Should Energy Melee Get More AOE Damage ?

It will feel quite a bit different, due to the change to Barrage. I noticed it immediately on my Tanker, as I suddenly had gaps in my attack chain (I was in my low 20s at the time). But like I said, there are pros and cons to it... you'll actually be putting a dent in your opponents health with it. But it really doesn't feel different from other melee sets there... I was leveling my War Mace Tanker at the same time, and the pacing did feel about the same for the attack chain (and the damage we were doing).

I saw a WP/EM tank try to farm the other day ......
It was not pretty . it was like watching a small cute kitten die slowly .
I wanted to cry as i watched him lumber along slowly trying to kill baddies in the mob one at a time.
I remeber when the EM tanks would show up in RV,and it was game over the would clean house I hated ET soooo much. I think the devs nerfed ET for pvp reasons the EM tankers ,Brutes an especially stalkers were two shotting every one , but i didnt see a need to nerf it pvp is just one part of the game if u dont like the conditions of pvp dont do it ... dont nerf a whole power set just to balance pvp. Em was a fun set now its just lame in my opinion.

Although it crossed my mind at the time, I doubt ET was nerfed due to PvP issues. The PvP changes of I13 were definitively forseen by the time ET got nerfed and the changes just made sure that ET remained the same under the PvP changes where all attacks do damage based on animation time instead of recharge.

Just think about it a bit and you would realize how big of a nerf ET would had received with a 1 second cast time in the current PvP.

As for farming, at least high level, all you have to do is take the right epic pool.

I know I've said this elsewhere, but I'd love to see a ranged attack in the set. I've always thought every melee set should have at least one. The question would be, which power do you drop in favour of the ranged attack?

Whirling Hands? As the only AOE in the set, I don't think you could do that unless you replaced it with an AOE energy blast.

Perhaps Stun? As was mentioned, it does little for the set as all the other attacks already have stackable stuns built in.

Anyway, just thinking out loud.

True, but rules are meant to be broken...

The trick is to make it clear if this is a bettre idea than leaving things as they are.

A ranged attack in the set would solve approximately zero of the problems the set has now, unless it did insane damage or was AoE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.

No, I haven't played it for a while, nor to any significant level, but I'd still like to see the added functionality of a ranged attack. As I say, I'd like to see that for ALL melee sets. There are times when foes are simply out of reach (such as those annoying Mu Zappers hovering over your head - I know, there are ways to coax them down, but a rnaged attack would be welcome, too...). Adding Power Blast to the set would be more or less the same as having Hurl in Super Strength, and would be conceptually appropriate.

You're right, though, it wouldn't really address any issues with the set as it stands.

As much as EM is lacking, I have a new EM user. She's an EM/Inv brute. Once GR goes live, I'll be taking her hero side so that I can finally have a worthwhile melee aggro control character. In other words, I'll finally get to play a "tank."

Why'd I choose EM when my opinion of the set is obvious? Because Bonesmasher, Energy Punch and Barrage make for a smooth chain when properly slotted. Fury will have me in a content place damage-wise, and whirling hands will be slotted for recharge. EM is fun in the early game.

Want to know what else made the set better? Replacing that persistent EM sound loop with silence.

All the melee sets have a ranged move already - its called taunt. Taunt mob, duck behind somthing, mob comes to you.
Giving total focus a slpash aoe effect seems reasonable given the amount of time it takes to animate. Maybe stun could use the clobber treatment.

energy melee should get better AoE dmg, the longer animation times dont really bother me at all, but i hate how i cant kill larger mobs fast enough, yes ST dmg is good, and the stackable stuns are very nice to take out boses or EBs, but the sad pathetic amount of AoE dmg is horrible, whe i first used EM, i thought TF would have been a AoE similar to thunderstrike, they both have the same animations and yes, TF does a lot more dmg than thunderstrike, but i would give up TF for thunderstrike anyday. they both have the same dmg types (energy/smash), same animations, but TF does slightly more dmg but it cant hit more than 1 target.

the EM/SR brute i have now i hardly ever play and never even took taunt on because he cannot handle the larger mobs because of a lack of AoE attacks, if it gets a buff to set, i would gladly respec him if they changed EM at all.

I don't want more AoE - unless they'd buff Whirling Hands a bit - that would be good. I want my 'fast' set back!

I built my Inv/EM Tanker because I wanted a fighter with the ability to move around in a fight. I accepted the limitation that I'd never do that much damage to a Crowd of enemies, as long as the particular one in my sights was going to have a bad day. My character is a Boxer and footwork is important - if you stand still you're in trouble - Someone is gonna drop a big hurt on you.

So, yeah, he's a Tanker, not a Scrapper and a Tanker survives the fight, he doesn't necessarily end it himself. But I still wanted a Tanker with an aggressive, fast-moving feel. Besides, Tankers were the only fighters with 'fists of light' and I loved that!

So back to the issue of Animations...
. . If they nerf my Damage, I've got Enhancements and Inspirations that can fix that.
. . If they nerf my Accuracy, I've got the same tools to overcome the dificulty.
. . If they nerf my Recharge, I can take Hasten or use Enhancements - I can even hang around a Kineticist and get Speed Boost.

But there is jack-all anyone can do about animation speed. That's locked into the code. In fact, animation speed can effectively nerf Hasten - since it's on a Timer and not related to the number of attacks one does.

Animation speed is what killed Barrage at first, when it was otherwise an Excellent power. Now they've boosted the Damage of the power, but it's still slow! If a real boxer threw a combination that slowly... he'd lose. It needs to trim a half-second or more off the time to deliver the combo.

Further, I suffered through 35 levels of relative mediocrity in order to get Energy Transfer. This nerf is not to one of my 'normal' powers, it was a change to what is arguably the defining power of Energy Melee - not that I exactly wished to be defined by it. It's the big kaBoom. It is the power that little EM Tankers stand outside the toyshop drooling over - what they say, 'When I grow up, I'm gonna get That!' about.

My tanker is level 50 now and I've finally gotten Energy Transfer slotted fairly well, at obscene cost - the IO market is nuts. Now the power has been changed and there's no Enhancement I can slot to compensate, even a little.

Sure, Total Focus is another great power. Use it as your opening move against a Boss, because, if your team is on the ball, you'll never get to use it a second time. By the time it comes around again, your target is gonna be Down.

So changing the Animation time (and the Rooted time, for that matter) are two things the Devs can do, which we players have No Way to mitigate! I'm not angry because Energy Transfer is changed, changes are almost inevitable - I'm angry because it's changed in a way that I can't mitigate in game. If I was rich enough to buy every Purple set I could slot, I still wouldn't be able to change this.

I'm angry because it limits my choices. I'm angry because all I can do about it is gripe on the forums.

Here is my gripe.

Be Well!
Fireheart