Is Psychic Blast/Kinetics just a really bad combo?

I busted out my low-level Psychic Blast/Kinetics corruptor yesterday, and while I got her bumped up to level 10, it was a horribly frustrating experience:

• Inability to hit - It was appalling how difficult it was to actually hit my enemies with ... anything. I've harped on this before, about ToHit/Accuracy issues in the low-level game, but based on the constant denial of the problem I get back from other players, I'm starting to suspect that there is a problem with the "Beginner's Luck" bonus in the Mac version of the game not functioning properly, because what I see in the game does not match up with what other people seem to see (and it's safe to assume that everybody responding to my complaints is playing on a Windows machine, not a Mac). But in any case, the problem is even worse on this particular character.

• Low damage - her attacks, when they hit, seemed to do little damage to enemies, particularly in comparison to my Psychic Blast blasters. It was taking forever to defeat anything, even with the help of possessing a Blackwand and a Nemesis Staff to provide additional attacks.

• Ineffectiveness of non-damage effects: Subdue, when it hit, frequently failed to immobilize even same-level minions. I'm aware of the need to apply mezzes 2-3 times before they'll fully affect lieutenants and higher-level enemies; I've very rarely had to repeatedly apply mezzes to same-level minions on other characters. Similarly, while doing a Kings Row safeguard, Martial Gloom walked right through my Repel shield, stunned me into complete helplessness, and kicked me to death while I could do nothing. Twice. This was exacerbated by the fact that he got to me in the bank lobby while I was still trying and failing to defeat the entire group of Skulls there. So when I rezzed at the hospital and ran to the escape point to try to stop him there, he arrived with the entire group of Skulls in tow and proceeded to stunlock/kick me to death again.

• Endurance issues - I realize this is largely due to the way Repel works, but I kept finding myself running completely out of Endurance while attempting to take out a single group of three same-level minions. Of course, in addition to Repel, the previously-stated problems with ToHit, damage, and ineffective other powers contribute to running out of endurance before the enemies are down, purely because it just takes way too long to put them down.

Now, I can solo effectively on pretty much all of my other characters, which include other corruptors, even at low levels. But trying to solo on this particular character has proven to be nothing but an exercise in frustration. So I have to wonder, did I just have the misfortune of running into a ridiculously bad RNG streak (that went on for more than an hour), or is Psychic Blast/Kinetics just a really bad combination? Will it get better at higher levels, or should I just reroll with a different secondary?

Well, I can't speak for the Psi/Kin combo...but as for Martial Gloom, he uses Oppressive Gloom, IIRC, so yeah, it's gonna keep you stunned as long as you're in melee range, just like Vahz bosses.

I have a few Psi Blast characters, and I've never seen a problem with Subdual not immobilizing minions. If it hits, they're immob'd, pretty much 100% of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarthWyrm But I do understand that there is an internet rule that any bad idea must be presented by someone at least twice a year to remind everyone who hasn't already read every previous thread on the topic precisely why the idea is bad.

Beginners Luck is not generated by the client, it is on the to-hit from the server so MAC or WINdoze doesn't make a lick of difference there.

Honestly, I think it is observer bias. Save your combat tab and dump it into a spreadsheet, sort by misses and I think you'll see you hit a lot more than you think you do.

Yeah, herostats is great but it is Win only.

In game, go to options -> Windows -> Enable chat logging
Pull up your combat chat log and fight
The game will save a plain text log of what is in the chat window, including what you had to "roll", what you did roll and what your damage was. In Windows, this is in the CoH install folder -> logs subfolder. I don't know where it will put it in the Mac version.

You'd need to do a bit of spreadsheet magic to get it parsed but I think you'll find you are hitting much more than you think you are.

Wait until Fulcrum Shift...it gets better.

Personally I'd say yes it is. I'm sure others will disagree, but I've always found psi blast weak, with its myth of being so great because it is "so rarely resisted". Same as you the only place I could enjoy it was with the higher base damage of a blaster (and a psi/fire blaster in my case so my secondary added a significant damage boost and gave me a non psi damage mix).

Kinetics at higher level will make it better so sticking it out may be worth it, but just be aware kinetics is more about offense, not defense, so you'll always be more squishy than a lot of the other secondaries, unless you IO/incarnate up significantly.

Subdue has an 80% chance of applying a mere 7 second Mag 3 immobilise if it hits. It is an unreliable control.

The Blaster Subdual in Mental Manipulation works 100% of the time when it hits, an applies a 17s Mag 3 immobilise, more like a Controller power with lowered magnitude.

Subdue in Psychic Blast is a flaky control power, its not just you, Rik.

I have a Kin/Psy Defender which was my first Kin. It took me quite awhile to get him to 50, mainly due to frustration. Someone may have covered this already but the thing is both sets are late bloomers. This will probably lead to being frustrated until you get to 39ish and are able to select and slot Fulcrum Shift. Lucky for me since I was on a Defender things started looking up at 33.

Although Psy Blast seems weaker than other blast sets in base damage I enjoyed the increased range of the attacks which made hover blasting easier. I did of course and still do hate fighting robots with him though, and sadly iTrials are filled with them so I tend not to waste my time attacking and spend more time buffing.

I am moving my Kin/Psi defender to another server since I don't play her much these days.