Sort of a Frostwork-type of thing? I wouldn't complain.
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This could work two ways.|
Originally Posted by Melancholia
Force Field is my favorite powerset in this game, but I do think it needs some sort of buff, or at least something new to do.
Yesterday I did a Mortimer Kal SF for the first time, and there are force fields in there that have HP meters and you can't get through them until you deal a certain amount of damage - do you think that would work for the powerset? Obviously there would be tons of balance issues - if the power recharged fast enough, it'd be really OP - but maybe if it had a recharge like Fortitude's then it would work, you could only keep it on a couple of people or use it as an "oh ****" power. What do you think? |
The first option "damage threshold".
And it's a Bad Idea. Mostly because you're completely untouchable until you hit bosses, EBs and AVs, then you're a squirrel in a chipper-shredder.
The second option is "ablative shields". You do damage to the shields instead of you.
You'd still have problems. Minions and Lts would take forever to grind you down, but bosses and AVs would simply annihilate your shields before your recharge allows you to recast them. Also, large mobs would hurt really really bad.
NEW SHIELD!
*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*DAMAGE*
*POOF!*
Essentially this sort of shielder would devolve into one of two types.
1: Those built for insane-o recharge who can keep them up continuously (would take no damage ever).
2: Those who don't have enough recharge yet.
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I am leveling an Incarnate Ninja/FF and while power boost + force field works wonderful, the rest of the set just seems very very situational to me. I won't say "useless" because everything has a use.
The power I hate the most is Repulse toggle. It just costs too much endurance. It already costs endurance for each foe pushed back. It makes no sense that keeping the toggle alive costs that much. It's not like Dispersion is cheap to run too.
Force Bubble... I like the idea but I don't like the large radius on my Ninja. It pushes them outside of my supremacy range because my ninjas need to keep chasing. The bubble's radius just seems too big. I can see its use if you are a troller/defense that just wants to keep foes away from you.
And of course we have another very situational power in Personal Force Field.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
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As a replacement for Detention Field ... sure.
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Originally Posted by Melancholia
Yesterday I did a Mortimer Kal SF for the first time, and there are force fields in there that have HP meters and you can't get through them until you deal a certain amount of damage - do you think that would work for the powerset?
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It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
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What would be even better is if it worked both ways.|
Originally Posted by Redlynne
As a replacement for Detention Field ... sure.
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If your target is an enemy, it works just like it does now (after all there are some uses for it).
If your target is an ally, it gets the breakable bubble around it.
Favorite Hero: Computer (Empathy/Energy Blast Defender)
Favorite Villain: Gimp Computer (Fire Control/Psionic Assault Dominator)
Ooh, that'd be a great idea, giving all the cage powers another use rather than just buffing FF...just to clarify, I don't think this type of shield should replace the +def that we already get, it'd just be another power.
Refreshing the breakable bubble could be fixed just by making it not stack/refresh if it's already up. And, ideally it wouldn't be stronger than, say, a ST heal from Empathy or Thermal. Still useful for keeping someone on their foot, but it can only do so much on its own.
I wonder how strong FF would be if it got a 'HP bubble' about equal to a ST heal on a shortish duration. Then again, it might not be that overpowered even on a really long or even perma timer--it's only so much HP as a ST heal after all. Thoughts, everyone? And the issue of what power would have to be changed for it. I don't think the tech exists right now to make a power capable of targeting both enemies and allies, but I don't really know that for certain.
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My first thought was "This could add much more flexability to situations people complain about, such as Maurader's Nova Fist."|
Originally Posted by Alef_infinity
I wonder how strong FF would be if it got a 'HP bubble' about equal to a ST heal on a shortish duration. Then again, it might not be that overpowered even on a really long or even perma timer--it's only so much HP as a ST heal after all. Thoughts, everyone?
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My second thought was "I hope the coding people that are reading this are unarmed."
Favorite Hero: Computer (Empathy/Energy Blast Defender)
Favorite Villain: Gimp Computer (Fire Control/Psionic Assault Dominator)
This is a sidebar, but to be honest I am beginning to believe that in lieu of giving Force Field defense debuff resistance, that the set should get a straight up Power Boost clone that is somehow unstackable with regular Power Boost. Make it an AoE that affects all party members even (Clarion set the precedent for that). This would stop the set from being forced to seek out PB in its epics and provide a ton of overlapping utility with holds/stuns/slows/heals etc.
Absolutely not.
Hmmmm ...
Does anyone have solid evidence of FF defenders underperforming?
Or is this a case where people would like to see underused powers changed to be useful?
IME, those are two different cases.
If the former, we could expect to see buffs.
If the latter, it'd be reasonable to expect, if the devs did anything at all, to swap crap for crap ... which seems like a waste of time.
Granted, I no longer have any kind of feel for what is or is not balanced with the game (seriously, the devs went live with a power that turned Caltrops into a nuke) so you never know.
I had once come up with the idea of replacing force bubble's knockback with just a placeable shield that would have HPs. Enemies would have to break through it in order to get to teammates but it would give teammates time to react. It's very comic like as I have seen comic characters have this type of power. This would also be a massive improvement over the current Force Bubble.
This is how that "other Superhero MMO" had their Forcefields setup.. And I didnt like it one bit..
Especially after they nerfed em into the ground (along with everything else, but the forcefields got hit extra hard)
Sounds like the OP used to play Dungeons and Dragons (not the online version) and wants a Stone Skin spell http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stoneskin.htm
I would not want the whole set to work like this but replacing one of the powers with a HP shield like this would be good.
I like the idea of an HP bubble for one more tool in the arsenal, but I can't think of a single power I would be willing to give up to make it happen.
My forcefielder amazes me in ways that no other character has. At level 1 he could go anywhere in the game in complete safety. In TFs, his team never has to fight more than one AV at a time. Since he got a couple cheap HOs, not even the lieutenant pulls in STF phase him. He can put Ghost Widow out of the fight with one shot while controllers look on in shame. Ambushes don't come anywhere near us until we're good and ready for them. What exploding zombies in Sutter? And on top of all that, every member of the team has softcapped defenses.
Sure he does crap for damage, but that's what the minions, I mean, pets, I mean, teammates are for.
Force Field is my favorite powerset in this game, but I do think it needs some sort of buff, or at least something new to do.
Yesterday I did a Mortimer Kal SF for the first time, and there are force fields in there that have HP meters and you can't get through them until you deal a certain amount of damage - do you think that would work for the powerset?
Obviously there would be tons of balance issues - if the power recharged fast enough, it'd be really OP - but maybe if it had a recharge like Fortitude's then it would work, you could only keep it on a couple of people or use it as an "oh ****" power. What do you think?