Time Bomb... seriously what are the devs thinking?
By
Another_Fan,
Posted on: 2012-02-18 23:09 in Blasters
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Yeah, I've mentioned that. Just about any other blaster that has decent AoE can mow through spawns at easily triple the rate and with IOs that provide defense set bonuses nearly as safely. Dropping Time Bomb and Trip Mine's cast time to just 1 second would solve much of the problem both solo and teamed. Dropping Time Bomb's delay to 5 seconds (or making it triggerable at will) would make it usable on a team instead of a wasted power pick while teaming.
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Originally Posted by Oliin
Sure it can deal all that damage in one quick burst, but it does so with a significant set-up time which makes it easily the slowest paced blaster secondary around when played as it seems was intended.
Used to play stealthily and set traps it's damaging, and safe, and slow. |
-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
I hate these kinds of threads tbh. I *like* powersets that perform their best without 9 power choices.
I skimmed through this thread, so I haven't seen what everyone has said, so I'm not quite sure if this has been said.
Personally, I would prefer it if they removed the time on time bomb, and when choosing time bomb, give you a secondary power with it(Similar to how change ammunition in DP gives you 3 side powers). This secondary power would obviously be a detonator. This would increase mileage of Time Bomb by a lot methinks, as well as give you more control over the situation. After all, if you were a demolition specialist, would you just set up your big bomb to explode with the chance of it doing no damage at all if you didn't lure your opponent to it in time?
"There's no magic formula that's guaranteed to make us produce a universally loved item each and every week, hell some people even poo pooed Street Justice." --Zwillinger
Or they can make it a toggle maybe.. 2 second animation and you just turn the toggle off for remote detonation. Makes much more sense for a fluid environment.
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Power buffs don't affect builds that lack those powers. Keep skipping time bomb.|
Originally Posted by Rikti
I hate these kinds of threads tbh. I *like* powersets that perform their best without 9 power choices.
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You should campaign for synapse to release a set with 9 copies of [Nothing].
I'd weigh in on this discussion but haven't played /Devices past 15. My gut tells me that a reexamination of interruptibility and possibly making time bomb a toggle (like the vet pets) could do a lot, but I dont think devices should do any trade offs. Ease of use should not cost effectiveness, if at all possible.
Mission Arc: Metatronic Mayhem (Id 1750): A tale of robots gone wrong, rogue robots gone right, and madmen gone every which way but loose.
Maybe when summoning the bomb you get a pet bar on the screen with a nice detonate button to blow it at the right time... But would nicer to drop the bomb idea and replace with orbital cannon nuke as device holder have awesome romote to control weapon platform satalite
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So what is going to be the trade off?|
Originally Posted by Dizzy_Dazzler
Maybe when summoning the bomb you get a pet bar on the screen with a nice detonate button to blow it at the right time... But would nicer to drop the bomb idea and replace with orbital cannon nuke as device holder have awesome romote to control weapon platform satalite
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Cus right now, time bomb gets good damage because it is such a ***** to use. Get rid of that, and what happens... less damage, smaller area of effect, higher endurance cost, etc, etc.
We can't just expect the devs to toss the restrictions and not have some of the good stuff removed as well.
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Don't you know that discussion of power selection/slotting can ONLY be based on hearsay, rumor, idle speculation, and bald-faced lies??!? ~Elf_Sniper
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More like shield charge damage but abit more base around 150 to 170 at lvl 50 recharge 90 secs around 2.5 secs animation with knockdown effect. Like RoA you place it .
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Originally Posted by Pinkpup
So what is going to be the trade off?
Cus right now, time bomb gets good damage because it is such a ***** to use. Get rid of that, and what happens... less damage, smaller area of effect, higher endurance cost, etc, etc. We can't just expect the devs to toss the restrictions and not have some of the good stuff removed as well. |
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Rain of arrows does more than half Time bomb's damage, at range, with 1/4 the recharge time.|
Originally Posted by Pinkpup
So what is going to be the trade off?
Cus right now, time bomb gets good damage because it is such a ***** to use. Get rid of that, and what happens... less damage, smaller area of effect, higher endurance cost, etc, etc. We can't just expect the devs to toss the restrictions and not have some of the good stuff removed as well. |
Overcharge does 3/4 the damage, at range, with 1/2 the recharge.
Neither of these powers is interruptible. Neither crashes. Both can benefit from build up and aim, while time bomb can't due to waiting out the duration of the buffs with its cast time and detonation delay.
Arguably, with its damage, recharge, detonation delay and unbuffability, time bomb could lose its interrupt time and 9detonation second cast, and keep ALL the damage.
Mission Arc: Metatronic Mayhem (Id 1750): A tale of robots gone wrong, rogue robots gone right, and madmen gone every which way but loose.
I'm still of the opinion that the best thing to do is to turn Time Bomb into a Toggle power.
Toggle ON to place bomb.
Toggle OFF to detonate bomb.
S imple
E asy
E ffective
... not being done. 
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
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That's an interesting idea: "Orbital strike" |
Originally Posted by Dizzy_Dazzler
Maybe when summoning the bomb you get a pet bar on the screen with a nice detonate button to blow it at the right time... But would nicer to drop the bomb idea and replace with orbital cannon nuke as device holder have awesome romote to control weapon platform satalite
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You could use an animation similar to the Blaster munitions debuff, with the little red targeter, and have a weaker version of the warworks TAoE power, with the cannon blasts raining from above.
Although, Redlynne's idea above is much more effective/useful...since traps is a set that is often used for planned assaults on a mob. The toggle off option would be much easier to plan with.
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I said this a while back myself. It would make it a more viable power once again.
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Originally Posted by Redlynne
I'm still of the opinion that the best thing to do is to turn Time Bomb into a Toggle power.
Toggle ON to place bomb. Toggle OFF to detonate bomb. S imple E asy E ffective ... not being done. |
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2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
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4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
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That was the name "Orbital Strike" Would be nice for a fast game why need 2 deploy powers trip mines and a timebomb. Timebomb fix could also be higher mob cap and a wide range argo genarator like omega manoever drop bomb let it tick mobs runs at it and Boom!
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Originally Posted by Bionut911
That's an interesting idea: "Orbital strike"
You could use an animation similar to the Blaster munitions debuff, with the little red targeter, and have a weaker version of the warworks TAoE power, with the cannon blasts raining from above. Although, Redlynne's idea above is much more effective/useful...since traps is a set that is often used for planned assaults on a mob. The toggle off option would be much easier to plan with. |
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Speaking of pets... I'd vote for giving the bomb movement and have it act exactly like seeker drones. Summon it and let it follow you into a fight to go boom... or summon it into a spawn from a distance to start a fight (which is an excellent way to use drones). That' be very useful and it doesn't deviate much from it's original intent.
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Originally Posted by Dizzy_Dazzler
Maybe when summoning the bomb you get a pet bar on the screen with a nice detonate button to blow it at the right time... But would nicer to drop the bomb idea and replace with orbital cannon nuke as device holder have awesome romote to control weapon platform satalite
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I gotta make pain. I gotta make things right. I gotta stop what's comin'. 'Least I gotta try.
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Yeah pretty much ...|
Originally Posted by Local_Man
Time Bomb isn't useless . . . it is extremely situational. It could use some improvements to make it more useful and less situational.
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But it is totally skippable to pick other powers that would provide better results in new content or team enviros such that you can keep up with the pace of the game. Even if you are solo, while you might be able to setup instances, a revised version is more than likely to enable you to do even more.
Hopefully, Synapse - Arbiter Hawk - BScorp - or someone will come up with some thing nice in the near future.
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A: Hm... how can we make a power even more useless than Black Hole but leave just enough rare edge cases where it might potentially have a minor use despite another power in the same set always working better so that a few people will say that it's "not that bad"?| Time Bomb... seriously what are the devs thinking? |
That's probably what they were thinking. Because anything else would indicate a disconnect with reality.
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Well it IS a legacy from Jack Emmert after all.......
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Originally Posted by Siolfir
That's probably what they were thinking. Because anything else would indicate a disconnect with reality.
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-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
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+1 I agree with this message.
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Originally Posted by Siolfir
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A: Hm... how can we make a power even more useless than Black Hole but leave just enough rare edge cases where it might potentially have a minor use despite another power in the same set always working better so that a few people will say that it's "not that bad"? That's probably what they were thinking. Because anything else would indicate a disconnect with reality. |
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I would say that it is definitely more useful than Black Hole. Time Bomb pretty much requires invisibility to make it useful, but if you have that invisibility, you can run into the middle of a group, set up TB and back out before any foes knew you were there. Any foes left alive will then come after you, where they can be led into a trap. |
Originally Posted by Siolfir
Q:
A: Hm... how can we make a power even more useless than Black Hole but leave just enough rare edge cases where it might potentially have a minor use despite another power in the same set always working better so that a few people will say that it's "not that bad"? That's probably what they were thinking. Because anything else would indicate a disconnect with reality. |
Any power that does any reasonable amount of damage is probably more useful than Black Hole. That doesn't stop Time Bomb from sucking, but at least it is better than Black Hole.
Personally, I like the challenge of finding a valid use for a power that everyone hates. I was able to do that with Time Bomb. I couldn't with Black Hole.
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i have a feeling that black hole is eventually gonna get the dimension shift treatment and then they will end up removing intangibility enhances from the game since come i22 it will be the only power in the entire game that actually can use intangibility enhances
Actually Black Hole is more useful than time bomb.
I don't know if this had been said yet but, Omega Maneuver is time bomb done right.
If there's anyone out there that *WANTED* to like time bomb, it's me.
Sometimes when solo I'll clear a map with just cloaking device, smoke grenade, and trip mine.
If I know where an EB is going to spawn (like Manticore in WWD#4) I'll spend a few minutes putting a stack on that location to instagib the EB.
Why don't I like time bomb? Let me count the ways.
1. Low damage for its recharge time. It only does 2x trip mine damage.
2. Slot hog. Being a pet like trip mine it doesn't get targeting drone's, or any other, +to-hit I have, so two slots ACC, then 4 split between DMG and recharge.
3. Recharge time.
4. Recharge time.
5. Recharge time. Did I mention it has an insane recharge time?
6. Limited use due to only being detonated by its timer.
7. Limited use due to its insanely long interrupt time.
8. Only does 2x trip mine damage. I could deploy two trip mines in about the time it takes to deploy a time bomb.
This is on a DP/Dev/Mun blaster. I don't have LRM yet but that's because I'm not high enough level. My standard opener, if I'm using my primary, is drop a trip mine in the middle of a smoke grenaded group and queue up hail of bullets. I. Like. Explosions. But I just can't bring my self to waste a power or slots on time bomb.
2/9 secondaries skipped: 1 /Dev, 1 /DM, 1 /ElM, 1 /MM, 1 /IM.
3/9 secondaries skipped: 1 /FM.
4/9 secondaries skipped: 3* /EnM.
Across blasters I find myself not taking some powers, reasons own, my preferences don't have to be forced on anyone else. What I will and won't find important can be completely different to other people. Typically with Blasters one can't take every attack and fully slot them all adequately.
Timebomb: Often the window of opportunity of use in teams is missed and only visible with hindsight. Not so much solo, between two of my tripmines there might not be anything better to do.
Ultimately no blaster secondary is full of must haves, you have a choice of powers with only so many slots. No one is tied down to having a forced playstyle or a set of options.
As a player of Tankers I like to enjoy the diverse team make ups and provide opportunities for other peoples powers. I'll assume that whatever people log on with and the powers they have, they would like to experience. I won't have to ask someone or tell someone where any herdpoint is, I won't have to be told when and where a Timebomb or Tripmine is placed. I will know from reading buffs and positions on map. I'd be able to try and make a point to someones effort with no communication at all.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Used to play stealthily and set traps it's damaging, and safe, and slow.
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