Screw Rad blast

I want dark blast damn it!!! Dark blast is an awsome set, I still can't see why it can't be a blast set for blasters yet!! Yeah, they are going to need to do the -to hit debuff on it, but still!
Who else is with me on wanting dark blast for blasters?!

Brush yo' teef.

Dark blast is ugly. It's like you are shooting hairy spiders

Dark Blast is cool! You get to do -to hit debuffs with the powers, and it does pretty good dmg, as well as a bit of soft control.

Just change the color of the rad blast set to black!

Voila!! Dark blasts!!

What I want to know is if Rad Blast will be paired with a Rad Manipulation set.

Simple explanation:

Rad blast comes first because it needed NOTHING in order to directly port over. Transfer it over to blasters, done deal.

Dark Blast is probably a problem because:

A) The devs are hesitant to direct-port a set with that much control in it to blasters. Between Dark Pit and Tenebrous Tentacles you have a de-facto AoE minion hold. (Stun + Immobilize = Hold) Dark Pit will probably have to go or be switched to a ST power that maybe deals some minor damage (to be in line with Screech, Beanbag, Stunning Shot, etc.)

B) I very much doubt the devs will EVER be giving blasters a powerset with a self heal in it. It is appropriate for Defenders and Corruptors, because their Primary/Secondary is a buffing or debuffing set. It could be potentially overpowered for blasters to have access to a true self heal (aside from Aid Self). For the record, Drain Psyche does not count as a true self heal. It is a regen/recovery buff, it does not give you HP back instantly.

C) Tied in with my above two points, BaBs specifically asked that this round of proliferation not require any new animations and a few new powers as possible, because he is busy with power customization. Once that is out of the way and he can address the need of Dark Blast to be tweaked before making it's way to blasters we will most likely see it. I'd say no later than the next round of proliferation, possibly sooner if he feels froggy and wants to fit it in.

I see no need to gut it as badly as Psi was, but we are pretty unlikely to get it exactly as it exists now. 2 powers probably need to be looked at.

I'm still in favor of Life Drain being replaced with a sort of ranged Follow Up type power. A stackable to-hit and damage buff like claws has.

(Note the use of the words "probably" and "likely" throughout this post. I claim none of this as fact, it is simply my conjecture on the reason we got Rad and not Dark)

I doubt very much a mag 2 stun will be particularly overpowered for blasters, even if it's an AoE (really, no worse than a cone sleep). If you're having problems w/minions as a blaster, I think you have other issues. I sorta use Dark Pit in conjunction w/Oppressive Gloom on my defender and really, the power is underwhelming (I really only took them as IO mules).

The self heal is more problematic--they'll prolly do away w/it and give Dark an Aim power. With 3 low damage cones, no ranged AoE, no heavy blast, it'll be a damage-light set, but w/good controls and great debuffs, a lot like Sonic.

Personally, I don't see the point of porting over a powerset if they're just going to remove most of the things that make it unique.

I dont think Dark Blast would be that good on a Blaster so that they can't port it easily, or that they have to delay it (as they seem to do with SS and SM for scrappers).

The set could be fun idd, because you have a few more "controllish" options and some ToHit debuff, but nothing to really make up for the lost dmg (both AoE and ST) compared with something like Fire, at least in my opinion.

Why would you need to perma hold minions ? They're usually dead in 2 secs anyway. Dark Pit is pretty useless on a Corruptor unless you have more stuns to stack with it. TT is pretty nice, but Nightfall is a very narrow cone (20° only !).

Life Drain would be good to have, but it's nothing close to Siphon Life for a scrapper due to its really low dmg.

I think it would be a nice set to have. It looks really cool and original, and it could be used to build blasters more oriented toward control and debuff and a bit less toward pure dmg.

But the set wouldn't feel overpowered in any way. In the end, damage always win, at least on a Blaster

Btw I wish they would add similar secondaries too, like Rad Manipulation and Dark Manipulation like they did with Psi and MM

As long as Dark Blast comes over with the cones intact I'd be happy to screw the rest. Mass cones of death!

[ QUOTE ]
Dark blast is ugly. It's like you are shooting hairy spiders

[/ QUOTE ]

wth is wrong with that? Spider Blast/Spider Manipulation. bwahahahaha

A while ago I someone started a "What would DarkBlast look like thread" and I put up my thoughts of what it would look like and I "Think" people kinda liked it so I'll pop it back up for conversation's sake.

Dark Blast
1 Dark Blast
1 Gloom
2 Dark Obliteration
6 Night Fall
8 Aim
12 MoonBeam
18 Dark Pit
26 Tenebrous Tentacles
32 Blackstar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Sure, the devs are supposed to listen to their customers, mister business 101 out there. And if I decide to start suggesting that the devs change the game from being about superheroes and supervillains to being about clowns that is my right as well, and technically Paragon Studios is supposed to pay attention to me. But I hope strongly that they assume a meth-head somehow managed to hack into my forum account and make paper airplanes out of my posts, because I hope they recognize stupid when they see it. I assume they will recognize futile just as accurately.

I like your Dark Blast more than the Corruptor's version Zero, it's really balanced and logical... and having one more real AoE power is sweet

Remove Dark Pit (60 sec rech, 9 sec mag 2 stun lol ?) for Life Drain, and you make it a dream set

Unfortunately I'm afraid they would port it directly from the Corruptor version as it is now !

Thanks!

I really looked at how all the Blast sets are set up and what they do don't have, and do something a little different without being too different that it was either under or overpowered.

I wanted to let its damage bloom early, and control late. I don't see blasters getting a self heal so switch that for Aim, and get rid of torrent for a real AoE. Since TT is considered THE dark blast power, that had to stay, not sure how a AoE Immobe would be in the hands of a blaster, but it should be late enough that you know how to handle yourself. If TT was deemed too much for a blaster then I'd say give them torrent but with TT's Dmg values and maybe knockdown.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Sure, the devs are supposed to listen to their customers, mister business 101 out there. And if I decide to start suggesting that the devs change the game from being about superheroes and supervillains to being about clowns that is my right as well, and technically Paragon Studios is supposed to pay attention to me. But I hope strongly that they assume a meth-head somehow managed to hack into my forum account and make paper airplanes out of my posts, because I hope they recognize stupid when they see it. I assume they will recognize futile just as accurately.

I don't think Blasters will get Dark Pit - it's possible that they could get Petrifying Gaze instead (Ice, Elec, AR, Sonic, Arch, Psi, and Rad being the precedents for having a range single-target control power in the primary).

Dark Blast is for n00bs. Everyone knows AR is the way to go.

I hate to say this but with what they did with Psi i doubt TT will make it in the blast set maybe in a dark secondary.

Half the forum thinks Dark Pit is too overpowered to be a blaster primary, therefore needs to be replaced.

Half the forum thinks Dark Pit is too underpowered to be a blaster primary, therefore needs to be replaced.

In reality, blasters get the best deal with a direct port of the set. Any tweaks -- especially the popular but utterly drab suggestion to add Aim and Dark Obliteration -- and we lose a chance at a unique niche set in favor of yet another ho-hum damage set little different from the ones we have already. Seriously, if all you want is a black Aim and a black Fire Ball, you're already getting it with Power Spectrum.

Short version: Better to have a choice between very different sets than to have a non-choice between identically functioning sets.

Most likely scenario is the set remains as-is with Life Drain replaced with something.

The AoE Stun + AoE Immobilize will be interesting, but they may leave it in there so Dark has something different to offer blasters.

Life Drain, being a self heal, is a little more problematic. Blasters are probably not going to ever get a self heal, but I've been wrong before. If slotted with an Accurate Healing set it could become a significant heal and I just don't see them allowing blasters to have it.

I still advocate a ranged version of Follow Up for Dark Blast blasters. It would function thematically well with Dark Blast's DoT nature, being a rolling accuracy and damage buff rather than a spike of increased accuracy. It would also keep a third ST blast in the set, but probably a lower damage one. Just like Follow Up it would be stackable, adding around 30-40% To-hit and 85% or so damage. On any other set that might be slightly overpowered, but with Dark being a lower damage set it should fit in nicely.


Edit: The powers would probably be slightly reordered as well.

As a guy who wrote a guide on Rad blast, I have to say I dont think it will rate that well as a blaster set. It's a good defender and corrupter set with it's variety of atacks, defence debuffs and ability to slot lots of procs.

I just think the raw numbers will not be good as a blaster set, it will be ok, but not great.

It will be an awesome set paired with a few secondaries, and an underperforming set paired with a few others.

Rad/Fire will be a potent PBAoE combo. Rad/Ice will probably be halfway decent.

Rad/Devices will probably underperform.

[ QUOTE ]
I hate to say this but with what they did with Psi i doubt TT will make it in the blast set maybe in a dark secondary.

[/ QUOTE ]

It would be taking out one of the only reasons to play the set. It's also heavily DoT so I don't see why it would be an issue.

Dark actually would put up respectable AoE damage due to TT and NF having 10 second recharges. The problem with Dark's damage is that it's so DoT based it feels underpowered at times. Only real switch I see is Aim for Drain Life. I just don't see the devs giving blasters a potential Dark/dark option with two self heals even if they are also damage based powers and thus on the lower side for heals.

Dark Blast/Fire Manipulation would have the potential for INSANE AoE carnage.

Tenebrous Tentacles + Burn + Hot Feet + Blazing Aura + FSC + Combustion? Yes, please.

Switch Life Drain to a ranged Follow Up and you're golden.

[ QUOTE ]
Life Drain, being a self heal, is a little more problematic. Blasters are probably not going to ever get a self heal, but I've been wrong before. If slotted with an Accurate Healing set it could become a significant heal and I just don't see them allowing blasters to have it.

[/ QUOTE ]
Since when are blasters to be denied a power just because it has a defensive component? Just look at Cloaking Device -- defense toggle in a blaster set. Besides, 51% of Aid Self's heal value isn't something I'd describe as "a significant heal." Neither would the majority of */Dark defenders who routinely skip the power. If you're really that hot to get 10 to 20% of your life back, do what the */Dark defenders do. Pop a Respite.

I only see one balance issue with proliferating Dark Blast unchanged. It's one of only two Dark Blast issues mentioned in the defender issues thread -- Night Fall should have TT's lower end cost, TT should have Night Fall's higher end cost, for all AT's.