Poison Set Revamp thread

Updated the original post with it.

Let's talk about the delivery mechanics. I think we have a good concensus as to the effect. How would we like to set it up? Throw it like caltrop? Set it like traps: PGT? One of the biggest sticking points of the Poison tier 8 power is that it triggered so rarely. I am not married to any one idea if the trap area looks like Traps: PGT, or static field, or TA: glue arrow AoE, or tar patch.

I'd borrow some of the ball/windup animation from kinetic melee:burst,(only the part where it's like the character forms an energy ball by hand) substituting a slime gob for the energy. Then instead of the downward slam, have an underhand pitch, and a splatter where the gob hits the ground. The interruptable period would be held in the 'forming blob' portion.

For reference, check out 0:12-0:14 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59kX4hrnAZI

I'd keep the base range to 40 feet, maximum.

Good discussion. I don't care if it's caltrops range as long as there isn't interruption - notice ok, but interruption is the bad bad part.

The devs like to get masterminds in the middle of things so you face proper risk, so I don't know if they would go for a ranged version or not.

Let me know what you want updated in the original post on this issue.

More discussion please. I think if it's interruptible, giving 'notice' to the spawn in aggro range is unmanageable - gimp me one way or the other, not both.

Yeah, it's not like Devices where you get a stealth power to let you toe bomb.

Placing traps has never notified a mob in and of itself. The reason I say 40' is so that out of the box you cannot simply throw it into a mob. That's not a trap, that's a bomb. Giving enough range to toss a trap directly beneath a foe makes the triggered nature pointless, and you are simply asking for a ranged aoe sleep that saps.

Hence why I'd make it a 'halfway' power. You throw the trap between you and your foes, then when they engage, they come upon the trap and trigger it. If the player wishes to turn it into a full ranged trap they can do so, but it costs them range enhancements.

This is under the preclusion that we're trying to make the poison trap viable, not into a new power. As such, the name itself seems to describe it as something to lure a foe into. Full range means you don't have to even think about retaliation. Point blank, the effect puts the mastermind in trouble. Short range, it has enough time to trigger, but you still need to have oncoming foes for it to work. It means the melee enemies don't get to you while ranged foes may still function. You are fighting foes aggroed on you or your henchies, then the poison trap activates. It's reactive, not preemptive. A preemptive effect means the single-target debuffer can cherry-pick foes without worry, as the foes were snoozing before they could attack. Reactively, the enemies are dreaming of smacking you still, and they get a few shots off before they doze off. The short range still allows the trap to be tossed out from cover far more easily, a tactical advantage that shouldn't be overlooked.

Basically, the part I'd look at changing are making the trap gas actually stop foes from attacking, and make sure it works before the foes are breathing down the poisoner's neck. The parts I would not change are that it is a trap, requiring an aggroed foe to move to its location and step on it for it to work, and is best used with forethought rather than as something you can do anytime.

Let's be honest, if it's something akin to what electric control sports, the only way it'll happen is for there to be more tricks to using it. If it really could keep a mob snoozing and slowly sapping their energy, that's a powerful ability. The way you get that on a secondary are counterbalances, which an interruption period and a triggered trap location function as.

I guess I should qualify that statement, as I'm sure some traps may suppress stealth as though you had done an attack. As such, aggro radius and lack of cover would indeed cause trouble. I meant more that the act of placement itself would not pull a group to you.

Are we talking a range of say... the same as FFG?

Anything else I should update in the OP?

If ever there was a time to ask for Poison buffs, I would think now is it. With the changes in Issue 20.5 coming for some buffs to become AoEs, this seems like the perfect time to push for the same type of change to Alkaloid and Antidote.

You could make Antidote into an AoE. Use the same animation type as bile spray, only coming out of a beaker. It could work.

Nothing wrong with a little extra flair.

Any of you hit up Black Scorpion with this? I doubt it would make it into 20.5, after seeing the stream tonight. He made it sound that the powers team are already throwing up their arms to the massive amount of work they already are involved with, with all of the new power trees for Lore and then the AOE buff changes...

I'd put my finger on anywhere between 21 and 22.5 for Poison revamp. Just a 'hunch'.