The Best Knockback Power

With everyone going crazy trying to negate pretty much every iota of knockback around... well... I got to wonderin' what one power makes the best use of the knockback mechanic?

This can be defined however you like (fun, utility, etc.), just make sure to let us know which type of "best" you mean.

To me the best use of knockback in a power (in terms of usefulness) is in powers like [Telekinetic Thrust]. It's single target, it does a fair amount of damage, and is used by ATs that are mostly ranged with lowish HP. That means they can still attack the dude as he goes flying, and can maximize the mitigation KB provides since the enemy will need to close to melee (in many cases) again in order to do it's hardest hitting attacks.

What do you folks think?

My immediate thought was Power Thrust from Energy Manipulation. I know that I used it a hell of a lot when levelling my Sonic/Energy Blaster and it provides excellent mitigation against targets that got too close. But then I'm a sucker for 'get out of my face' powers like Telekinetic Thrust and Crane Kick.

Yeah, the single target, high power knockbacks are the best. For when you have just one too many enemies in your face.

The cone ones can be okay too, but still mostly fall under "annoying".

As far as I'm concerned, the best Knockback powers aren't Knockback powers but rather Knockup powers. But after considering those I would move on to the single target powers with high magnitude Knockback.

Force Bolt. Base KB mag is almost 19. Highest mag (player) KB in the game, IIRC. Put some KB enhancers in there and watch 'em fly, baby! I love bowling for skullies in AP on my /ff troller.

OMG BBQ LMNOP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dispari I don't know why Dink thinks she's not as sexy as Jay was. In 5 posts she's already upstaged his entire career.

I use that power with reckless abandon on my MM, but don't have it at all on my 'Troller. It certainly is a contender in my book!

When it comes to knockback powers there are 2 kinds that I find useful, a KB power that will move one target a great distance 100% of the time. Telekinetic Thrust is one, so is Force Bolt but my favorite is Power Push. These types of powers I call scalpels.

The other type of knockback power I enjoy is an AoE cone that will move a big group of NPCs reliably 100% of the time. Shockwave from sonic blast is one of those powers I find fun, but Torrent form the corruptor Dark Blast and Gale are real nice as well. These types of powers I call hammers.

KB is just anther tool in your toolbox, you want reliable tools. Powers like Electron Haze and M80 Grenade make horrible tools. You also want to avoid using your tools in the wrong situation.

There's a few powerset combos that will let you have both a hammer and a scapel. Energy Blast/Storm and FF/Sonic Blast. Both solid sets with a lot of other nice powers and tools so when you end up on teams that don't need KB you can still contribute to the team.

* edited for spelling

Going to pitch my vote in for several of the 100% cone knockback powers.

I didn't like Gale at first, mainly because it's accuracy was very low, but now I have bonuses and Aim. And differentiating itself from other KB cones, Gale caps at 16 targets rather than 10. On outdoor maps, one can aim their targeting to only pushing a few toward the others but on indoor maps, I almost pity the poor NPCs all lounging on the ground ragdolled...

Besides Gale, mention of Umbral Torrent from Blaster Dark Blast (super fun just blasting on team in relative safety. Makes me want to put down my current projects to go back to playing my Dark/EM...

Shockwave from Claws. Does good damage and sends the foes ragdolling. I can kinda get a little chain going with Shockwave, Focus and Gloom. Not to mention, flinging foes in a tight corner then 'landing' on them with Spring attack followed by a devastating Eviscerate is just plain satisfying. Great mitigation and feels a heck of a lot more aggressive.

I used the word scalpel as a metaphor for the surgical way you can dissect a single target from it's current surroundings.

I have no idea how I missed that giant squiggly red line under scapel.

Force Bolt. It's an awesome amount of knock back, fast, low End cost, and it works at range. If you work things right, you can often use it to keep a target from ever closing to melee range with you while you fight off his/her friends.

Sending low level Hellions flying so far that you lose targeting lock on them is an added bonus.

Gravitic Emanation: AoE KB+ guaranteed Stun; low recharge

My vote's for trip mines. There's something immensely satisfying about a group of enemies charging into a minefield and watching their remains land all over the map for me.

My Energy/Energy blaster's found Energy Torrent to be really useful as a defensive move. It does decent damage against a mob, has pretty good odds of knocking them away like bowling pins without scattering them far and wide, and is available through Defiance for mezzing emergencies. But in general, I really enjoy KB effects anyway. They can cause problems for teams, but when you're playing solo it's just so satisfying to throw a punch and send an enemy flying off the ground, across the street and into a second-story window.

I've actually always found Hurricane really useful as a defensive tool on my controller. It's a great power for when you're getting swamped and you need to push some of that heat off your back. A good example is during a big AV fight when reinforcements come in. Often, everyone is so focused on the AV they don't notice the bunch of mobs coming in after their squishy little me. Hurricane keeps them off me.

I admit a certain fondness for Tornado as well, especially when used in similar situations. It's a great defensive tool, and great for disrupting large numbers of enemies. It's a large part of why I'm hemming and hawing over whether or not I want to remove Tornado's knockback. That and the sheer joy of so much chaos.

Kinetic Crash set + Nova + Low Level Hazard Zone Spawns

Click, Click, BOOM!

70% Damage Enhancement, 174% KB Enhancement (Mag 45), tee hee hee.

For me, Power Push on a Dominator. 1.1 second cast time, 86.64 base damage, 100% chance for Mag 16 KB.

I don't know why the Energy Blast version was never matched to the Dominator version of the power.

Crane Kick still gives me giggles. Bam! Foot to the face and flying foe.

Nothing more satisfying than using [Kick] on an enemy on the catwalk at the top of the huuuuuuge Arachnos map (you know the one) and having them go off the edge and alllll the way down.

It's such a natural looking animation for kicking someone off a building / into a Spartan pit / etc. I wish that power was guaranteed Knockback, none of this 15% chance nonsense.

Power Thrust (and its clone TK thrust); consistent high mag single target knockback for characters that need critters off them in a hurry.

Another one that I end up using while teaming (usually only small ones, since larger groups flatten everything without worry) is Handclap. Its single slot holds a lvl 50 Taunt so my Super Strength/Willpower Brute can clear a group off of endangered squishies and redirect their attention towards me.

Interesting... I thought Handclap was universally reviled/skipped.

The best knockback powers are those designed specifically for knockback.

I will never like Damage powers with knockback or Control powers with knockback. The damage or control aspects make these powers that you want to use often, but having knockback tacked on means that their actual usefulness becomes highly situational.

Force Bolt? A-okay.
Torrent? Perfectly fine.
Gale? Not a problem.

Wormhole?

@Oathbound & @Oathbound Too

I have to vote for gale. I used to hate it because of the misusers. (What stormy in his right mind blows foes OUT of freezing rain?) It does have a low accuracy modifier. The number of foes that you can a) knockback b) put in a ragdoll mode and c) interrupts the foes. None of this: wait until I nuke before I actually acquiesce to your crazy storm machinations. You hit gale, they have a short flight path - no retaliation from the ones it hits. THAT is big mitigation, especially since I place a freezing rain where the spawn land; they are falling down again before they stand up.