Attention Blasters!

i would please like a mez protection toggle or inherent.

And, of course, I'll be playing 'soccer dad' for the duration of the blah blah blah... so, hopefully there'll be a thread full of post-info goodness when I get back.

I would have enjoyed the upcoming announcement more if a player hadn't hinted at what it'll contain already in this thread. It sort of refocuses the attention from what's being announced to the players, which I don't think is anyone's intention here. More importantly, it kind of kills the suspense.

I am happy to see blasters buffed, as I am happy to see anything improved. I'm a bit concerned at the implication that defense and range are being tweaked, too, for a later release, since I see a potential cascade of gameplay issues there. But since I'm not really a gameplay person anyway, I'll let others fight about that.

I am filled with trepidation at this news, because I remember what things were like at launch -- there were only 5 ATs and Blasters were the kings of ranged damage. They were also the kings of melee damage, because 'blappers' were far more effective dishing out damage than scrappers were, to the point where some friends I played with were openly questioning why the scrapper AT even existed. They were also the kings of damage mitigation, thanks to a combination of sniping and kiting that allowed them to take advantage of most enemies' inability to deal significant ranged damage versus melee damage, whiich made their ability to avoid enemy 'alphas' superior to even the best-designed tanker.

I don't expect things to return to City of Blasters as a result of Issue 24s release, but anything that moves the game back in that direction would be a mistake, IMO.

--
Pauper

i dont think theres anything wrong with blasters....ive been playing the same guy since issue 1. and hes still my main today. changes coming make me nervous, most changes made in this game has been more bad then good. while ill wait to see what they are planning, theres more then enough ways to make a blaster tougher. if you other blasters fail to change your tactics and die...thats your fault, dont blame the AT

Can't see anything in that link. Am I early or late? Putting GMT would be so helpful. Also european summertime and wintertime causes some confusion. I think I have to add +6 hours to ETC to get GMT and +2 to get my timezone...

Oh or maybe I'm printing this and but to the wall over my computer
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._the_world.png

edit. looks like my calculatings were accurate ..or I was just lucky

I made account there but I'm probably just listening and not making lot or any comments.

Im very interested to see what changes will come when i24 comes.

My main character is a blaster, I have regular arguments with a friend of mine who used to main blaster and now her main is a Scrapper, specially when it comes to this heated topic of "blasters are fine" vs "blasters need to be looked at".

I know that /I/ play my blaster and do some insane things with him and my other blasters. But the general consensus means that the blasters need an improvement, right? We are looking at balance issues here. So, if by all of this my blaster will get a buff I definitely wont throw a tantrum about more power to my favorite AT just because I want to be a purist and dont want them to change.

If the changes end up looking more like a nerf than a buff, or a huge change on mechanics(which i doubt), Im sure a lot of people will speak their mind.

So before throwing things around and argue over whatevers and whatnots we better wait for the stream and THEN we start panicking or celebrating.

Alexander_Drako said:

Taps foot. OMGMUSIC.

Can someone live blog whatever the announcement is? The site happens to be blocked at work.

Zwil talking... talking.. words... words... Hawk mentioned ... words...

1:41 est.: Community this week - SG base, do you want yours featured on Twitch.

1:42: Zwil has tech issues.

1:43: Hit Streak asked about "Disaster" bases. PERC thing...

1:44: Hawk sits down! (Ugh, uncomfortable Zwil thinks he's cute talk)

1:46: Hawk "I make powers, villains and do lots of math."

1:47: Hawk powers changes - in issue 21: 4 moderate changes to Khelds, Issue 22 Gravity.

1:48: Game is streaming while they talk in Twitch

1:49: Energy/Devices blaster shown.

1:50 Hawk: Hit Sniper blast (to Zwill) to see what it does. Regular sniper blast happens, Hawk talks about 4+ second time to fire.

1:50: Macro talk as Zwil struggles vs. what Hawk is used to... Hawk says snipes are bad, situational.

1:51: Hawk: "What we wanted to do is, is let people use snipes in combat."

1:52: Talk of assassin strikes and snipes being the same. You can move and shoot it!

1:52: Talk of +20 to hit for a snipe. NOTE: Thanks to Agent White, if you have +22 to hit you can move while sniping.

1:53: Talk of teaming/snipes being of less use. Talk of snipes more useful per teammate but I dont think I understood it.

1:54: Talk of LRMs not getting the ability to move and shoot during cast. NOTE: Devs using recharge cheat to fire snipes as fast as say brawl.

1:55: Talk of Melee range being basically 40 feet as you fire, animation time, you're in melee combat.

1:56: Many short range 40 ft attacks are extended (Blaze, Shout, etc.). Not all 40 ft powers changed.

1:57: Secondary talk.

1:58: One power in every blaster secondary to include a Sustain mechanic.

1:59: Devices - changed cloaking device to Field Operative. REgen and Recovery added. Half of regen enhanceable, all of recovery is.

1:59: Drain psyche not improved. Awesome as is.

2:00 Darkness with Touch of Fear changed to it's new power for Sustain. More talk of devs cheating with powers to show them off in the video.

2:00 Touch of the BEYOND! 60 second buff, does not stack. All buffs dont stack.

2:01 OMG Fire and Ice manip's auras now give buffs to you! Blazing Aura, mainly useless vs. Hot Feet, can heal you!

2:02 Chilling Embrace ticks off absorb after slowing targets. Absorb is aheal.

2:02 Lightning Clap gives a buff! /faints - Force of Thunder, regen and recovery.

2:03 Conserve Power is ENERGIZE!!! My main has to change something.. Now. It's more regen/recovery than a heal but omg.

2:04 Hawk: These are seen as not massive changes but improvements.

2:05 Hawk: If we have to, we will change more to make Blasters as fun as other ATs.

2:05 Hawk: He mentioned crashless nukes, but that sounds like a lets see if this improves things first.

2:06: Zwil is now fielding questions for Hawk - go ask now!

2:07: Chainmez Question: Yes thought about it. All of the Sustain secondaries affect you while mezzed. Many people see main problem is mez protection but it mostly tends an enemy to do is get in melee range. If we did anything about chainmez it would be to go through NPC powers and add mez supression.

2:08: Corrupters, Defenders, Doms all get the SNIPE and RANGE changes! Wooooooo!!

2:09: Animation time changes coming. Issue 24 beta.. hints... booo! But coming!

2:10: Really Hard Way badge talk. Blah, blah, blah, DPS optimized... will be farmed one day...

2:11: Blazing Aura - aggro machine - if you used it in melee ranged. Blaster one doesn't have a taunt.

2:12: Force of Thunder (blaster L-Clap) - 1 percent of health per second, half enhanceable. Works if it hits nothing. So base health of a blaster is 1204+ (so 12 pts per second, I believe that's 238 regen).

2:13: Chilling Embrace: Absorb, enh. level 50, 110 hp worth of absorb every 3 seconds. Range is increased to 30 feet!!

2:14: Stalker Snipes improved as well. Patron pools.

2:14: No respec planned, powers work as is - name changed. Considering regen/recovery can be slotted... eh.

2:15: Will this make players play more blappers. Hawk planned changes to make players enjoy both range and melee playstyles.

2:16: Again - Nukes will NOT be touched. So crashes stay for now (blarg bad typing before I said no crash, Nukes not being changed).

2:16: Jokes about Martial arts/dual blades for blasters, awkward pause. Likely planned and Hawk is trying is poker face.

2:17: Talk of Knock-To possible. With existing KB resists, new code would be needed to add a "Magnetic Pull!" kind of power

2:18: Zwil owns a lot of hats.

2:18: Sets without Snipes will be considered in beta. This means Ice, Sonic - Masters of Math will work their magic later.

2:19: Again, Defenders, Doms, Corrs - 40 ft blast powers extended to 80.

2:20: Again, Snipes get their instant fire from having +20 to hit. Kismet +6 IO, team tactics, fortitude, aim, etc all work. NOTE: +Accuracy does NOT help snipes fire faster.

2:20: Hybrid talk, is it working as intended - Hawk thinks it is. Made better during beta while talking with community.

2:21: Hawk wants Support to be improved, better said: He wants it to feel more active. It will be a while before he gets to it.

2:22: Mental not getting improved. Drain Psyche is absurdly stong and everyone knows it. We are NOT changing it. Not worth it. Been in game too long.

2:23: Talk of Click to Activate (or powers changed) - Perma out of the bag! 60 seconds, wont stack. Just have to remember to click. Energize (conserve power) will need recharge still. No one asked if Energize was getting the quicker timer, I guess it was implied here in chat.

2:25: Greedy blaster question of how to make the AT better than Dom/Corrs as end all be all damage dealers... um, no we want things to be even.

2:25: Hawk - 1 second snipes will really change things for some people.

2:26: Zwil and Hawk, we both want Energy Melee improved. When we can we will. We really want Energy Melee better.

2:27: Respec Terra Volta trial, request - on no one's docket.

2:27: Damage Meter?! (laughter) Zwil: God, no. - Is the set fun to play? Ship it.

2:28: Dual Pistols' animations will be shortened but not less flashy.

2:28: Water blast release will hit soon, notice will always be a week ahead. "Water blast will be a great way to cool off in the hot summer months!" - Zwil. And now Zwil is mocket.

2:29: Capt. Mako week for shark week! (Make it so, community!). Sighs, it was a joke.

2:31: Last question - (creepy moment with Silence of Lambs voice): What's the next AT you would hit, Hawk?! Hawk - um.. ahhh... Tankers? Probably be Tankers. No promises.

New word: Hawkward!

And we're done! Let the forum jousting and overjoyed blaster screams begin!

if you have over +22% To-Hit, any snipe you fire will remove the interupt time.

Devices just got waay awesome

40 and 50 range attacks now have a range of 85.

Thanks for doing this Rejolt!

So, my initial question (after coming to terms with Electric getting their new benefits from Lightning Clap/Force Of Thunder):

How will the numbers on Click versions and Toggle versions compare? I would assume it'll be similar to the general rule of all toggle vs. click powers...

I suppose I am just trying to find joy in Electric getting it in click form...