Discussion: The Intrepid Informer: Issue #10

Introduction to Beam Rifle
by Phil "Synapse" Zeleski

Hi, Phil "Synapse" Zeleski here again. This time, I'm going to talk about the new Beam Rifle power set! I'll be going through each power with a fine tooth comb and talking to you about how this powerset functions as well as some tips and tricks as well as some possible character themes. Beam Rifle is a primary powerset choice for Blasters and Corruptors and a secondary powerset choice for Defenders. This new ranged blast set deals energy damage and is primarily focused on obliterating single targets quickly.

Beam Rifle stands out from other blast sets, because it introduces a new mechanic: "Disintegrating". Here's how it works. The power Disintegrate becomes available at level 6 for Blasters and Corruptors and 10 for Defenders. Using this power on a foe will cause it to suffer high energy damage over time and will have its regeneration rate significantly reduced. If that wasn't enough, the power also places the "Disintegrating" effect on the target. While this effect is in play, Beam Rifle characters can attack this target with any of their Beam Rifle attacks to cause additional effects like: additional damage, damage over time and -regen. Additionally, attacking "Disintegrating" targets with any of the single target powers in the set (Single Shot, Charged Shot, Lancer Shot and Penetrating Ray) can cause the "Disintegrating" effect to spread to 3 nearby enemies that aren't already affected by "Disintegrating". This spread causes a small amount of energy damage over time and makes the target susceptible to Beam Rifle additional effects. Disintegrate is effectively the linchpin for the Beam Rifle power set.

Powers

Below you'll find a list of powers found within the Beam Rifle power set as well as their short description, long description and some designer notes. Keep in mind that these powers and their descriptions are subject to change through our beta process.

Beam Rifle

Your weapon of choice is a high tech beam rifle capable of firing a wide variety of energy blasts at your foes. Your Beam Rifle attacks will have greater potency while Disintegration is in effect on your target. Additionally, single target Beam Rifle attacks used on targets suffering from the Disintegrating effect have a chance to spread this effect to nearby foes. Beam Rifle focuses on dealing a great deal of single target damage, but has a few area of effect attacks as well.

Single Shot
Ranged, Moderate DMG(Energy), Foe Knockdown, Special

You fire a single blast from your Beam Rifle which deals Moderate Energy damage and has a chance to knock the target down. If the target is suffering from Disintegrate, Single Shot will reduce the target's regeneration rate slightly. In addition, targets already affected by the Disintegrating effect have a chance to spread to 3 nearby targets. This Spread Disintegration effect can only hit targets that aren't already affected by the Disintegration effect. Spread Disintegration causes Minor Energy damage over time. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Fast

Designer's Comments: Single Shot is your fast recharging Tier 1 attack. It deals good damage and has a fair chance to knock its target down. It will reduce the target's regeneration rate if it is suffering from "Disintegrating". Also, this power has a chance to cause "Disintegrating" to spread to 3 nearby targets.

Charged Shot
Ranged, High DMG(Energy), Foe Knockdown, Special

By charging up your Beam Rifle, you're able to launch a concentrated blast of energy at your foe to cause High Energy damage. The impact strikes with such force that it can knock your target off of their feet. Charge Shot causes additional damage if the target is suffering from Disintegration. In addition, targets already affected by the Disintegrating effect have a chance to spread to 3 nearby targets. This Spread Disintegration effect can only hit targets that aren't already affected by the Disintegration effect. Spread Disintegration causes Minor Energy damage over time. Damage: High, Recharge: Moderate

Designer's Comments: Charged Shot deals quite a bit more damage than Single Shot, has a slightly higher chance to knockdown its target and will deal an additional chunk of damage if used on a "Disintegrating" target. It has a greater chance to cause "Disintegrate" to spread than Single Shot.

Cutting Beam
Ranged (Cone), Moderate DMG(Energy), Foe -Def(All), Special

You fire a constant stream of energy from your weapon and sweep it in a broad arc blasting all foes in a wide cone in front of you. Cutting beam deals Moderate Energy damage and reduces the targets' Defense. This power will cause Minor Energy damage over time if the target is suffering from Disintegration. Damage: Moderate, Recharge: Long

Designer's Comments: This cone power has a fairly narrow cone, but recharges quickly and will cause a fair amount of damage over time on targets suffering from "Disintegration". It also has the added perk of reducing a target's defense. This will make subsequent attacks more likely to hit your targets. Cutting Beam is the set's go to area of effect attack. With clever usage of Disintegrate and spreading the Disintegration effect you'll be able to cause a heck of a lot of damage to several foes at once.

Disintegrate
Ranged, High DoT(Energy), Foe -Regen, Special

You fire a stream of energy at your foe which causes them to slowly disintegrate and suffer High Energy damage over time. Even after the damage over time effect wears off the target will have their regeneration rate reduced and suffer from the Disintegration effect for an additional period of time. Using Beam Rifle powers on targets affected by Disintegrate will inflict additional effects. Additionally if Single Shot, Charged Shot, Lancer Shot and Penetrating Ray are used on a target suffering from Disintegrating, they have a chance to cause this effect to spread to up 3 nearby targets that aren't already suffering from Disintegrating. Targets affected by this Disintegrating Spread will also suffer some Minor Energy damage over time. Damage: High, Recharge: Long

Designer's Comments: Disintegrate is Beam Rifle's linchpin. It will function without it, but having the power will make a world of difference. Disintegrate is as important to Beam Rifle as Rage is to Super Strength. This power will deal a good amount of damage over time and significantly reduce the target's regeneration, it will also place the "Disintegrating" effect on the foe. If that wasn't enough, Beam Rifle attacks will trigger additional effects if used on targets suffering from "Disintegrating". In addition to all of this, using single target Beam Rifle attacks on targets suffering from Disintegrating has a chance to cause this effect to spread to 3 nearby targets and cause them to suffer minor energy damage over time.

Aim
Self +To-hit, +DMG

Greatly increases the chance to hit of your attacks for a few seconds. Slightly increases damage. Recharge: Long

Designer's Comments: Like most ranged blast sets, Beam Rifle gets Aim. Those familiar with the power know how useful it is to provide a quick burst of damage and a tremendous bonus to accuracy.

Lancer Shot
Close Ranged, Superior DMG(Energy), Foe Stun, Special

You charge up your Beam Rifle and deliver an incredibly focused ray of energy at a nearby foe that deals Superior Energy damage and will briefly stun the target. Lancer Shot will cause additional damage if the target is suffering from Disintegrate. In addition, targets already affected by the Disintegrating effect have a chance to spread to 3 nearby targets. This Spread Disintegration effect can only hit targets that aren't already affected by the Disintegration effect. Spread Disintegration causes Minor Energy damage over time. Damage: Superior, Recharge: Slow

Designer's Comments: This power is intended to be comparable to other short ranged blast powers like Bitter Ice Blast, Cosmic Burst, Howl and Blaze. It has a short 40 foot range, but deals a hefty amount of damage and recharges fairly quickly. It has a 100% chance to stun its target, so it makes a great crowd control power as well. If used on a "Disintegrating" target it will cause additional damage and may cause "Disintegrating" to spread to 3 nearby targets.

Penetrating Ray
Sniper, Extreme Dmg(Energy), Foe Knockdown, Special

You take careful aim at your target and deliver a punishing supercharged shot from your Beam Rifle. This causes Extreme Energy damage and may knock the target off their feet. If the target is also suffering from Disintegration it will also suffer additional damage over time. Like all Sniper attacks it will be interrupted if you're attacked. In addition, targets already affected by the Disintegrating effect have a chance to spread to 3 nearby targets. This Spread Disintegration effect can only hit targets that aren't already affected by the Disintegration effect. Spread Disintegration causes Minor Energy damage over time. Damage: Extreme, Recharge: Very Slow

Designer's Comments: Penetrating Ray is Beam Rifle's sniper power. It has excellent range, deals an extreme amount of energy damage and can knock foes back, but it can be interrupted if the user is hit or if they move. If used on Disintegrating targets, it will cause a fair amount of damage over time and has the highest chance of all single target attacks to cause Disintegrating to spread to 3 nearby targets.

Piercing Beam
Narrow Ranged (Cone), High DMG(Energy), Foes -Res, Special

You release a supercharged beam in a narrow cone of energy that pierces through up to 3 enemies. Piercing Beam deals High Energy damage and briefly reduces their damage resistance. If a target struck by Piercing Beam is also affected by Disintegrate it will immediately suffer additional damage. Damage: High, Recharge: Long

Designer's Comments: Piercing Beam is very similar to Dual Pistol's Piercing Rounds, except that it deals slightly less damage and recharge more quickly. It can hit up to 3 targets that are very close together. It reduces the damage resistance of affected targets by a large amount as well. If used on Disintegrating targets it will cause a large amount of additional damage.

Overcharge
Ranged (Targeted AoE), Extreme DMG(Energy), Foe Minor DoT (Energy), -Def(All), Disorient, Special

You overcharge your Beam Rifle and release a massive blast of energy at a group of distant foes causing Extreme Energy damage, causing Minor Energy damage over time, reducing the defense of all affected foes and potentially stunning affected foes. If Overcharge strikes a target suffering from Disintegrate they will be affected by a longer stun. Damage: Extreme, Recharge: Very Long

Designer's Comments: Unlike most blast set Tier 9 "nuke" powers, Overcharge does not have a crash and it has a 3 minute cooldown. It however deals a less damage than powers like Nova and Inferno, but it is a targeted ranged area of effect attack instead of player based area of effect. Targets that survive the initial blast may still succumb to the damage over time that is dealt by the this power. Additionally, most minions and lieutenants will be stunned for a short while. If used on Disintegrating targets this Stun duration will be doubled.

Tips and Tricks

Below are some tips and tricks that may suit your play style. These tips and tricks are not intended to be the definitive method for playing this powerset. There are merely some suggestions from playing the power set extensively.
[*]
[*]Disintegrate, Disintegrate, Disintegrate! Use it, love it. If used on a tough target like a boss you can cause your follow up attacks to cause additional damage and if you're using Single Shot, Charged Shot, Penetrating Ray and Lancer Shot on this target there's a pretty good chance that it will spread to nearby enemies.
[*]Beam Rifle is primarily a single target set, but it is quite capable of dealing good area of effect damage, but it will require a bit more effort than other power sets. Overcharge is a great power, but it has a long cooldown. So, you'll need to rely on Cutting Beam to deal the majority of your AoE damage. The best way to do this is to hit a hard target with Disintegrate and then hammer it with single target attacks. This will eventually cause Disintegrating to spread to nearby targets. This will not only cause some lingering damage over time, but it means that the hard target and 3 nearby enemies are primed and ready to be hit by Cutting Beam. Using Cutting Beam after a spread guarantees that the power will deal its bonus damage over time, which is nothing to scoff at. Below is a diagram illustrating this:


[*]Lancer Shot is not just a great damage power, it's also a great control power. It can be used as an opener to stun a troublesome foe. It can also be used to cause Disintegrating to spread to nearby targets. This gives you a great opportunity to hit that group of enemies with Cutting Beam.
[*]If you face a large spawn of enemies or two spawns that are close together that contain a single tough troublesome foe, hit the spawn with Overcharge. This can be made even more effective by using Aim before hand and Build Up, if you have it. Anything left standing will have their stun protection reduced by Overcharge. Hitting this target with Lancer Shot will likely cause even bosses to become stunned for brief moment. You can use this time to follow up with a Penetrating Ray sniper attack as there will probably be no other enemies left to cause you any trouble.


Themes

Beam Rifle lends itself very well to Science and Technology characters well. However, characters of other origins can easily lean on their other power set to define themselves as well. An interesting way of defining a Natural origin Beam Rifle character is by making them some sort of inter-dimensional traveler or alien. Perhaps wherever they come from everybody has Beam Rifles. As far as Weapon Customization goes there are options that scream science, high tech, low tech and even alien. In conclusion, Beam Rifle fits more origins than you might think and I hope players get inspired to make fun new characters.

Phil "Synapse" Zeleski

...ooooooo.... kay.

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Well, to be fair, it is finally a way for a snipe attack to be useful outside of an opening shot.

Ah, but what if there's more than one BR user on a team? With a little bit of teamwork, you can have one person spreading the other person's Disintergrate effect.

That having been said, I find the mechanic too unrelyable to trust in it that much. I'm really not convinced that a chance to spread to up to three targets is going to work well enough. You can't plan on it happening every time, or even most of the time, like they show in the picture.

What about magic? Shooting beams of energy seems like a perfectly reasonable thing for a wizard to do. I can't draw, and google image search was surprisingly unsuccessful, but I imagine something made of wood, with crystals and runes.

How about if you start with one of these things (plasma orb, according to wikipedia) up by your shoulder, then maybe a lump of wood covered with glowing sigils, then a set of spinning crystals at the dangerous end. The plasma ball would take on whatever colors the energy beam has. The colors of the sigils and crystal could be set in the costume creator.

There is actually a gun or two that is magic themed. Beam Rifle can work for Magic characters too.

Two Words: Starlight Breaker!

Thank you for the time...