Kinetics is kinda messed up...

Does anyone else feel that the Kinetics power set has some issues? Let me list what I see as problems with the power set.

Two of the powers have functional duplicates. What I mean by that is power siphon and fulcrum shift are functionally identical and speed boost and siphon speed are also functionally identical. Both pairs of powers fulfil the same function.

Repel is just awful.

Inertial reduction.... who wants a group travel power in their primary powers?!

These are the problems I see with Kinetics but what can be done to fix it?

Move fulcrum shift to where power siphon is now but make the number of targets it affects scale with the caster's level. Replace power siphon with something else.

Remove speed boost and make siphon speed give an AoE buff around the caster like siphon power does now and replace speed boost with something else.

Replace repel with... anything else.

Replace inertial reduction with something more interesting, perhaps an enemy resistance or defense debuff.

Obviously this is all just my opinion, Kinetics is a great set even now but that's because it's being carried by a couple of incredible powers with some of very lack-luster powers.

Please feel free to comment but no raging or frothing at the mouth please.

Speed Boost and Siphon Speed are functionally quite far apart.

One boosts the Recovery Rate, Recharge Rate and Movement Speed of a ally.

One Boosts only the Recharge Rate and movement speed of yourself, and debuffs those values on your opponent, and requires a to-hit check.

Siphon Power and Fulcrum Shift... I agree completely. Should not co-exist in the set, Siphon Power just adds nothing to Fulcrum Shift (except for being available in early game which isnt really an addition)

Repel > while I dislike it, I'm sure someone will come in here and sing it's virtues. another skippable.

Inertia Reduction > a movement power giving verticle movement to anyone (even granite's en masse). No toggle endurance useage and doesnt require a pre-req power choice. Yes please!
(although I do agree maybe more buffs in here would help)


My main gripe playing kin is that if my anchor dies on Transference or Transfusion i've wasted my power with having no effect!

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoodooGirl [*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*

I think it'd be perfectly acceptable to merge siphon speed and speed boost into one power, give siphon speed the +rec boost, keep the to-hit check and 60 second duration / recharge time. I think most people would be happy with that rather than having to individually speed boost every single person on the team / league.

But I disagree, siphon speed and speed boost are the same thing, just that one is for you and one is for your allies (though it's slightly better than your own which is paradoxical since you'd think the one where you steal it from your enemy would be better).

Be pretty neat if they could merge Speed Boost and Siphon Speed into a singular power, which acts functionally the same as the other two..

If used on allies it would act like Speed Boost currently does. If used on an enemy it would act like Siphon Speed does. (So usable on both allies and foes, buffs allies, debuffs foes)

Not sure if there's tech for that though.

Then they'd have to think up an additional power as well...


Also, while its true that Siphon Power is eclipsed harshly by Fulcrum Shift, it still has its uses later. Like if you're against a single AV or something, you can stack up a few Siphons to compliment your Fulcrum Shift.

I don't like the idea of making sb/ss one power. Then I might miss buffing with sb and with the "SB NAO!" that a lot of players have, a missed sb that takes 20 seconds to recast would make a lot of players angry. I think SB should be like inertia, and be an aoe buff, only not affecting self, and keep 2 separate powers.

And I like sp/fs because against AVs, you can floor their damage.

Who doesn't like IR?!

The only way in which Inertial Reduction is worse than Super Jump is the level at which it becomes available. In all other aspects, IR is either identical or superior to SJ.

Replace Repel with the I Win Button.

How about lobbying for more buffs to rad. All those anchor powers get annoying to use because your teammates always kill the anchor first...

Anything you can stack -60% damage on before you even use fulcrum shift is awesome. Add flooring the mobs recharge to that, so they are hitting you less often. Add a three second recharge heal to that, and you are very surviveable. Add unsupressed travel powers to that, and you can run away very easily. Add an end drain that allows for unlimited endurance every 10 seconds.

Yeah, its kinda messed up. But not in the way you are thinking.

Siphon power and siphon speed, are numerically two of the best anti-AV powers IN THE GAME. Why? Both are entirely unresisted by standard AV resistances. Av's resist most debuffs by over 80%. But they do not resist -damage, and siphon speed is flagged as unresistable, so both powers have full effect. On just SO's, siphon power can cut AV damage by 50-75%, siphon speed can reduce attack rates by 40%. If you play kinetics and do not use these two powers in an AV fight, you are neglecting to protect yourself and your team. If you replace siphon power with fulcrum shift, you hamstring a kinetics vs. hard targets.

Repel, like it or not, is a soft control power. Is it 'meh?' Yes, perhaps purposefully so. It offers impermanent soft control that is also dangerous. Look at the rest of the set, and the living on the edge is part of the them. One of the most powerful heals, a full endurance refill that can also drain, two very strong damage buffs, this is the best mitigation they can throw without making the powers go out of whack. It's also a counterbalance-you can leech off a foe at close range for the greatest power, but far less safety, or you can turn this sucker on for more mitigation, but it makes leeching power more difficult.

Inertial reduction is a theme power, and it's another one of those purposefully 'eh.' powers. Kinetics has a ton of really good powers, this is a flavor/convenience one. It's actually very handy to give to speedster team members in bumpy zones, and allows the kinetics a more vertical option to their fast horizontal one. (siphon speed.) As to replacing it with a -resistance power: you will never have in the same set a power that allows you cap you and your team's damage with a power that lets it bypass that cap.

Speed boost is a powerful team buff, and has naught to do with the balance of siphon speed, as has been noted. The movement bonus is a theme thing. If it were made to be targeted, it would become unreliable. If you made it multi-target, it would be weaker/shorter in duration to balance. It would also make its use in a team far less fluid, and FAR more annoying "GATHER FOR SB PLZ! GATHER! GATHER!" Please no.

I completely disagree with everything the OP had to say. Of course thats just my opinion.

A wild Cottage Rule appears!

Still waiting for his Official BackAlleyBrawler No-Prize

I think, quite frankly, the OP needs to actually sit down and play Kinetics - and actually pay *attention* to what the powers do - for a while if they really think all of the above.

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I think the set is just fine where it is. There is a reason that Kins are almost universally sought/welcomed to any group.

There are ATs/Powersets that needs looking at LONG before kins need help. (See: Peacebringer)

Going by the OPs logic, every attack power in the game should be merged into one because they're thematically and/or functionally identical to one another. They do damage.

As for Repel, I think it could use a buff: perhaps a small +s/l defense component. After all, if you can knock away bodies, why not knives and bullets? Otherwise, it's a fine, albeit situational power that's quite good if you know how and when to use it.

IR is also a good power. It stacks with Ninja Run, allowing you to jump faster, further, and with more maneuverability than someone with SJ. Yes, really. It stinks that you have to recast it and that it comes so late in the set, but if those two limitations didn't exist then it'd be better than Super Jump in every way.

The only thing I don't like about Kin is dealing with Activation delay and Arcanatime. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to heal myself or a teammate off a bad guy with half health and he's dead just as i click the button >_> Stupid over-efficient teammates...