So ... Fade .... (Dark Aff)
At the moment, fade is buffable by power boost. However, the new version that's coming has a resistance boost as well as a defense one, and that will mean that it will *not* be buffable by power boost, so don't get too used to being able to do that. That said, the new version is still a much better power overall, and it's nice to not feel like you're giving up something by wanting some other epic.
As far as I know, both old and new soul absorption should be buffable. If I understand correctly it's another pseudopet based power, but those have inherited buffs for a while now, so I don't see why it wouldn't work.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
At the moment, fade is buffable by power boost. However, the new version that's coming has a resistance boost as well as a defense one, and that will mean that it will *not* be buffable by power boost, so don't get too used to being able to do that. That said, the new version is still a much better power overall, and it's nice to not feel like you're giving up something by wanting some other epic.
As far as I know, both old and new soul absorption should be buffable. If I understand correctly it's another pseudopet based power, but those have inherited buffs for a while now, so I don't see why it wouldn't work. |
Having played with Fade more on live than I did on Beta, I have to admit I really like the CURRENT version quite a bit. It's exactly the right amount of time for me to get a large spawn (esp ones that have a group off to the side where I can't see/get to them) pulled together and locked down. It's up for almost every spawn, but that's because it takes me a while to chew up a +1/+5 spawn by myself .
I don't even have it slotted out at all, just the LotG in the default slot and the +60ish global rech. So once I get actual slots into it it would be up quite a bit more and sheer size of the +def buff makes slotting it for def tremendously powerful.
The new version is certainly an overall buff and I definitely look forward to the Dam Res, but the current version is by no means a slouch.
Arg
The new version is certainly an overall buff and I definitely look forward to the Dam Res, but the current version is by no means a slouch.
Arg |
Slotted and with seat time to 1 to 50, it is just fine as you noted. Not going to complain about the change without seat time, just pointing out it was not "needed" as some claimed without seat time just based on paper.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
I think a lot of it depends on whether you were looking at it (the original version) from a solo perspective or not. Solo, it's like buildup - pop it and then dive in. As you pointed out, it lasts more or less just long enough for you to get a handle on the spawn. On teams, though, very short duration buffs can be problematic since it requires more coordination than most people usually expect to need. By the time people a: realize you cast a buff on them, and b: realize which buff it is and that it's highly time limited, you've usually lost most of the duration.
The original design somewhat made sense, if you considered that the general function is presumably to replace the mitigation originally offered by fearsome stare. A burst defense power would seem like a reasonable replacement for a power offering a relatively short duration of -tohit, and the fringe benefits can try to offset the lack of a mez. The problem is that a debuff requires only one person to pay attention, while a buff requires *everyone* to pay attention - well, that and the fact that it had triple the recharge. It has even more recharge than that now, but at least the mitigation actually lasts long enough to be useful in a team context.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
To derail a tad, I'm not sure I agree with that, Muon. I was kind of worried that dark/time would be too busy what with the giant pile of buffs on top of the many controls and debuffs, but I've come to see the buffs exactly how I see the debuffs. That is to say you don't need to worry about hitting everyone with them at all times, rather you just try to use them in an opportune way when you can. For example, if I see a fellow squishy taking undue damage I'll target them with my next farsight. At that point anyone else within range is a bonus. Similar thinking applies to the shorter duration buffs such as temporal mending and, presumably, fade. Basically I think it's a mistake to feel like you need to hit everyone with the buff at exactly the perfect time since the time you spend stressing about that is time not spent doing other things. From that perspective, current fade and upcoming fade seem fairly similar in application.
It's changing that is done so I am past that.
Having said that this team waiting for buffs to go off in 3..2..1 and then everyone goes in deal does not happen much at all anymore on freedom where I play. I mean sure occasionally you might see an old school emp give that call but mostly people just buff on the roll so to speak.
So many teams steam roll missions/tf's these days any buffs given are under a time constraint just based on the speed of the roll and I do not see this as any kind of real special issue in practice.
The development team and this community deserved better than this from NC Soft. Best wishes on your search.
I find I more often fire off buffs on the run than gather anymore. Just keep an eye out, when you see its a good time or you have most of the team together, center yourself, fire away and keep going.
I personally had liked how Fade was, it was a good opener or "oh crap" power, though I suppose at later levels that doesn't matter much. I havn't played the new version enough to judge.
Is it me, or are people now more transparent than they were before with it? Its cool, but I think it can confuse people into thinking its a stealth. Or maybe its partly with shadowfall also going.
_Victory_
Character List
I will say that, looking at Dark Aff builds, and seeing the kinds of defenses they're capable of reaching, it really did feel to me like the devs didn't really give much thought to how permable Fade would add up on top of Shadow Fell. But then again, perm PBed Farsight is pretty nutso too. And a /Force Field can softcap everyone but themselves (and a Defender can softcap everyone else to the Incarnate cap). So maybe it's just defense in this game that's nuts. Which really is more of a general observation and nothing new.
And, after all, that's only really a problem on pretty extreme levels of cooldown reduction that you simply wouldn't see in many other games, because it'd be way too difficult to balance around. But this game is the way it is, and despite weird balance issues I must admit it's a fun game. But that's more of a general topic and off point to the thread.
Dark Affinity is kinda a weird beast, though, in that it got two of its powers removed because they were slated to go into Dark Control. What do you even replace Fearsome Stare with? It really feels like they came up with an imperfect answer.
Also, that's pretty much the same buff philosophy I go with. "Everyone's roughly in the same spot? HIT PBAOE BUFF. Okay, I missed that one guy who lagged behind/went off elsewhere. Eh, they'll be fine, probably. Well, if they start getting a beating, I'll just go do my best to save their butt."
Personally, I think the new Fade is much better. The old one never suited its role for a panic button. Boosting someone's defense seemed a poor option in the presence of controls and heals. It was alright as an opening strategy though, but the duration and recharge made for some pretty poor uptime. They could have preserved that role by tweaking the duration and recharge alone.
Comparing it to Farsight, I think Fade is by far a lesser offender in terms of being overpowered. Ruling out Power Boost was a good move, in my opinion. And Fade requires significantly more recharge to make permable while Farsight, even requiring less recharge, has the added bonus of having any recharge bonuses built into Time Manipulation.
Yeah, on Time Manipulation, you can pretty much softcap every single defense in regular content on a SO build, particularly if you select Illusion for Group Invisibility. I checked not long after I started thinking about the comparison between Fade and Farsight. Dark Affinity at least requires a fairly high high recharge build and a bit of added defense building.
So, is FADE buffable by power boost or similar powers (like the Clarion that boosts secondary effects)?
Will the new improved FADE still be buffable?
What about Soul Absorption -- is it buffed by power boost or similar powers?
Thanks.