Matters of the Mind: A powers change proposal
By
EmperorSteele,
Posted on: 2009-05-29 14:54 in Controllers
I agree with the containment issue, it would be nice if Fear or Confuse could setup containment. Apart from that, Mind is the most powerful set in my experience at control, especially after 32. I never really miss not having a pet to babysit personally.
Having said that, I am fortunate enough to be Mind/Storm, and with thunderclap and mass hypnosis, I can set up AoE containment. I do feel for Mind controllers without that option however. I could write more, but it is late in the UK, sorry! :-)
Actually, if fear/confuse gave containment, i have the feeling that the devs would then give the Cim traitors (and any similar subsequent mobs) resistance to those effects as well, thus making control -completely- useless. That, and then Mind would be way too OP XD
And yes, Mind is powerful at -control- however it still suffers from lower damage output (see: no second source of damage) and its controls not giving enough containment. MagicJ I think did a bunch of tests and found that while Mind performed very well pre 32, post 32 it falls to the bottom of the pack. I feel this needs to be addressed.
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
THANK YOU. Someone else who understands how incredibly worthless Total Domination is! Every one of the changes to that you've suggested are /signed and double /signed. So very much needed.
Telekinesis could indeed stand some help - I like the plan of making the spread smaller. When I originally took the power way back in the day I just thought it was a hold that drained alot of endurance but didn't have a natural "duration" (and I still wouldn't mind seeing it become that, but I think it definitely violates the Cottage Rule).
I don't know about the damage component. You could maybe finagle it into working, but I have a suspicion that the number-crunchers would think "Great heavens! This power does damage? We must nerf its recharge and duration into the Dark Ages in order to compensate for this .50% of a minion's health per tick!" I still haven't forgotten about Alkaloid's absurd endurance cost because it gives Toxic resistance.
For Telekinesis I'd say just go with the fixed hold. Really major changes to it would violate the Cottage Rule and get the changes shot down, so I say just go with the spread. If anyone has any ideas for some other effect for Telekinesis that would work let's hear them, because the power does need help.
Mind/s unite!
Has been killed by the DoT on Throwing Knives and proud of it.
I agree completely. I hate AoE hold powers and Telekinesis with a passion. I will never take them except on Ice where you sort of need it as an "oh snap!" button. TK might also be more useful if it wasn't indefinite, but once the duration ran out (say 10 seconds), the targets would become disoriented or something of the sort. Just a thought, but great ideas overall!
My thing is, I swore by TD over MH for a while... but i also leveled about as slow as grass would grow. "Okay, mass hold, defeat the foes... ok, gotta wait three minutes before engaging next mob... *pick up a book*"
Then IOs came out. TD is up far more often, stays active longer, and i've learned to chain MH (rather, cast Mass hyp, wait until it's recharged, then hit Terrify and MH again in quick succession). However, I've been discouraged by the fact that I've *had* to purple out just to get my controller working the way she probably OUGHT to *without* a permanent 80% recharge and accuracy boost. What about people just running SOs? I'm half tempted to use my second build to test SO-only utility vs IO'd out utility, but... Mweh, lazy.
Now the point of the original post isn't "make my purpled out toon more ubar!", it's "Bring this controller type up to a functionality that it ought to be at without investing in all the so-called optional extravagance, because that's the only way it actually WORKS and makes you feel like an actual HERO."
Psythe, what do you mean "Cottage rule" though? o_O
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
While I understand your reasoning for the TD changes, keep in mind that all the AoE holds were balanced to the same specs. I think the devs would be reluctant to give Mind's better specs, even if it is lacking in the areas you describe. You would get folks complaining that Ice or Gravity or whatever should get similar treatment because those sets also underperform.
In terms of parity, I would like to see Mass Confusion buffed. Other than the non-aggro aspect (which is usless in 90% of situations), Mass Confusion is inferior to Seeds of Confusion in almost every way, particularly the longer (4x) recharge and lower accuracy. A level 32 power should be demonstrably BETTER than a level 8 power. While I understand that Mind doesn't need MC they way Plant needs SoC, at the least MC should have its recharge lowered to 60 seconds and its accuracy increased to 1.0. I would also like to see its chance to crit increased from 20% to 50%.l
The Cottage Rule is basically... Once its in, it doesn't get out. Or, plainly - the Devs are NOT going to remove and replace powers in a set. Not unless they can find absolutely no alternative to balance the set - once it goes live, the powers that make up a given set are set in stone.
So, to anyone who says 'Power set X would be soooo much better if the Devs got rid of power Y and replaced it with Power Z!" ...yeah, you're SOL.
It doesn't really apply to these changes - you aren't asking for anything that violate the Cottage Rule. That doesn't mean I think you're going to get it - I think with a reliable way to gain mass-containment would over power the set. But hey, you want more containment? Grab yourself /Trick Arrow and go to town.
Now, I wouldn't mind seeing Telekinesis changed into a targeted AoE Knockback/Knockdown with some smashing damage thrown into the mix... but even that might be a bit much for the set as a whole.
-This Space Intentionally Left Blank.-
Solo spawns, mass hypnosis is just fine.
Say you have the standard 3 enemy spawn.
MH....Dominate one (containment damage....enemy now held).....Hypnotize the next (containment damage....enemy still slept)........Dominate the next (containment damage....enemy now held).....Levitate the first (containtment damage.....enemy still held from earlier)....Dominate the second (containment damage...enemy held)....... (well you get it)
OR
MH........Terrify (containment damage)....then start working on them with your ST damage powers.
All this can be done pre MC.
And this is all talking soloing. Dont' forget that controllers are better on teams and certain powers become much more effective in a team situation, as long as your teammates know how to work with your powers. I'm not saying any set couldn't use a tweak or two, but mind is a pretty solid set as is.
@Mental Maden @Maden Mental
"....you are now tackle free for life."-ShoNuff
1) Total domination is balanced in accordance with all the other AOE hold powers. So no, it shouldn't be changed.
2) Yes, telekinesis should be tweaked to either have its endurance cost lowered or the number of mobs that can fit in it raised.
Someone mentioned mass confusion. There's been a lot of comparision between it and seeds of confusion. I really won't mind it having its recharge reduced.
"Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty." -- Plato
Playing Gods (51106) - Heroic Lvl 5-20
What Rough Beast (255143) - Villainous Lvl 40-50
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While I understand your reasoning for the TD changes, keep in mind that all the AoE holds were balanced to the same specs. I think the devs would be reluctant to give Mind's better specs, even if it is lacking in the areas you describe. You would get folks complaining that Ice or Gravity or whatever should get similar treatment because those sets also underperform.
In terms of parity, I would like to see Mass Confusion buffed. Other than the non-aggro aspect (which is usless in 90% of situations), Mass Confusion is inferior to Seeds of Confusion in almost every way, particularly the longer (4x) recharge and lower accuracy. A level 32 power should be demonstrably BETTER than a level 8 power. While I understand that Mind doesn't need MC they way Plant needs SoC, at the least MC should have its recharge lowered to 60 seconds and its accuracy increased to 1.0. I would also like to see its chance to crit increased from 20% to 50%.l
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I really think if you buffed Mass Confusion to anywhere near those levels it would be horribly overpowered. Personally I think Seeds of Confusion is overpowered when you consider that confuse is basically a long duration hold where the mobs attack each other, but I wont get into that debate here. Also please don't discount the no aggro portion, that is an important factor to its overall power.
Personally I agree with MentalMaden a lot about Mind's soloability.
I don't think Mind's soloability is at issue. I can solo using nothing more than MH, Dom, Mes and Lev and never touch my secondary. Mind is decent on a team up to 3-4 players. However, on a team of 8 it is measurably weaker than many sets, relying heavily on Terrify for AoE control.
As far as MC vs. SoC, they need to buff one or nerf the other. No aggro does not compensate for 4x the recharge, a 20% acc penalty and 24 levels. Personally, I do not find Plant to be overpowered, so my vote would be to buff MC. I wouldn't even care if they removed the no aggro. I have played both sets to 50 and the fact that SoC aggroes was never an issue.
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I don't think Mind's soloability is at issue. I can solo using nothing more than MH, Dom, Mes and Lev and never touch my secondary. Mind is decent on a team up to 3-4 players. However, on a team of 8 it is measurably weaker than many sets, relying heavily on Terrify for AoE control.
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You know I just cannot disagree more strongly. I have done many full group TF's across a whole span of levels and many times as the only controlling hero on the team. I have never ever had any problems constantly locking down full groups of mobs and am always the backbone of every team. I just can't disagree enough with your statement! Mind Control has the most control of any set!
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I don't think Mind's soloability is at issue. I can solo using nothing more than MH, Dom, Mes and Lev and never touch my secondary. Mind is decent on a team up to 3-4 players. However, on a team of 8 it is measurably weaker than many sets, relying heavily on Terrify for AoE control.
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You know I just cannot disagree more strongly. I have done many full group TF's across a whole span of levels and many times as the only controlling hero on the team. I have never ever had any problems constantly locking down full groups of mobs and am always the backbone of every team. I just can't disagree enough with your statement! Mind Control has the most control of any set!
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Hmm, must be different team make ups then. Whenever I'm on a team, I don't even HAVE to control; people steamroll through stuff regardless of whether I hold things or not. Heck, a few times an entire mob went down in the time it took Total dom to ACTIVATE.
*shrug*
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
I would advise being at the front of the team and leading, not at the back of the team being pulled along. That way you might be able to activate a power before everything is dead. ;-) Also, you could even use mass hypnosis, confuse or mass confusion to set up the next group without even getting their attention!
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Hmm, must be different team make ups then. Whenever I'm on a team, I don't even HAVE to control; people steamroll through stuff regardless of whether I hold things or not. Heck, a few times an entire mob went down in the time it took Total dom to ACTIVATE.
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That kind of holds for any kind of controller you're playing?
"Before I can even do granny bowling on flashfire, the entire mob went down"
"Before I can stretch out my hand, wave an ice slick into existence, the entire mob went down"
etc.
Could go for anything too.
"Before my nova animated the other blaster's thunderous blast took them all out!"
That's what's fun about steamrolling teams. 
"Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty." -- Plato
Playing Gods (51106) - Heroic Lvl 5-20
What Rough Beast (255143) - Villainous Lvl 40-50
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As far as MC vs. SoC, they need to buff one or nerf the other. No aggro does not compensate for 4x the recharge, a 20% acc penalty and 24 levels. Personally, I do not find Plant to be overpowered, so my vote would be to buff MC. I wouldn't even care if they removed the no aggro. I have played both sets to 50 and the fact that SoC aggroes was never an issue.
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SoC is plant's "up every fight" power...like Wormhole or flashfire or ice slick, etc. MC is definitely not mind control's up every fight power...it has terrify (and both mind and plant have sleeps.) I really don't see any reason why seeds of confusion and mass confusion need to be at all comparable, because they play completely different roles in their respective sets.
Note: For the record, I play a mind controller and *not* a plant one...
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
They are both AoE Confuse powers. That's really it.
However, there really isn't a question about which is better... despite the shorter range and alerting the enemies, Seeds win the Confusion contest. It can be made Perma with one recharge and one Confusion SO. Furthermore, it's out of the box end use is nearly half that of MC, with a 60 second recharge. Despite this, they both can hit up to 16 enemies, and have an out of the box Confusion duration of 37 seconds.
Frankly, the real issue - if anything - with Mind Control is with Mass Confusion. A 37 second AoE confuse power does not replace a pet, and as such, should probably not be held to the same recharge/End Use values that the Pets are.
-This Space Intentionally Left Blank.-
Just because Mass Confusion is in the tier 9 spot does not mean it is intended as a direct replacement for a pet. Mind Control is balanced against the other sets as a whole, not power-for-power in order.
I team with the Repeat Offenders.
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Just because Mass Confusion is in the tier 9 spot does not mean it is intended as a direct replacement for a pet. Mind Control is balanced against the other sets as a whole, not power-for-power in order.
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I think that in itself is the issue right there. Tier 9 powers are what people strive for in sets, that one shining power that generally defines the set. Trollers get pets for the most part. Mind gets an AE confuse that is for the most part duplicated as a lvl 8 power in a newer set.
As far as the "cottage" rule, and who made up that name btw, they should be shot, anyone remember Grav didn't have a tier 9 pet.... remember those days.
It's happened before....
Wassabi Grav/Kin 50 (before badges/accolades were in game) Pinnacle
Miss Command Bots/Traps 50 Justice
*others left off due to space issues
<qr>
Only thing I'd disagree with right offhand is adding any sort of damage to TK. And even that's not set in stone. Mostly arguing against it because I like keeping my confused buffer around as long as I can, shoving them where needed. That and I play mind doms as well, and would not want something else lowered to make up for having a damage secondary.
With a quick read, I agree overall on total dom - except for removing its aggro component. With the longer duration, etc. the aggro's just fine to keep in IMHO. Especially since, when it's about to wear off, stuff is either dead, has a secondary control on it, or is nice and confused in preparation.
And with a quick scan, I see the Mass Confuse vs SoC coming up again - MC's lack of aggro is a big plus to me. Yes, SoC is good as well, but it's in a much more offensive set, even when NOT in the hands of a Dom - Seeds, Roots, Creepers, AOE damage, watch XP roll in, rinse, repeat. Mind is more single-target focused when it comes to damage. NOT having that aggro be guaranteed in mind is, to me, a plus.
Personally I don't mind not having a pet, with all the other tricks in the set. (No pun intended.)
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I think that in itself is the issue right there. Tier 9 powers are what people strive for in sets, that one shining power that generally defines the set. Trollers get pets for the most part. Mind gets an AE confuse that is for the most part duplicated as a lvl 8 power in a newer set.
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I disagree - I look at the set as a whole.
Illusion isn't defined by Phantasm. Most people are going to think of PA (lvl 18) as a "defining" power of Illusion instead.
Plant? Just look at your own argument and that of others here - SoC is what people think of, not Audrey.
Ice? Ice slick (also an early power) more than jack. At least in my experience.
Earth is defined by... well, *everything* in it, not Rocky. VG, EQ, QS are more "signatures' of the set.
Grav and Fire, perhaps, are known for the pets, but the rest of them... not so much, IMHO.
The same's true in other ATs, as well - some (such as Granite) are defined by their Tier9, yes, while others (Fire) aren't. Radiation Emission isn't the "EM Pulse" set, it's the debuff set - which you get early, even as a controller. FF isn't the "Force bubble" set.
Saying the Tier9 of a set is "that one shining power that generally defines the set," even with the "generally" thrown in there, just isn't accurate, and shouldn't be the way to measure or judge a set.
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As far as the "cottage" rule, and who made up that name btw, they should be shot, anyone remember Grav didn't have a tier 9 pet.... remember those days.
It's happened before....
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Once in five years? That was, what, first patch? Issue 1 at latest?
I think that's less "It can happen" than "The exception that proves the rule."
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I think that in itself is the issue right there. Tier 9 powers are what people strive for in sets, that one shining power that generally defines the set. Trollers get pets for the most part. Mind gets an AE confuse that is for the most part duplicated as a lvl 8 power in a newer set.
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I disagree - I look at the set as a whole.
Illusion isn't defined by Phantasm. Most people are going to think of PA (lvl 18) as a "defining" power of Illusion instead.
Plant? Just look at your own argument and that of others here - SoC is what people think of, not Audrey.
Ice? Ice slick (also an early power) more than jack. At least in my experience.
Earth is defined by... well, *everything* in it, not Rocky. VG, EQ, QS are more "signatures' of the set.
Grav and Fire, perhaps, are known for the pets, but the rest of them... not so much, IMHO.
The same's true in other ATs, as well - some (such as Granite) are defined by their Tier9, yes, while others (Fire) aren't. Radiation Emission isn't the "EM Pulse" set, it's the debuff set - which you get early, even as a controller. FF isn't the "Force bubble" set.
Saying the Tier9 of a set is "that one shining power that generally defines the set," even with the "generally" thrown in there, just isn't accurate, and shouldn't be the way to measure or judge a set.
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As far as the "cottage" rule, and who made up that name btw, they should be shot, anyone remember Grav didn't have a tier 9 pet.... remember those days.
It's happened before....
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Once in five years? That was, what, first patch? Issue 1 at latest?
I think that's less "It can happen" than "The exception that proves the rule."
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Yeah, cuz you never hear people jumping up and down when they get a pet with sighs of "FINALLY". Yeah, that doesn't mean anything to most trollers who hit 32 and go, "Now I can do what I have been waiting for, now I have some sort of ability to solo faster than I was prior".
I absolutely have no care one way or the other as i have neither a plant or mind. My point still stands, as many have said it before, it's a tier 9 power that is absolutely dwarfed by a lvl 8 power in another set. Tier 9 power, this is an important fact. I can't duplicate phantasm or imps or singularity or poo man or ice dork or audrey with any other set... I can with mind. Ice slick, and anything else mentioned are duplicated in other sets to one extreme or another, but not the tier 9s, atleast not any that come to mind.
Wassabi Grav/Kin 50 (before badges/accolades were in game) Pinnacle
Miss Command Bots/Traps 50 Justice
*others left off due to space issues
Personally, I don't care much about the MC vs SoC debate. With the other tools in Mind, MC doesn't need to be used as much or anything, so i figure, on it's own, it's fine as-is. MY big concern is Total Dom.
Though i just want more readily-available containment so i can haz moar damage.
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)
1. Total Dom is in line with other AoE holds. You're proposing a change to controllers overall when you speak of TD. I agree that aspect needs tweaked.
2. While I personally would love a faster recharge durable AoE containment setter in Mind, and though I'm not at all the sort who screams "everything is perfectly unique exactly as it is! Change nothing!" the tendency to bring sets in-line with each other does effectively start closing out meaningful distintiveness between sets. I think lacking this is a fine tradeoff aspect of mind.
3. TK stacks with other holds, and is useful. It's ridiculously overpriced in endurance cost considering its tiny size. I doubt they can easily change its "spread" as you put it. Finally, a toggle hold with damage seems unlikely, whether it was on-application or tiny DoT.
4. The real problem with Mind is its lack of a fast-recharge AoE control that's hard and total (or at least nearly so). Obviously terrify has never filled that role-- it certainly doesn't stack up against the AoE Stuns, knockdown patches, or arctic air, to say nothing of Seeds of Confusion. But again, you're up against "legitimate variation," and a proposed change to fix this should also "fix" illusion, which is in a similar boat.
Choosing a Controller V2 | Splattrollers | Plant/Rad | Fire/Storm | Mind/Emp & Mind/Rad
Weird Controller Powers | Conf & XP/Time | Controller Damage
Being a Healer | The word Necessary | Natural Concept Characters
*ahem*
I am here before you today to propose changes to the Controller Primary known as Mind Control, or in layman's terms "The one without a pet". As a preface, adding a pet is not on my agenda, so don't worry. Anyways...
Mind, as it currently stands, is a good set. It can even be a great set in the hands of a competent player. However, there are some powers within the set that are problematic, and the set as a whole suffers from these problems, especially in comparison to other controller primaries.
Mind's biggest advantage is lots of ST damage and various mez types (sleep, KD/-fly, hold, confuse, afraid, and repel), as well as providing a damage type that isn't too highly resisted anywhere except late in the game. However, the problems I will address below take away from this advantage, and I hope that my proposed fixes help Mind become more like the "blastroller" set it's apparently designed to be.
The first big problem is the lack of a reliable containment setting AoE. Mass Confusion doesn't provide Containment. Mass Hypnosis breaks after hitting a foe once. Total Domination has a very short duration, a very long recharge, lousy accuracy and agros foes that it misses, making it unreliable. Terrify also doesn't set up containment. TK can be used, but it shoves your foes away from you, and even spreads them out, making it unreliable in open areas. Most other Controller sets have a reliable, containment-setting AoE. Mind does not.
The second "issue" (i refuse to call it a problem) is the lack of a pet. When soloing, you have nothing to use your secondary buffs on. While Mass Confuse takes the role of a pet: redirecting agro and damaging the enemy group, using it can be problematic. Your only damage AoE will not only fail to do containment damage to a confused-only mob, but it will then scare them, making them stop attacking one another, and you're back to picking them off one by one. This makes soloing with a mind controller in the late 30s a bit harder by comparison, and has given the set overall a general negative stigma among the playerbase (it's a largely uninformed opinion, but how many times have we seen "i don't wanna play Mind, it doesn't have a pet"?). Mind should be made to be a better set to compensate for its post-32 weakness, and earn the respect it deserves.
After thinking it over, I've found that most of the powers in Mind are good as-is. However, they would probably need to be rebalanced in light of the proposed changes I'm making here today.
The first power on my hit list is Total Domination. Most powers are pretty good and useful out of the box, though a little weak. TD is none of the former and VERY of the latter. It's base numbers are 15 second duration, 60% accuracy, and takes 4 minutes to recharge, all for a whopping 26 end! In any other set, making this power better would be overpowered, but consider: Mind doesn't have a pet to wail on held baddies, you only have 1 AoE attack (2 if you pick one from your epic), oh, and did i mention that if TD misses anyone, they agro on you? And by the time you lock that foe down... oops, time's up!
That's assuming you don't 6-slot the power, which you HAVE to just to make it effective. If you use IOs (which the devs have repeatedly stated is not considered when balancing things) and have a secondary power to boost your recharge and hasten and Tactics, then this power is actually pretty good. But for a lot of people, that's a pretty big "if". A power should not be so lousy as to take 3 levels worth of slots and dependence on a self-buffing secondary to make it relevant!
In addition, the activation time is too long. I've seen, many times, where i have my foes scrambling below me, I go to hit TD to make them hold still... but in between the time i click the button and the power finally finishes activating and applies the mez, a bunch of AI read my mind and run away, don't get hit, then come back and continue shooting! (actually, it happens a lot with any AoE-dependant toon, but in this case it's infuriating).
Therefore, I propose the following: Make Total Dom Mind's "reliable AoE". In the interest of balance, i will also encourage some aspects of the power be nerfed, but the power will still be better overall.
Changes:
Make the base duration 22.5 seconds. Being able to enhance it to close to 45 seconds is not over-powered, but more fair for a soloing character. On large teams this doesn't matter anyway as most groups already perish before the current duration is up.
Increase base accuracy to 75%, and remove the agro penalty. To counter-balance this, reduce the max number of targets from 16 to 10, with a proc-like chance of 25% to hold up to 2 additional foes. It is very rare to find groups larger than 12, and in cases like that (an 8-man team), an AoE hold is wasted anyway as most groups get steamrolled by the 8-man team anyway. I am willing to trade effectiveness in 5% of situations for more effectiveness in 95% of situations. I'm sure most would agree.
Lower recharge to 2.5 minutes (150 seconds). Fully enhanced, you're still looking at 75 second recharge (which, given my proposed duration buff, still leaves a half minute of downtime). With hasten and, say, siphon speed, it might hit perma... however, balancing a power against other -possible- powers is unfair. Again, since a solo mind controller has no help dealing with groups of foes, it wouldn't be over-powered to allow them more safety, as well as a more steady supply of Containment. They still wouldn't be killing groups as fast as Fire or Plant or Illu users.
Decrease the activation time, but feel free to increase the animation and rooting times. Make the Controller LOOK like she's struggling to crush 10 minds at once, but not allow the foes to still act freely while it's happening.
Finally, with these mostly-buffs must come a cost: End cost, that is. 30-33 points of endurance should be used. That should help prevent people with huge amounts of recharge from spamming the power, as well as force them to slow down should they decide that Minds are now framing gawds.
Telekinesis This power is maligned, has limited usability, and is only mostly good as a "fun" power, finding little use in normal combat situations. It also sabotages itself, by pushing 4 of its 5 targets out of range! And only 5 targets? That's half the size of a normal mob on a decent sized team. All this does is get you in trouble. It's also useless against most EBs, AVs, and GMs as not only are they resistant to repel, but the hold in TK doesn't stack. Finally, even if one does get this power, there's no reason to place any slots in it. Making this power more powerful may open up reasons to add additional slots and force players to make some slotting sacrifices in other powers, which would encourage people to balance their characters better. Anyway:
Increase number of targets to 7 (or maybe more), based on having the End cost per second reflect the number of targets currently being held (ala repel or deflection bubble... say .75 end/foe/second). Along with this, reduce the severity of the "spread"; foes should stay relatively where they started in relation to one another, and only spread out gradually.
Let the hold mag stack with other holds (though maybe lower it to 2). All other Controllers have pets to help them belt out damage against AVs, so that they are still useful in the fight. Mind just has its own attacks which, thanks to lack of Containment, don't do much. This would help break through mez protection and enact containment, allowing the Mind Controller to contribute more during such fights (as opposed to being essentially a gimped Corruptor). This gives TK a use where before it had none.
Finally (and this is bound to be controversial), maybe add a damage component to TK. This adds more utility to the power, depending on how this is enacted. I have a few different ideas:
* TK deals a small amount of -unenhanceable- damage to the main target when it's first activated (like say, just under what Mesmerize or dominate does). Personally, i'd love to see the damage only apply once a foe hits a wall, but I have a feeling that is beyond the scope of the Co* engine.
-or-
* TK does a very tiny amount of damage over time. Like, does just over a minion's amount of regen (thus, you can kill a minon with TK... it would just take a while). Can be applied to all TKd foes, given that the end cost is now balanced around how many foes are held.
-or-
*Enhanceable damage in either of the two above scenarios, but then the power would need to have its auto-hit component removed and rely on accuracy enhancements. Also, damage would have to be very low, unless TK damage is not buffed by containment.
-or-
*Increase the damage in the first two scenarios, but have it be completely unenhanceable by buffs, inspirations, or even debuffs on foes. One flat number to hurt them all.
-OR-
*Some people might not WANT damage in TK. Therefore, I propose this: Upon selecting the power, the player is given an Enhancement Proc that they can choose to slot into the power that would have one of the first two effects (either the small burst damage or the DoT, Dev's choice). This proc would not work in any other power. Once placed, it cannot be removed by slotting something in it's place: a respec must be used. Would be allowed to be traded on the market (in case some goofball decides they don't want it, but then changes their mind, no pun intended).
That is all. Reworking 2 powers that would make the set go from good to great, yet it still wouldn't be too over-powered. Obviously the numbers would have to be re-crunched, applied, and tested before i could truly make that claim, but I'm willing to be proven wrong if it comes to that =)
***
Suggestions, comments, etc, before i decide to bug Castle with this?
-STEELE =)
Allied to all sides so that no matter what, I'll come out on top!
Oh, and Crimson demands you play this arc-> Twisted Knives (MA Arc #397769)