Energy : Buff needed

I don't feel that I've portrayed it as the sole purpose of Swap Ammo. It's a feature of that set that models a mechanic I wish Energy Blast had. It's relevant to this discussion because several people have said the ability to turn off knockback would wreck teaming. It didn't in Dual Pistols. They need to address this in their arguments; the main way it's been broached so far is to say "I've played Dual Pistols to 50." As I said a while back (regrettably, rather curtly) that statement is confusing in light of adamant opposition to the very mechanic Dual Pistol provides.

I can see why someone wouldn't want the toggle put in. I do not, however, think such people are idiots, bad players, "selfish" or whatever else. They are just people with opinions, like me. Where I bristle (and really, what drew me into this argument in the first place instead of bypassing it like most similar threads) are some of the insults that were/are being doled out to the "anti-kb" crowd. I am NOT part of that crowd per se, but I still think many of the statements were unfair.



Well, I don't base my decisions on power set by itself. But I don't feel it's reasonable for me to insult people who do by saying some of the things that have been said in this thread (not in your post). Maybe if they came to the boards to tell us all how much we all suck I'd have a comment for them. But if people want to speed run, farm, run all-one-AT teams and whatever other things I think it's their decision and not mine.

That's what I was referring to. Swap Ammo is more about varying your types of damage and mitigation: not the ability to turn off KB because it would make teammates more happy. You want more mitigation from KB and -defense? Go with standard ammo. You want more damage? Go with Fire. Toxic and Ice have some things they can help with (-damage and -recharge), but I'm not sure they're strong enough on their own for a Blaster. But that is what Swap Ammo is for, and how it is designed.

Energy Blast isn't going to get something like Swap Ammo, as it doesn't need to vary its damage at all to do well, and it does one type of mitigation well. Removing KB from it loses one of the characteristics of the set, so having a toggle to do so would require other changes to the set to make it not be a nerf. You'd have to get into all other sorts of balance things that would have to justify the time spent by the devs on it, and Energy Blast really doesn't have the lower performance to make that time worthwhile.

I have run all-one-AT TFs before, so I can understand the appeal of that, or even an "all Illusion" TF or something. No issue for me there, as that's just a way to have fun/put a spin on content you have done before. My own comments were more for people discounting x AT or powerset for just running regular content. I wouldn't insult them, but I would say that's a questionable choice: one of the great things about CoX is that so many combos of powers and teammates can work. Going against that just makes the game less fun.

And heck, that goes the same for speed runs and farms. A lot of combos could work there as well. One of the fastest Manticore TFs I've ever been on had a few Blasters with KB in their powers, including my Energy/Energy.

Well, while Dual Pistols does have a mechanic to switch its KB for other effects, I wouldn't really equate DP's KB to Energy Blasts'. Most of the powers don't even knock a foe back...it's really only Bullet Rain, Dual Wield and Executioner's Shot. That you can switch the effect of those for other effects isn't comparable to shutting down the only extra effect of an entire set.

Why don't people get up in arms about forcing DP users to use other ammos? Because it doesn't make a huge impact one way or the other (there's not much KB to complain about and even if they still do, you're switching out one effect for another). As is, DP was *designed* to not hinge on that KB. Energy Blast without its KB?....

That is how I feel sometimes... people get so stuck in "this is the right/only way to play the game" they can see the benefits of teaming etc with KB as well as with out. It just takes changing your mindset and being willing to evolve your thinking.