Devices: Behind the times?

+acc can still add up to essentilly do TD's job however, and even if the game is based on IOs, dont tell me there arent some powers that are just made silly by them (perma stuff that was designed NOT to be permanent)


anyways, I think we as the blaster community need to come to a consensus as to what Devices needs in order to be up to par in terms of effectivness as the other secondaries, while keeping it's style...

So far we seem to be on the same page when it comes to time Bomb needing an overhaul, CD and TD beign a source or more damage either through + dam or +crit, and possible tweaking of smke grenade?

Hmn, what else could be done to TD and CD then? Keep in mind that Dev is also the only secondary with no form of +damage....

Which is why what i proposed was to have a good damage bonus, while stealthed, and a moderate bonus while you have TD toggled. it differs from the other secondaries while making Devices still have it's stealthy set-up playstyle

Hn. I would say to add make the -ToHit from SG 7.5% instead of 5%, reduce the END usage for CD and TD, and to replace Time Bomb with Seeker Drones. This may sounds weird, but that's my opinion.

that, and traps would still be left with the time bomb as they allready have seekers

My opinions -

Web Grenade - Okay for what it is, but it does hurt the set, especially early on. In the low levels, the added bits of damage in these tier 1 secondaries help tremendously... the lack of it in Devices shows. Now, if that was it, then I'd say suck it up and move on... but unlike in Traps, where an immobilized target is ideal for both the Acid Mortar and the Poison Gas Trap, there is nothing in Devices that can be helped by immobilizing a target. In short, a power that is, at best, moderately useful, and never gets better.

Caltrops - Can't complain about this one. It works fine as is, as an area of denial power. I can be somewhat counter-intuitive in the set, as the inclination is to use it around mines, which can quite often lead to the enemies running away from the catrops without setting off the mines. Still, a very good deterrent for a lot of enemies that like to melee.

Taser - I suppose its good if you have something to stack it with. Otherwise... it's rather lackluster. Yeah, with the right slotting, you can stun a boss with this alone, but it still seems... lacking. My suggestion: bring the damage up to make it in line with the Tier 1 immobilizes/knockbacks of the other sets. Another source of direct damage, with the stun attached... that would be more attractive.

Targeting Drone - Once a defining power of the set, the Drone now languishes behind. As has been mentioned, the Leadership power Tactics can be just as effective, and buff your teammates at the same time. Alas, there aren't many ways this could be improved without breaking its theme. First (and primarily) the bonus damage it applies to the Sniper Rifle should be extended to all Sniper attacks. Second, perhaps a general boost to range would be a nice bonus? A 20% increase to the effective range of all the character's attacks? If nothing else, it would be something different that Targeting Drone could offer that Tactics could not.

Smoke Grenade - This one I am unsure of. The Perception debuff is nice... if you are stealthing a mission. The -To Hit is negligible without something else to stack on it... of which there is nothing. Again, I can't really see many ways to shore up this power without defeating the purpose.

Cloaking Devise - Ooh... stealth. That's it. Stealth. Again, good for what it is... but that is all that it is. I like the concept of giving the character using this the 'Stealth Strike' ability, as seen in PPD Ghosts, but I can understand if that can't be coded into such an old set anymore. Still, it would be ideal, as a way to give the set the added damage boost it so desperately needs.

Trip Mine - Not universally useful, but far from unworkable. While I would LIKE to see this get a faster cast time, it's fine as is.

Time Bomb - Here it is. The stinking pile of dog droppings that has plagued this set since its creation. The fact that it got ported over to Traps AS IS makes me wonder sometimes if the designers really know how awful this power is. This power needs a complete overhaul - as complete a one as was done to Electric Armor's Conserve Power, when it was changed into Energize. What I would like to see is another proximity bomb, but one that sets down a large burn patch instead of a traditional explosion. This would work on two levels for Devices - first, it would be far more useful than the current Time Bomb. Second, it would make Web Grenade have an actual reason to be in the set - to trap a hard target in the burn patch. The only problem I see with this... is that if it got ported to Traps, it would likely make that set overpowered...

Gun Drone - I boggle at this power. What does this pet do that justifies it huge endurance cost and its lengthy, interruptable, cast time? As near as I can tell... the ability to screw up a trap for you by attacking the enemies before they hit the mine field? It doesn't last long enough or do enough damage to warrant the cost or cast time. And, being interruptable, it can be very hard to call it out in the middle of a battle, which is when it would be useful. The Drone needs to be brought into line with other pets... no more than 20-26 points on endurance to cast, reduce the cast time to between 3 and 3.5 seconds, and chuck the interrupt time. Then summoning this as a mini-Tank in battle would be a much more viable option.

These are just my opinions, of course...

Im very interested in you taser suggestion...making it replace the tier 1 immob damage-wise would be neat...

range boost would be kinda neat...but it'd really kinda be flavor wouldnt it?

so yeah, +range is out unless it'd be ridiculous, and then it would be..... ridiculous

anyways, lets take a different look here:

what primaries work best/worst with the current devices?

with the suggested changes, what would change about the pairings?

IMHO

Web Grenade - Since it does no damage, this is inferior to the other tier 1 immobs all the other secondaries get. I think it should have a small damage componant or be a pure hold(with no damage). There are some PvP uses here. 2/5 stars

Caltrops - Great power. I like it. 4/5 stars

Taser - Power sucks. It can be used for stacking, but as a blaster, I would rather stack two serious attacks. This power should be removed and reworked completely. 0/5 stars

Targeting Drone - I think this is a good power still. Not what it used to be since IO's, but it is still pretty good. Perception is good too, and for the rare /dev who pvp's, it is a bonus. I would not skip on a /dev blaster still. 3/5 stars

Smoke Grenade - This power is helpful, but also skippable. Others may disagree. I would rather have this replaced with tear gas or sleeping gas even. 2/5 stars

Cloaking Device - Sadly, a once set defining power has been replaced by an IO. So this power used to get 4 or 5 stars, but now I give it zero. For a brand new player who can't afford a celerity IO, this is fine choice, but for many, it's very outdated. The defense is negligible, however I have not tried to soft-cap a devices blaster, so perhaps someone has a use for it. This power would be better if it had defense increased to 10%-ish range and/or offered full invisibility and it did not require endurance. Replace with FFG from traps is my recommendation. 0/5 stars

Trip Mine - Set defining power. It is situational, but excellent in the right situation. I would probably leave as is. 3/5 stars

Time Bomb - Great idea, but complete fail. This power needs to be revamped. If left alone, I think the damage should be extreme extreme to compensate for the suck factor it brings (in other words, make it the most powerful attack in the game, but good luck getting it off and getting a team to wait for you to set it). Better to have a sticky bomb (time bomb you stick on an enemy) or to have a grenade. Personally, I would just drop the power and add something totally new like (thinking off the top of my head), electrical field (this would be an electrical aura with Pbaoe stun for any melee that gets too close. Good damage mitigation at least. I am sure someone could do better than this though. 0/5 stars

Gun Drone - So this is a huge improvement over its predecessor. Its a blaster pet. End to summon is high. This power should not require re-summoning to justify the endurance cost. I would also like it to function more like a typical pet with more than one attack. I like the concept of it however. 2/5 stars.


So interestingly enough, I usually would not pick any power that I give less than 3 stars, so if I was building a devices blaster today, my power choices would only include the following: Caltrops, TD and Trip Mine. I would also choose webnade, because I have no choice. So with 4 powers from the secondary, this would allow a lot of choices from the primary or lots of power pool choices which is the only real positive factor I find in /dev builds. The builds are not tight at all. I might pick Gun Drone becuase it is neat, and a pet to take aggro and alphas has it's uses.

Overall, Devices comes out as the weakest secondary with lots of situational powers. So I would still play it however because it is different, and I like to play non-uber combos sometimes. I would consider it an advanced secondary not for newbies (sadly it attracts newbies due to it's uniqueness). Last comment, the obvious one is the lack of build up just hurts to much. Once you have had a blaster with build up, it is hard to go back to not having it.

So, time to drag out the old Targeting Drone versus Tactics discussion again.

I was tweaking my AR/Dev's build a bit and decided to look at what would happen if I did this. Obviously I needed to drop something somewhere to pick up Maneuvers as a prerequisite for Tactics. I chose M30 Grenade since I mostly only use it for cleaning up a bit after an LRM anyway (other options considered were Recall Friend and Trip Mine).

I also added a Kismet +6% to hit IO to combat jumping. The net result is that I lost about 5% to hit, a large amount of to hit debuff resistance, and an attack I don't use a lot but picked up about 2% defense, (wow!), 12.5% global recharge and the ability to buff my allies at least a little.

The loss of to hit isn't a huge issue for an IO'd build. Even if I exemplar down I've got a +15% accuracy from a purple set that will keep me at the to hit cap against +4s even for my least accurate attacks and even for a non-IO'd build +9.8% to hit (representing Tactics with 2 SOs) will hit cap you against +1s with a single accuracy SO (or +2s with a level 50 common IO).

What I think I will miss is the to hit debuff resistance. I'm going to fight some carnies on the test server before making the build official and see how bad it hurts me. I'll also miss the little guy buzzing around my head .