What powerset would you buff?
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Long post incoming!
I was bored and decided to take a look at the Mercenaries set for Masterminds. As I said before whenever I looked at it before it just looked like a poor choice, but I'd never given any thought on what to do with the set.
Here are my ideas!
I've taken a cue from other Mastermind pets that get the benefit of AT abilities. My idea is to add a stacking damage buff similar to Blaster attacks to most of the Mercs rifle attacks.
Mercenaries/Equip Mercenary
Add Grant power: Merc Defiance Lvl 1 to all pets, unless they already own Merc Defiance Lvl 2
Merc Defiance Lvl 1 will be a power that increases the odds that effects tagged MercDef1 will activate to 100%
Mercenaries/Tactical Upgrade
Add Grant power: Merc Defiance Lvl 2 to all pets and revoke Merc Defiance Lvl 1
Merc Defiance Lvl 2 will be a power that increases the odds that effects tagged MercDef2 will activate to 100%
Mercenaries/Soldier
ASMG Burst
Reduce cast time to 1 seconds
Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
ASMG Heavy Burst
Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds
Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Assault Rifle Auto Fire
Reduce cast time to 4 seconds
Add +5.13% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +10.33% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Assault Rifle Burst
Reduce cast time to 1 seconds
Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Assault Rifle Heavy Burst
Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds
Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Mercenaries/Medic
Add a modified Vigilance
Endurance Discount dependent on fellow Henchmen or Mastermind/Owner Health
30% damage buff, reduced by 10% for each additional Henchman currently alive.
The idea is that while he is a Medic... he's also a fellow soldier and so he should get the benefit of playing support (an EndDiscount when his allies are in trouble) but also be able to fight if his teammates start to fall.
This would probably require so much work, though. >_>
Add a modified Vengeance
+10% Defense(All)
+10% ToHit
+15% Damage(All)
Scale 1 (Melee) Heal
The idea here is that attacking a combat medic is considered a war crime (well, as long they don't use firearms, but work with me here), so if the Medic falls, his teammates should be very upset about it.
Med Kit
Reduce cast time to 2.93 seconds
ASMG Burst
Reduce cast time to 1 seconds
SMG Heavy Burst
Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds
Stimulant
Reduce cast time to 2.93 seconds
Frag Grenade
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Mercenaries/Spec Ops
SCAR Burst
Reduce cast time to 1 seconds
Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
SCAR Heavy Burst
Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds
Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Flash Bang
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Reduce recharge time to 60 seconds (it's a freakin' mag 2, come on now)
Add Mode disallowed: Disable_AoEControls
Set mode: Disable_AoEControls for 20s
Tear Gas
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Reduce recharge time to 120 seconds
Add Mode disallowed: Disable_AoEControls
Set mode: Disable_AoEControls for 20s
Sniper Rifle
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Add +5.511% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +11.022% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Alright, here's my explanation for the changes to Flash Bang and Tear Gas: The problem is that as soon as they have both upgrades, they'll just run in to the first fight and use both and waste them. So the idea is that using either one will set a mode that prevents them from using the other AoE control for 20 seconds. So in quick fights they shouldn't have a chance to spam them one after another and waste them.
Mercenaries/Commando
Burst
Reduce cast time to 1 seconds
Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Slug
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Add +5.511% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +11.022% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Buckshot
Reduce cast time to 0.9 seconds
Add +1.375% Dmg(All Types) for 8.4s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +2.75% Dmg(All Types) for 8.4s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Full Auto
Reduce cast time to 4 seconds
Add +4.4% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +8.81% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
M30 Grenade
Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds
Add +1.7% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +3.39% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Flamethrower
Reduce cast time to 2.33 seconds
Add +3.23% Dmg(All Types) for 9.83s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +6.46% Dmg(All Types) for 9.83s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
LRM Rocket
Add +3.89% Dmg(All Types) for 11.33s to Self (tagged MercDef1)
Add +7.78% Dmg(All Types) for 11.33s to Self (tagged MercDef2)
Enjoy!
Long post incoming!
I was bored and decided to take a look at the Mercenaries set for Masterminds. As I said before whenever I looked at it before it just looked like a poor choice, but I'd never given any thought on what to do with the set. Here are my ideas! I've taken a cue from other Mastermind pets that get the benefit of AT abilities. My idea is to add a stacking damage buff similar to Blaster attacks to most of the Mercs rifle attacks. Mercenaries/Equip Mercenary Add Grant power: Merc Defiance Lvl 1 to all pets, unless they already own Merc Defiance Lvl 2 Merc Defiance Lvl 1 will be a power that increases the odds that effects tagged MercDef1 will activate to 100% Mercenaries/Tactical Upgrade Add Grant power: Merc Defiance Lvl 2 to all pets and revoke Merc Defiance Lvl 1 Merc Defiance Lvl 2 will be a power that increases the odds that effects tagged MercDef2 will activate to 100% Mercenaries/Soldier ASMG Burst Reduce cast time to 1 seconds Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) ASMG Heavy Burst Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Assault Rifle Auto Fire Reduce cast time to 4 seconds Add +5.13% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +10.33% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Assault Rifle Burst Reduce cast time to 1 seconds Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Assault Rifle Heavy Burst Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Mercenaries/Medic Add a modified Vigilance Endurance Discount dependent on fellow Henchmen or Mastermind/Owner Health 30% damage buff, reduced by 10% for each additional Henchman currently alive. The idea is that while he is a Medic... he's also a fellow soldier and so he should get the benefit of playing support (an EndDiscount when his allies are in trouble) but also be able to fight if his teammates start to fall. This would probably require so much work, though. >_> Add a modified Vengeance +10% Defense(All) +10% ToHit +15% Damage(All) Scale 1 (Melee) Heal The idea here is that attacking a combat medic is considered a war crime (well, as long they don't use firearms, but work with me here), so if the Medic falls, his teammates should be very upset about it. Med Kit Reduce cast time to 2.93 seconds ASMG Burst Reduce cast time to 1 seconds SMG Heavy Burst Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds Stimulant Reduce cast time to 2.93 seconds Frag Grenade Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Mercenaries/Spec Ops SCAR Burst Reduce cast time to 1 seconds Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) SCAR Heavy Burst Reduce cast time to 2.2 seconds Add +7.26% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +14.52% Dmg(All Types) for 9.7s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Flash Bang Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Reduce recharge time to 60 seconds (it's a freakin' mag 2, come on now) Add Mode disallowed: Disable_AoEControls Set mode: Disable_AoEControls for 20s Tear Gas Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Reduce recharge time to 120 seconds Add Mode disallowed: Disable_AoEControls Set mode: Disable_AoEControls for 20s Sniper Rifle Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Add +5.511% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +11.022% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Alright, here's my explanation for the changes to Flash Bang and Tear Gas: The problem is that as soon as they have both upgrades, they'll just run in to the first fight and use both and waste them. So the idea is that using either one will set a mode that prevents them from using the other AoE control for 20 seconds. So in quick fights they shouldn't have a chance to spam them one after another and waste them. Mercenaries/Commando Burst Reduce cast time to 1 seconds Add +3.3% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +6.6% Dmg(All Types) for 8.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Slug Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Add +5.511% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +11.022% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Buckshot Reduce cast time to 0.9 seconds Add +1.375% Dmg(All Types) for 8.4s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +2.75% Dmg(All Types) for 8.4s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Full Auto Reduce cast time to 4 seconds Add +4.4% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +8.81% Dmg(All Types) for 11.5s to Self (tagged MercDef2) M30 Grenade Reduce cast time to 1.67 seconds Add +1.7% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +3.39% Dmg(All Types) for 9.17s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Flamethrower Reduce cast time to 2.33 seconds Add +3.23% Dmg(All Types) for 9.83s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +6.46% Dmg(All Types) for 9.83s to Self (tagged MercDef2) LRM Rocket Add +3.89% Dmg(All Types) for 11.33s to Self (tagged MercDef1) Add +7.78% Dmg(All Types) for 11.33s to Self (tagged MercDef2) Enjoy! |
It's great that some people are looking into Merc! I've been a Merc fan for a very long time. My very first villain is a Merc/Poison 50 who I really hate playing because of /Poison.
Anyway, I've done a lot of testings on Merc and here is what I think. (Your idea on Defiance is pretty good but I don't know if they want to add that many things to each attack for all 6 pets and I am not sure if they want to spend time to modify animation to reduce casting time).
1. Merc's biggest problem is Spec-Ops! There is no secret about it. When I did testing against dummy, Spec-Ops' total damage output is less than the Soldiers. Their damage output is really really bad. The biggest problem is Snipe. Yes, they can now cycle Snipe during attack chain but if you look at Snipe's base damage, it is only similar to a 6s attack like SCAR Heavy Burst. Snipe takes about 3s to shoot and has 16s recharge time. This attack needs to have a real snipe damage output. This way Spec-Ops can provide burst range damage to start the fight.
2. Your idea on Add Mode disallowed: Disable_AoEControls and Set mode: Disable_AoEControls for 20s is excellent! If it's possible to add, then do it. I will also reduce the recharge on those two controls.
3. Spec-Ops' other problem is Rifle Butt. After the last change on Pet AI, Spec-Ops don't use RB as soon as the enemy gets close. It is annoying!! If Spec-Ops' role is to provide controls, then I really hope they can change it to Bean Bag Round. They can even increase the recharge from 16s to 20s because if it's bean bag round, I know they'll use it more often than waiting for the enemies to get close. (I've even tried to goto them to a target during stealth mode but they get seen pretty easily.. )
4. Spec-Ops' Stealth. I am glad they finally got rid of the speed penalty in stealth mode. I really think they should add Stealth Strike because with the increase damage of Snipe, the critical damage should be a very good way to open the battle.
5. Merc, on paper, has decent aoe damage but in reality, they don't. The biggest problem is that they mostly have narrow cone attacks and Spec-Ops don't have any aoe attack (even Robot Protectors have one aoe with stun!) The two Soldiers need to widen their cone from 20' arc to 40'.
6. Medic's problem is that he only has 70' range. All the rest are at least 80'. This is why Medic tends to get hit more than the other two soldiers because he walks forward a bit. They finally disable his Brawl but he should have at least 80' or even 90'. A Medic should not have less range than the rest of the cast. Another problem that contribute Medic taking aggro is his Frag Grenade. Frag has way larger radius than the other two soldier's cone attacks and the knock backs always draw more aggro. Medic shouldn't draw more aggro than the other two Soldiers.
7. Serum. Sigh. I've really tried to like this power but this power just sucks. The god-mode is okay but I don't like the short duration and the endurance crash. It also doesn't have psionic resistance. The idea behind is nice because if you put it on Commando, he turns into Rambo-like. They should really increase the damage buff in serum. I think it only gives like 5%? That's like nothing... A real Rambo can survive and do great damage. I prefer they turn it into a good single non-god-mode buff. Something like giving 20% resistance, 30% damage buff and last for like 30s and with half the recharge. The god-mode type of power just seems weird to a range-heavy pet that can't grab aggro for the team. A god-mode power works well on Bruiser, but not on Commando. What good is a god-mode if Commando has no taunt?
8. Upgrades. If you use the first Upgrade on Soldier, they actually have better single target damage than with 2nd upgrade because 2nd upgrade over-writes first one and replaces one attack with a cone attack. First upgrade is better for ST dps and second upgrade is better for burst/aoe damage (except the aoe damage cone is way too narrow to be effective). I think an Upgrade should be an Upgrade. The 2nd upgrade should improve both ST dps and aoe damage. Look at Robot's minion. They get one more attack from first upgrade and a cone from 2nd upgrade. The second upgrade only improve it.
I am at work. That's it for now. I have a lot to say about Merc and Ninja MM!
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.
Regarding the animation times: I took the animation times from the similar Assault Rifle animations, since the Mercs still use the original Assault Rifle animations from before the global weapon animation time reductions (where nothing in AR animated shorter than 1.87s).
From what I understand, and I could be totally wrong, it makes things much easier when they can take the animation from somewhere else (in this case, the much faster Assault Rifle powers).
Wow Trickshooter...this is great...you've been kicking butt and taking names lately.
Edit: I like the "updated" changes to AR for the Soldiers but I do think we need to get rid of Frag Grenade.
Regarding the animation times: I took the animation times from the similar Assault Rifle animations, since the Mercs still use the original Assault Rifle animations from before the global weapon animation time reductions (where nothing in AR animated shorter than 1.87s).
From what I understand, and I could be totally wrong, it makes things much easier when they can take the animation from somewhere else (in this case, the much faster Assault Rifle powers). |
Synapse didn't even want to touch Lich's Life Drain even after it got changed (I PMed him about it because I really think Lich can use a good attack). I guess pet's performances are so tight that they normally don't want to mess with animation time. I could be wrong of course.
I don't know how much time they want to spend on improving Merc. The dev do recognize that some older MM sets need attention.
However, if there's one thing they can do to make Merc better, improve Spec-Ops. They are the true reason why Merc is under-performing. I can live with current Commando and Soldiers but Spec-Ops' Snipe needs to have increased damage for a 16s attack.
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.
Synapse didn't even want to touch Lich's Life Drain even after it got changed (I PMed him about it because I really think Lich can use a good attack). I guess pet's performances are so tight that they normally don't want to mess with animation time. I could be wrong of course.
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Its also possible that the internal view of the Zombies is sufficiently controversial that Synapse did not want to engage in that conversation. MMO development is a collaborative process, and while its probably done differently in different companies, at Paragon different developers have different ideas about what works and what doesn't, what's too powerful and what's too weak, and the game we get is a compromise among all those interests being represented. Rarely does something happen by authoritative fiat. So sometimes a designer will not want to touch something because hidden under it is a touchy compromise among many developers, and touching it will open up a big can of worms.
Or, Synapse could have been getting really close to hitting level 50 on his new corruptor and wanted to work on that instead.
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Pet AI used to be incredibly twitchy with regard to how pets decided which powers to use. Its a lot better now, but still not 100% predictable. Changing either the cycle time of a power (the sum of cast and recharge) or the total amount of time casting powers (the sum of the cast times of the powers) can on some occasions radically alter how the pets behave. This means if Synapse so much as blows in the general direction of a pet power, he's probably just bought himself a couple of cycles of QA on that one little change.
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Life Drain's base damage got increased and I really thought Lich could use one. Lich's Life Drain is still doing Dark Blast damage.
And I really think they can reduce recharge on Siphon Life. Zombie and Grave Knight's 2nd upgrade has 30s recharge. That is really awfully long.
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.
6. Medic's problem is that he only has 70' range. All the rest are at least 80'. This is why Medic tends to get hit more than the other two soldiers because he walks forward a bit. They finally disable his Brawl but he should have at least 80' or even 90'. A Medic should not have less range than the rest of the cast. Another problem that contribute Medic taking aggro is his Frag Grenade. Frag has way larger radius than the other two soldier's cone attacks and the knock backs always draw more aggro. Medic shouldn't draw more aggro than the other two Soldiers.
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What sets would I buff? Good question. I've got another. Why are support sets so drastically different in powerlevel?
Just swapped from playing my Sonic/Psi defender to playing my Dark/Psi defender. One can somewhat support a team well, so long as I fight the right foes (yeah, carnies don't care if you use sonic shields) but mainly stays in the back or else fall over dead while the other can tank better than most Tankers. Even against foes she's weak against (Nemesis will Hit you without fear despite your powers), she can hold off a great deal of damage by herself.
I'd probably buff Force Field and Sonic Resonance myself. They need other forms of team-aid. Sonic Repulsion needs it's per-foe cost cut off or drastically reduced, Disruption Field could use some -dmg to make psi foes not hurt so much and Sonic Siphon could do with an extra PBAoE buff, maybe to Max HP (again so psi foes won't hurt so much).
A new mechanic, similar to those new Apparition foes in 1st ward, a kind of low HP shell that covers your teammates and absorbs maybe 1 or 2 attacks before shattering might be a nice touch to the Force Field shields, so that when you do get hit, at least 1 of those hits will result in no damage. Could it be spammable? Yeah, but not stackable. You could refresh it but, again, this is only *1* hit...teams get hit hundreds of times...you'd be doing nothing else but spamming bubbles...but it'd certainly help...even for soft-capped teams.
They could replace Frag Grenade with an AoE heal to supplement his Single Target... <.< >.>
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Excellent, Someone who agrees with me!
Mercernaries: Medic- Remove Frag Grenade (Moderate Damage, Knockback) and Stimulant (Resist Effects) and replace it with a weaker version of Temporal Mending. Replace Stimulant with a power that does the same thing but is a PbAOE and it grants only half of the normal -10.38 mag. |
Devices:
-Taser: turn it into a toggle based attack (still has to-hit values) but the longer you keep it toggled, the longer the target remains stunned. I'd give it a .39 eps usage. This allows the user to keep a single target out of the fight on a controlled duration basis. Even after detoggling, the stunn effect may linger.
- Cloaking Device: add a damage bonus for the first attack used while stealthed.
- Targeting Drone: add +range.
- Trip Mines: significantly shorten the animation time and allow it to be a targeted aoe power. Now a trip mine can either be used as an in combat attack or an tactical attack where a field is set up. Allow the mines to be placed on walls and ceilings.
- Time Bomb: simple thing to do is allow it to be targeted by any player to cause it to blow up. More complicated is to give it a trigger power as mentioned earlier.
Broadsword: this set was supossed to be burst damage vs. Katana's damage over time. However, except for one particular instance, this isn't true. Which causes Broadsword to fall behind Katana and never gain ground. In order to have this set keep pace with Katana, it needs to be able to have instances of high burst damage.
Oft suggested is to change build up to provide a higher damage bonus that fades over time, as was done to Peacebringers. With perhaps an increase to duration with a higher recharge.
I wouldn't mind if the damage (blasts) powers of the master minds were somewhat more changable. For instance say you want to make a merc MM more rambo-like. You take the bow blast; granting the normal snap shot, aimed shot, and fistful of arrows, and eliminating your access to the normal MG blasts (burst, slug, and m30 grenade) Or you want an assault rifle instead of an energy weapon with robots, or whips instead of the bow stuff on the ninja. The power should and could be changed on a respec (just like a VEAT), but again you pick your replacement blast, and your locked in. It also would allow a MM to get some damage different from his pets, and make them more customizable.
I'd love to see the endurance costs come down, at the least for pre-Granite to make those levels smoother, and make non-Granite tanking more viable as an alternative to Granite only tankers who skip every other power except Stone Skin, Mudpots, and Earth's Embrace.
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