the issue.
Although, it is nice to see the devs are reading this. Maybe there is hope. We will see.
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Maybe there is hope.
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I have none left. I am just here for annoyance value and a bit of good (bad) humor.
I am about to respec both swords out and use Frost, FT, and Fire Blast for my single target attacks, with Frost and Fireball as my AoE. I will have to come out of fly to use ice patch/burn. Still debating on hover for the smidge of defense, but I think Air Supp offers a bit more mitigation.
YMMV---IMOIce Ember
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Small correction RR, but Ice Melee has 3 attacks in it's first tiers. Than has nothing until level 28 (Frozen Touch). Frozen Touch is actually its best ST attack overall. The second best is Frost, which is the sets Cone and only form of quasi-pbAoE.
The set needs another damaging attack. It is my opinion, and everone probably knows it by now, but adding Damage to Frozen Aura is the best answer and kills 2 or 3 birds with one stone. The only potential downside to this depending on the coding is that Damage Procs could break the sleep. The answer is to simply delay the Sleep until after the Procs are checked and applied. I don't know if that is possable though.
=. .=
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Hell, that's easy to do. You simply have to code the power to delay the sleep for a quarter of a second. They do it with every sleep that causes damage in this game.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.