Need some info on Shield Defense

Wait, Im getting more confused. Are they JUST nerfing Shield Charge? Because if thats it, Im fine. As much as I like the power, I find it disturbingly effective, and kind of cheap. But based on Mauk2's replies here (which I may have misread) it sounds like multiple aspects of the set are being weakened.

From my understanding the only thing that is being looked at or messed with his Shield Charge. I haven't seen any mention about anything else being touched, but I could be wrong or missed something.

I believe it was hinted long ago that the ability of HO enhancements to enhance the defense debuff resistance in Active Defense was being looked at, but whether that's actually happened and been deemed acceptable or just has been put indefinitely on a back burner I don't know. Regardless, unless slotting Membranes into Active Defense to get extra defense debuff resistance is a key component of your build, that's not likely to make or break the set.

Heh, I agree.

In my opinion, Shield Defense is off-balance for several reasons, some of which the devs have publicly addressed, some of which they have not.

1) Shield Charge. Oh good lord, how did they miss this one.

2) DDR. Shields gets to keep WAY more of their defense versus the Romans(to name a notorious debuffing faction) than anybody else except Super Reflexes, and Super Reflexes is not close to the set that Shield Defense is in many other ways.

3) Against All Odds. Okay.... This is a damage buff power that is a toggle. When I need it most, it is strongest, and unlike EVERY other damage buff power, it has zero negative impact on my attack chain. This is a very notable advantage.

4) Taunt. In light-tank situations, this is huge. Since SD can readily be soft-capped, and then has maxed DDR so it retains those defenses even under heavy assault, a shield scrapper can readily displace a tank. Why? Because their very strong taunt aura pins things to them like glue.

5) End use. It might be okay for SD to be as mighty as it is if it was an endurance-draining monster. But it is not. For End usage it is actually dead-even or a tad below average. Bang-for-the-buck, you get huge benefits from this. HUGE.

Now, are any one of these issues terribly off-balance? Nope. Even two or three of them might be all right.

All five of them? Shield Defense is waaaay off base, and the proof is in the player base.


Now, I support fixing shield charge, but I also believe one or two of the other lopsided aspects also need a corrective tweak. I would advocate two, both applied to the really broken power in the set, Against All Odds:

A) Lower the taunt aura to old Willpower levels, or even below.
B) Raise the End cost to, say, .33, or even .42.


Poof! Done.

Now, if the Devs don't want to do this, and it would be unpopular indeed, then I feel that a round of tweaks needs to go around to the other scrapper powers and buff them.

Lower the end cost of every other taunt aura a smidgeon.

Lower the end cost of all the damage aura's a LOT. I mean, a LOT. Cut it in half, or more than half. I'd advocate dropping it to .21.

Super reflexes.... Add an eight percent damage buff to all three of the toggles.

Invuln gets a 2 percent damage buff for every target in invincibility range.

Regeneration, add a 20 percent damage buff to reconstruction, that lasts for 30 seconds.

Etc, etc, etc.

But hey, what do I know about this stuff, right?