I think Sonic resonance is lacking

BUT I am not sure how I would go about making a convincing argument that it is. My gut tells me that compared to its sister, Force Field, the glaring sleep hole isnt right. FF's defense, and easily stackable (maneuvers, hover/cj, stealth?) defense sans Io's avoids most damage and sleep effects, while the resist based set and lower comparative values (1 def=2 res) means Sonic gets pummeled hard most times.

What I'm asking, is what should I be asking? I want that sleep hole gone, but should it even be in FF? Are these sets just so awesome that sleep and psi holes were necessary or are they just holdovers from days of Jack? Any help would be appreciated.


PS, Ro is unwelcome in this thread.

Well, something to keep in mind with Sonic is that it has a whole lot of potential -Res, something which Force Field definitely lacks, considering that FF lacks any debuffs whatsoever. So, while FF is definitely better at protecting the team, Sonic can help the team kill a lot faster.

I think sonic could maybe use a special resistance in one of its shields. Force field gets end drain/debuff resistance in insulation, along with pseudo debuff protection from making stuff hit less. Sonic shields just give resistance.

Also being worthless vs psionic is kinda annoying for a buff set.

Liquefy is an awesome tohit debuff though, even if it's not useable often, and the resistance debuffage is decent, even if some other sets can do single target resistance debuffs better with some recharge and a single power (acid mortar, freezing rain, sleet). Would be nice if sonic siphon stacked with itself, but not gonna hold breath on that.

I think a better comparison point for sonic is thermal. Thermal is imo a much better overall set than sonic.

Even on controllers which can make use of disruption field while solo I still feel thermal is a better set.

Thermal defenders will be very good too and should be pretty popular, if popularity is any indication of prowess in this game.

Yeah, I reckon Sonic Resonance could do with some help too.

The sleep hole is worse than it is on FF-er's for the reasons you mentioned. And I do belive that the sleep hole could be removed entirely for both sets without overbalancing them - it does look like a remnant of some older-style thinking.
Both give up quite a bit for their mez protection - no heals, no offensive buffs in FF's case, and Sonic gets a fairly narrow spectrum of effects compared to many other sets.
Its -Res effects are not as fantastic as they could be either, considering that this is meant to be a speciality of the set. I'd go for making Sonic Siphon stackable.

I like the balance between offensive and defensive that Sonic provides, but I think it covers too few late-game holes.
No Psi protection - some could be put into Clarity. Clarity deserevs a bit of a boost since some of its effects are redundant with Dispersion.
No endurance management tools or end drain resistance - some could go into Sonic Haven or even Sonic Dispersion.

There are plenty of teammates who need these much more than the extra S/L Resistance by the later levels.

I would probably just like a little change to Sonic which i think would make more people want to play it...

Sonic Siphon, Change to a Cone or a Targetted Aoe as it is a team based set chances are you will be fighting groups.

Disruption Field, Change to a click power instead of a toggle like fortitude maybe decrease the -res % because of stacking... prob a long recharge tho like 120sec, or allow to place on yourself

Sonic Repulsion, change to a damage aura with ability target an ally or place on your self if no ally is targetted.


That would make me enjoy mine alot more... dunno what you guys think?

I'm quite fond of sonic resonance as a set myself. Personally I think it's pretty close to good to go as is, but what I would like to see in it is to have sonic siphon have a -regen component added. If you compare that power to other defender options of comparable level, it is inordinately weak. It only does -resistance.

Compare it with :
Tar Patch - AOE - resistance and slow, -fly, -jump
Radiation Infection: -defense, -to hit
Siphon Power: - damage, +damage to allies

Sonic Siphon simply doesn't stack up against these ones.

I'm very happy with my sonic defender.

She is one of the top 3 characters I pull out for high level events and Masters Runs.

The one little thing I'd add, make sonic siphon a true siphon. Add a little +res (non stacking) self to it.

Sonic's always struck me as a really good "+1" . It won't make a team on its own, but it will make just about any team clearly and visibly better, and it will do so with minimal fuss. It's very undramatic, but an extra doubling of survivability no matter what, and instant-on -Res in the hula hoops, make for a really good 6th or 7th person for any team.

(compare, on the flip side, that second Kin or Force Fielder.)

Disruption field is a massive end hog. It needs more jazz for it to be sucking so much end, or reduce its end usage.

Sonic Siphon - I like the idea of making it a true siphon.

Liquefy - Lower the duration or increase its debuff values.

I have to say I like sonic and am pretty happy with the powers in the set, although I do agree disruption field is very end heavy and liquefy could use a slightly shorter recharge. I have always viewed this set as more of a "let me make everything die faster," one than, "let me keep my teammates alive." The resistance it offers is just a nice bonus imo to the insane -res if offers.

In my opinion, with the prevalence of defense bonuses (maneuvers/IOs), I find sonic resonance a very welcome addition to any team.

(Ignoring the Cottage Rule because it's existance is nothing but a burdon)

I say we replace -all- phase powers from all sets. They are chosen 0.5% of the time. They are properly used less than that. They can be replaced by pretty much anything. And they take up space that could potentially help a powerset be productive.

Now, I don't care what fills these slots but the Phase powers are essentially a wasted slot. After all these years of people saying they are 'barely even marginally useful', I think it's time to finally replace them with new powers that help powersets with them be more productive.

Sleep isnt so bad as folks are making it out to be. The thing is if your are slept on a team, critters will by default switch targets because they are programmed not to attack sleepers unless they are the only target left. What changes I would love to see is the values of the tiny bubbles and the big bubble exchanged. Or the bigger bubble needs to give additional resistance for the caster. At least with force fields you have the personal bubble if the **** hits the fan. With Sonic you have nothing and I dont think its right. Also once we got the thermal set it pretty much made sonic unneeded. I can tell you one thing that has to go above all else is that gawd awful tier 9 power the set gives thats utterly worthless.

On my /sonic corr, I've found myself able to keep people healthy-ish...it's a fine set, and a toggle bubble that gives mez protection can't be emphasized enough.

The only thinks I'd do: reduce disruption's cost. it needs three -end to run okay with a three slotted stamina, and even then it's prohibitive. If sonic was meant to supply -res to a team, this is the biggest, most continuous way most of the time. Yet it's treated like it should be a situational toggle.

The sonic siphon -/+res idea is great..the power is pretty 'meh.' It works well, but the non-stacking nature works against its best use: softening hard targets.

Sonic repulsion: if this was altered to cost less and be KD, it would be a great coupled with disruption. Right now it's very costly and difficult to use well.