Speed Boost, Inertial Reduction and Siphon Speed

Been working on my first Fire/Kin Controller. Currently at level 30. I did pick-up Siphon Speed for me and Inertial Reduction for myself and teammates. The big question I have is about Speed Boost. From what I read about kins, this is a widely requested power from fellow "non-kin" teammates to speed up their attack rates during battle. Of course there are some who don't want SB but a large major do like SB.

Now comes the thing that makes my head hurt when I think about it. If Inertial Reduction can work for BOTH you and your teammates, and Siphon Speed works for you and is similar to Speed Boost in its effects, why then not make SB take the place of Siphon Speed and work for BOTH you and your teammates? If the argument comes up such as "well SB is a per teammate power" meaning you would click on those who would want it versus giving a power to everyone like Inertial Reduction. Hmmmm, okay. So what you are saying is by making Inertial Reduction a "forced" upon power for those standing next to you versus picking and choosing those who might want SB, is different? What if there are those who don't want IR, do I need to tell them to stand outside the power effect zone when applied?

So, with that being said, is there something I am missing here that would make Speed Boost and Siphon Speed be two different powers yet they do practically the same thing? Is it the fact that SB would ruffle more people's feathers because there are more who don't want it, thus it is a "click per toon" type power? Are the effects of SB that much more chaotic to those who cannot handle it versus the effects of Inertial Reduction? Ouch,..my head is starting to hurt again...hehe.

For those of you versed in this debate, please feed me with all your wonderful input on this as I really need to know BEFORE I decide to pick-up Speed Boost. And yes, I will eventually pick it up because I know how much it can help in team play but for a big solo'er like me, I have been holding off on it so again, this would also feed the argument about picking SB for people who solo more than team play.

Siphon Speed (SiSp) and Speed Boost (SB) have several differences:

SB is an ally only buff power that boosts Run Speed, Recharge and Recovery. It does not require a foe to siphon off of, so it can be applied at any time. SB used to buff the recharge rate of pets, but does not any longer -- now it only buffs Run Speed for pets. Thus, for a player who ONLY plays solo, it is skippable. But it is one of the best buffs in the game for teammates, so if you team at all, you should take it. Some people will kick a Kinetics Defender or Controller who does not have Speed Boost. A few people ask not to be Speed Boosted because they can't handle the fast run speed (or their computer can't) -- I think they are nuts, as Recharge and Recovery are always needed.

SiSp is an only-self buff/foe debuff. It requires a foe to siphon off of, so it can be a problem at times. It will slow the foe's Run Speed and Recharge. It will buff your Run Speed and Recharge, but does not buff your recovery. It is one of the better Kinetics powers to have, both for the self-buff and the foe-debuff. Frankly, this one should be grabbed the moment it is available, mostly because of the Recharge buff. Still, the lack of recovery and the foe-debuff make it quite different than SB.

Note: a buff to Run Speed also affects fly speed and jump speed.

Inertial Reduction is a short term group super jump. It is fully skippable if you have another travel power. Most characters have a travel power, so receive little benefit from IR. If someone is a super speeder, it is nice once in a while to be able to jump though the area rather than have to navigate around obstacles. I consider it to the be the second most skippable power in Kinetics (after Repel) unless I choose to use IR instead of a travel power. I would consider SiSp and SB to be far more valuable than IR unless I only played solo.

Um... don't take take this the wrong way, but I don't think you understand either of the powers in question.

Speed Boost does more than simply speed up attack rate. Speed Boost is actually most beneficial for it's Endurance Modification Values. Really, you want to slot Speed Boost with either Performance Shifter or Efficacy Adapter. Speed boost also gives resistance to slow debuffs.

Siphon Speed offers no Endurance Modification value, nor does it offer any resistances to slow debuffs. It's Recharge buff is also far lower than Speed Boosts, 20% buff versus 50% buff. However, Siphon Speed offers an good debuff with a 62% base debuff to an enemies travel and a 20% base debuff to an enemies recharge rate.

The point and purposes of these two powers is very different. They don't practically do the same thing at all. Their effects are actually quite different.

A few key points on those powers.

Speed Boost is per person and increases their run speed, attack rate AND endurance recovery. Also cannot be cast on self.

Siphone Speed is only for the caster. Requires a To Hit against an enemy. Increases run speed and attack rate (no endrance recovery). The power also reduces the attack rate and run speed of the target which is hit.

Inertial Reduction is a PBAoE around the caster and just gives everyone increased jump height and speed.

Many people love SB but some do not like it because the increase in the run causes them to have issues controlling their character. I have also had teammates that have issues with it because the increase speed causes issues with their machine because they are already taxing it with their graphic settings they are already using.

Inertial Reduction does not get that kind of reaction normally because the increases it provides are not normally outside of a range of what a person uses a lot (those people that do not like SB also normally do not take Super Speed).

Siphon Speed is much different than SB because of the effect it also has on the enemy being attacked. It is great hitting a boss with it and stacking it so they barely are ever swinging while you tear them apart.

NOTE: I started a new thread on this topic in the Help section so as not to get too off topic here.

Speaking of poor control under SB, is there any way to crank down the speed on that or on Super Speed.

It's all well and good that I can run 90 mph down a straight road, but when I want to keep SS on with a stealth, but am slamming into things as I'm now only 85 mph. I'd like to be able to slow myself down.

I doubt it, but sometimes I'm amazed at the little tricks that make life easier that the Dev's build into this game.

There's another factor involved that wasn't mentioned with Speed Boost, Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction. It is unaffected by suppression. Meaning that it doesn't slow down when you attack, like the other travel powers do. It's one of the things I love about Kinetics...it is in a constant state of movement.

If you want to control the effects of Siphon Speed (which when slotted with 3 slows is much faster than Speed Boost) or Speed Boost, then hover would be your best bet.

To the OP, while Speed Boost won't effect the attack rate of your fire imps, it will make them run faster...which is always amusing.

If you want to slow down, an imperfect solution is to turn on the Raptor Pack you get from the Atlas Park bank mission. The max fly speed is lower than the max run speed, so turning on the pack will slow you down a lot. You can also keep the pack on while retaining Super Speed (for the stealth).

Hover also works well, but doesn't work with Super Speed, I don't think.