i think beam rifle got the top deal out of the blast sets with the bypass interrupt on the snipe since the snipe is 100% chance to spread disintegration
sets without snipes prolly got the lower boot there
in terms of the blaster secondaries i think all of them made out well but the top set would prolly be devices due to targeting drone (oddly enough) lol
Defenders.
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Depends on if they do, in fact, decide to tweak the animation times. Having ES kick off faster at 80' range? Yes, please.
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Originally Posted by BrandX
Dual Pistols got the shaft.
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RaikenX is currently seeking new quotes to add to his signature.
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Originally Posted by Smiling_Joe
::looks at RaikenX's signature::
Something funny. |
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For sure that will be a plus. But, while I don't recall the exact amount of time suggested at shaving off of ES, it wasn't that much and didn't make that much of an improvement. Deffinently not enough to pull ahead of Ice or Sonic and lacks the Snipe to pull really far ahead like the other sets will.|
Originally Posted by RaikenX
Depends on if they do, in fact, decide to tweak the animation times. Having ES kick off faster at 80' range? Yes, please.
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It'll be buffed, I just think it'll be bottom of the list now.
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Looking forward to seeing the ST damage my Fire/Devices can pull off, might finally make me invest in the full recharge and damage build (3 second 560 damage Blaze and 4 second 635 damage Blazing Bolt ~/o/ )
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
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Harbiter Awk confirmed an animation time revamp for DP. I'm happily curious to see how it'll work.
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Originally Posted by BrandX
Dual Pistols got the shaft.
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I know. I just don't think it'll be that big of an improvement, based on what numbers they were talking about before (which came out to about +10DPS)
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Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
Harbiter Awk confirmed an animation time revamp for DP. I'm happily curious to see how it'll work.
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The BrandX Collection
Can't really say since it's probably better to test, but I generally don't care about combos, just *my* characters. I can tell you some didn't come off so well, frankly.
DP/Fire/Cold: Sadly, unless the range on Cauterizing Aura is increased, I'd have to say crappy here. Ice has a +max HP power so the heal-over-time of Cauterizing Aura won't benefit as much as if I'd picked something like Energy Manip, Elec Manip or even Ice manip. No snipe and only increased range on Executioner's shot...I'm actually hoping Suppressive Fire is boosted in range (from 60 to 80ft) which would help a lot more than ES being buffed in range...
Sonic/Ice/Munition: I'd say, with ice's slows and increased area from Chilling Embrace, that'd work in my favor with keeping absorb up. He does have +resists from tough and Body Armor so that might help too. But no snipe. Only increased range on Shout. Again, I'd rather have increased range on Screech vs Shout as I'm most likely already in that range to use Shiver, Sirens Song, Frozen Aura or Cryo Freeze Ray. LRM doesn't get a buff to cast but frankly, who needs it? The power is a costly long rechargng nuke anyway. Not like you need to spam it quickly.
Dark/Energy: Probably will be better. She'll eventually pick up Mace Mastery for Scorpion's Shield. That plus pool defense and Power Boost will give her some temporary high defense along with her heal/regen in Energize. She's actually probably the best off of my blasters so far since she has a snipe, she has maneuvers already so can grab up tactics and Power Boost boosts ToHit buffs as well so alternating Aim, Build Up and Power Boost to, hopefully get her that speedy Moonbeam sounds perfect. So she's got defense, a regen/heal and ToHit all boosted by Power Boost as well as a nice little snipe.
I may pick up my Archery/Dev again if I haven't deleted her. I enjoyed her when I played her but I just needed slots and she could have been one of the characters to go...No biggie though. I don't know if I want to reroll my Rad(water)/Elec into a Water/Elec yet but I'm not seeing a supreme help there either.
Corruptors and Defenders made out big time.
They can easily perma the new snipe. Corruptors can drop their horrendously bad T1 powers and use the snipe as part of their ordinary attack chain. Defenders can take all the slots out of their T1 blast powers. In either case they both gain a really significant benefit while giving up next to nothing.
The exception is AR which for all three now has a nice single target chain even though blasters in general have to reach more than the other 2.
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Isn't Buckshot going to be 80 feet with the same cone as it is now?
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Originally Posted by Another_Fan
Corruptors and Defenders made out big time.
They can easily perma the new snipe. Corruptors can drop their horrendously bad T1 powers and use the snipe as part of their ordinary attack chain. Defenders can take all the slots out of their T1 blast powers. In either case they both gain a really significant benefit while giving up next to nothing. The exception is AR which for all three now has a nice single target chain even though blasters in general have to reach more than the other 2. |
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I doubt it. They mentioned increasing the range of T3 blasts but didn't say anything about lengthening cones.|
Originally Posted by Zul_Vakirol
Isn't Buckshot going to be 80 feet with the same cone as it is now?
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On the original topic. I think AR/Dev is the combo that comes off the best. Perma-FastSnipe in a set which lacks a T3 blast AND has a 0.67s cast time on it's snipe should be very fun.
Beam Rifle is also nice due to the auto-spread in it's snipe but may have a problem of to many single target powers.
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You can increase the range of single target attacks at will, but increasing the range of cones increases their AoE factor, which increases their endurance and recharge.|
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
I doubt it. They mentioned increasing the range of T3 blasts but didn't say anything about lengthening cones.
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Without seeing the changes being contemplated for Dual Pistols, Ice, and Sonic, its impossible to judge those with anything other than wild guesses likely to be wrong. However, for the sets we do have information on, AR/Dev has both an easy way to make the insta-snipe perma and the best snipe in terms of DPA - approaching 3.0 DS/sec adjusted for arcanatime, which is the sort of number that you simply don't see in this game for normal powers.
Darkness Manipulation may have come out a little bit ahead, depending on your point of view. On the one hand, its sustain effect was added to Touch of Fear, which has to hit a target: its the only blaster sustain effect that actually has to hit a target that is being added in I24 (Drain Psyche has to hit a target, but its not a new effect being added in I24 and is also not being touched). The good news is that Arbiter Hawk is going to make it a ranged attack so you do not need to be in melee range to use it, so its getting a free buff in that regard. And Soul Drain has higher uptime than BU and is in a better position to make insta-snipe perma or near perma (an ultrahigh recharge build can make SD perma, but it takes +300% total recharge; Soul Drain and Aim have opportunities BU and Aim don't). But Soul Drain is a PBAoE.
Energy Manipulation also appears to come out a bit ahead. Its getting a variant of Energize instead of a sustain toggle or a power like ToF. That means unlike most sustains, it will be able to benefit, at least to a degree, from high recharge. And Energy Manipulation has power boost, which buffs healing powers. And it also buffs tohit, so Energy Manipulation also has a path to perma insta-snipe: build enough recharge so that the combination of BU, Aim, and PB collectively are up all the time, and you can get enough tohit constantly to make it work.
Besides Assault Rifle, the other primary with a better than average insta-snipe is Psychic Blast. AR's snipe has 2.99 DS/sec. Psionic Lance is 2.32 DS/sec (for comparison, Blaze has a DPA of 2.29 DS/sec).
I thought more sets would get absorb, but it seems only one does: Ice Manipulation. Its very difficult at this point to judge absorb, but I can say this: absorb is going to be numerically stronger than regen and heal over time because its inefficient: you can't use all of it all the time usually. But that means Ice Manipulation's absorb shield might be a wild card for min/maxers to attempt to leverage.
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Made Out: Like Bandits
Defenders
Beam Rifle
Devices
Energy Manipulation
Darkness Manipulation
Made out: Well
Corruptors
Archery
Assault Rifle
Energy Blast
Psionic Blast
Fire Blast
Dark Blast
Made Out: OK
Ice Blast
Dual Pistols (assuming the animation changes are decent)
Sonic Blast
Made Out: Poor Bastids
Electrical Blast and Manipulation
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Mental Manipulation worked out well too, because that admitted they are not going to nerf to vastly overpowered Drain Psyche and instead would prefer to give similar crutches to other sets.
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Originally Posted by EvilGeko
Made Out: Like Bandits
Defenders Beam Rifle Devices Energy Manipulation Darkness Manipulation Made out: Well Corruptors Archery Assault Rifle Energy Blast Psionic Blast Fire Blast Dark Blast Made Out: OK Ice Blast Dual Pistols (assuming the animation changes are decent) Sonic Blast Made Out: Poor Bastids Electrical Blast and Manipulation |
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Originally Posted by Aggelakis
PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"
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I always thought PB affects direct heals but not +regen. Is that not true?
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
And Energy Manipulation has power boost, which buffs healing powers.
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I would disagree with this assessment of Electrical Blast, I think it made out Well. Like Assault Rifle it now has the option for a third single target attack that it lacked before. Yes Zapp isn't quite as good as Sniper Rifle but it's still a solid improvement especially when you factor in that unlike AR Elec does have Aim so you can get more FastSnipe uptime for characters without the abiltiy to perma-FastSnipe.
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Originally Posted by EvilGeko
Made Out: Poor Bastids
Electrical Blast and Manipulation |
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By default Aim puts your snipe on a 90s recharge. That isn't really an improvement.
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Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
I would disagree with this assessment of Electrical Blast, I think it made out Well. Like Assault Rifle it now has the option for a third single target attack that it lacked before. Yes Zapp isn't quite as good as Sniper Rifle but it's still a solid improvement especially when you factor in that unlike AR Elec does have Aim so you can get more FastSnipe uptime for characters without the abiltiy to perma-FastSnipe.
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Princess Darkstar - Proud Member of the Handprints of Union, the #1 ranked SG in Europe!
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Originally Posted by Aggelakis
PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"
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Well, I can still use the snipe just for its range benefit between fast casts. Early attack chains are rarely seamless anyway, so the longer animation of a snipe isn't hurting like when you get to late game and can fill out the attack chain without a bad DPA power.|
Originally Posted by PrincessDarkstar
By default Aim puts your snipe on a 90s recharge. That isn't really an improvement.
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Even a single DO in Aim knocks the cycle time to under 80 seconds. Two SOs brings it to under a minute. This is helpful leveling. While leveling a lot of our abilities are not always available. Dull Pain isn't useless early, it is less useful than later on when you get more slots for it and when you add global recharge to have it even more often.
Why Blasters? Empathy Sucks.
So, you want to be Mental?
What the hell? Let's buff defenders.
Tactics are for those who do not have a big enough hammer. Wisdom is knowing how big your hammer is.
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But if the snipes were just changed to become useful powers without needing the gimick they would really help those struggling for a full chain early on, and the benefit would be universal across all sets regardless of if you have Aim, BU or both available.|
Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Well, I can still use the snipe just for its range benefit between fast casts. Early attack chains are rarely seamless anyway, so the longer animation of a snipe isn't hurting like when you get to late game and can fill out the attack chain without a bad DPA power.
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The AS changes made AS an amazing power no matter if you were in combat or not, I expected something similar for snipes to be honest. Maybe my expectations are what is wrong, but I think blasters are in serious trouble and was expecting serious help.
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Originally Posted by Aggelakis
PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"
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Electrical Blast does a tiny bit better, while some sets are moving far ahead.
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Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
I would disagree with this assessment of Electrical Blast, I think it made out Well. Like Assault Rifle it now has the option for a third single target attack that it lacked before. Yes Zapp isn't quite as good as Sniper Rifle but it's still a solid improvement especially when you factor in that unlike AR Elec does have Aim so you can get more FastSnipe uptime for characters without the abiltiy to perma-FastSnipe.
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The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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Well with a Blaster you have Aim and Build Up and slotting buts each of them on a 45second recharge. Based on Arcana's calculations this means you can FastSnipe 70% of the time. Not a huge benefit against regular mobs if you save Aim/BU for AoEs but useful for sustained ST DPS.|
Originally Posted by PrincessDarkstar
By default Aim puts your snipe on a 90s recharge. That isn't really an improvement.
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In any case I would argue that EvilGeko ranked Archery as coming off "well" so logically so must Electrical Blast. In both cases the FastSnipe is the only change (Blazing Arrow is already 80ft) range and so therefore logically both sets should be considered to have gotten the same benefit. Personally I think Elec came out better than Archery since FastSipe is more useful to a set lacking a T3 blast than one that already has one.
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Rain of Arrows didn't get nerfed. That's enough by itself to say Archery made out well! |
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
Well with a Blaster you have Aim and Build Up and slotting buts each of them on a 45second recharge. Based on Arcana's calculations this means you can FastSnipe 70% of the time. Not a huge benefit against regular mobs if you save Aim/BU for AoEs but useful for sustained ST DPS.
In any case I would argue that EvilGeko ranked Archery as coming off "well" so logically so must Electrical Blast. In both cases the FastSnipe is the only change (Blazing Arrow is already 80ft) range and so therefore logically both sets should be considered to have gotten the same benefit. Personally I think Elec came out better than Archery since FastSipe is more useful to a set lacking a T3 blast than one that already has one. |
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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I'm not sure I can agree with using that as a determining factor but I guess it's ok |
Originally Posted by EvilGeko
Rain of Arrows didn't get nerfed. That's enough by itself to say Archery made out well!
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.Personally I'm happy with how the changes will impact Electrical Blast but then my only EB character is a Defender so I may be biased.
So, based on what we know so far, what combos got the most buffed, and who got the (by relative comparison) shaft?