Can we please get a fix for the Freezing Rain bug?
By
Sailboat,
Posted on: 2012-04-13 07:01 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
be careful what you wish for. I'm concerned the easier 'fix' might be to remove the debuff from mobs that left the rain before it expired and adjust the description.
We don' need no stinkin' signatures!
Eh. A lot of my characters have already locked down the enemies in the Rain with an immobilize, so there aren't any mobs that left the rain anyway.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
I like Storm Summoning. Perhaps the premier power in the set is Freezing Rain.
For years Freezing Rain has been bugged. Maybe since the game went live. I'm not sure exactly when it was discovered, but the bug has been known for a long time and is perhaps best summarized here by noted Storm poster and guide-writer Draggynn:
Ah, yes. Unfortunately, that is true. Freezing Rain is currently bugged; the developers are aware of this:
The power works exactly the way it is described if an enemy leaves the patch before it expires. However, if an enemy is still in the patch when it expires there is around a 65% chance that the debuff will vanish completely. Thus giving you only 15 seconds of debuff instead of the full 60. Even if the buff continues for the full 30 second duration, you will not get the 15 second lingering effect of the power at all. This bug has been termed "The Poofing Bug" due to the way the debuff suddenly goes "Poof" with the disappearance of Freezing Rain.
Even with this bug, Freezing Rain is still one of the most powerful debuffs in the game. However this bug can make it more important to supplement Freezing Rain's slow with Snow Storm and makes it even more crucial to have a high recharge on Freezing Rain. It also becomes advantageous to knock enemies out of the Freezing Rain if you do not have need of the knockdown mitigation as this will prevent the "Poofing Bug".
Also, Freezing Rain deserves to work properly, the way it was intended.
Fixing the bug would make this strong power more effective, in that it would last longer, but it wouldn't make damage numbers bigger, and it would be more reliable and easy to understand (the behavior would match the animation). And it's not like Storm is so overpowered people ask for the set in Broadcast; it could stand the "buff" without breaking anything.
I love Storm and I hate the fact that every time I use its signature power, I have to make a mental reservation that "Of course, it's bugged. Sigh."
Many long-lasting bugs have been quashed recently, several powersets re-visited and improved, and numerous powers re-invented or made more effective. Furthermore, large numbers of things we were told were difficult or resource-intensive have now been added to the game. The game is flowering with Issues, expanded powers, new systems, new art...presumably these are benefits brought by the Freedom economic model.
Can we please, please, please get some resources devoted to tracking down and fixing this bug now? It might be hard, but you guys are doing "hard" and making it look easy these days.
Thank you for reading!
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog