Ancillary Power Pool Proliferation

Any chance we might see an expansion of the Ancillary powers to fit with the themes already present within each archetype?  Not necessarily just a proliferation.  I understand why tanks and brutes overlap in sets, scrappers and stalkers, etc.  but might we see something like Dark Mastery for brutes and tanks in the future?  Or numerous other Ancillary power themes of a similar sort that fit with the complementary parameters of the archetypes?

And, of course, would anyone want to see this?  I can’t imagine no one would but maybe I haven’t considered all the possibilities.

Expanded ancillary pools would be quite sweet, yes. More themes available is always appreciated. Now that there's a melee and armour set, some Radiation Mastery wouldn't be too shabby. I'd like to see some weirder choices like Sonic Mastery for melee classes and something with swords for Defenders and the like. I'd quite like an APP with the broadsword PBAoE and some meaty single-target attack for my heavy metal Defender, just for the concept of it.

APPs of every available element for every class that one can be put together for would be a really cool end goal. It'd take a lot of time, tho.

For the love of Pete, please give Defenders/Corruptors an Ice APP. They already have Cold Dom and Ice Blast, an Ice APP is now thematic!

Frost Bite

Frozen Armor

Hoar Frost

Energy Absorption

Arctic Air

Failing that, I could go for Stone or Energy. Anything to give them a +defense toggle that doesn't require dipping into the villain side for Scorpion Shield.

I second this motion, more choices will always be welcome.

I agree, I asked this in the reddit AMA. It shouldnt be too hard since they would just take abilities from other powersets to make them. Like they did Savage Assault etc...

For the love of Pete, please give Defenders/Corruptors an Ice APP. They already have Cold Dom and Ice Blast, an Ice APP is now thematic!

 

 

Frost Bite

Frozen Armor

Hoar Frost

Energy Absorption

Arctic Air

 

Yes, please!  I want my defender to be Storm/Ice/Ice!

+1

I'll throw my wish-list item in here.

An Electric Mastery pool for both Controllers and Dominators, please & thanks!

I'd like the hero-side APPs for Villain ATs to get a serious look at because some of them are bad copy pastes of existing hero classes's APP and some are really deficient compared to the villain option for their AT. Like if you compare Ghost Widow's pool for stalkers to the generic darkness one, her moderately damaging hold with good numbers gets replaced with Petrifying Gaze which was once upon a time a really good no-damage hold that got the Deluxe Nerfbat. Since there's now a Darkness Control set with a new single target hold, that one should be swapped in. Likewise the villain pools for stalkers mostly have a snipe in them but the hero versions which are based on scrapper pools do not they get a rando knockback power instead.

And then, yes, we absolutely should have some more thematically matched choices for all ATs. It honestly bugs me more than anything to suddenly have a mis-matched power type crop up on my tight-concept character. With the patron pools you get the hand wave of the archvillains literally sharing some of their power with you. We don't have that hero side (though it would be interesting if we did!) So if an AT has say just 1 or 2 elements in its choices that feels so bad.

The original hero APPs are really consistent like you can figure out how they're formulated with a quick look at two of them. They're very check-list like: 1 single target attack, 1 misc buff, 1 endurance recovery or end saving tool, 1 defense shield mostly smash/lethal/element of pool, 1 big gun attack or AoE, etc. So creating new pools should be mostly just pulling out equivalents in different power types to what's already there.

It would really be nice to see some of the later power types like sonic and radiation proliferated into APPs. Those are huge holes.

+1

I'd like the hero-side APPs for Villain ATs to get a serious look at because some of them are bad copy pastes of existing hero classes's APP and some are really deficient compared to the villain option for their AT.

On this front, I'd like the two Blaster PPPs that are just wholesale copied from Mastermind sets (Soul Mastery and Leviathan Mastery) to be looked at, too.  Being copied from Mastermind sets, it means they're the only non-MM PPPs that lack pets.  (And the pets are the main reason I go for PPPs instead of APPs)

On the main topic, though... yes.  I'd love to see all elemental themes available for all ATs.  (So every AT should have Fire, Ice, Electricity, Energy, Dark, Psychic, Earth, Sonic, and "natural" APPs, the latter being like Weapon Mastery or Munition Mastery)  That's a lot of work, I realize, but at least there's no reason to create new powers or new animations.

I know they started this process - "Flame Mastery" for Corruptors and Defenders is new for I25.

At minimum I would like to see themed pools for ATs that have access to that theme.

I do not know what all APPs are available for all ATs, but yeah, if I can have a dark/dark tank then a dark APP would be nice.

If I can have an electric/electric tank then an electric APP would be nice.

I can make a rad/rad defender, and this has been since day one, so now that we have radiation melee and radiation armor it would be nice to see them put together a radiation APP for defenders that would let them keep it all in theme.

Just run down the line for all of the ATs.

I'd desperately like to see some of the Controller/Dom APPs make it to Masterminds. In particular, I would kill for Psionic Mastery. Indomitable Will would be amazing for MMs.

I think this thread needs to gain a bit of awareness. I just created a thread asking for the same thing, unaware of this thread's existence. This thread needs more momentum.

+1

I'm all for options that expand concept possibilities!

I kind of wish we could have Heroic Patron Pools at some point, too.

For example, Heroes could learn Anti-Matter Mastery from Positron, Nexus Mastery from Penelope Yin, Arcane Mastery from Numina, and Speed Mastery from Synapse.

+1

More Ancillary Power Pools and Proliferation are strongly desired!

I definitely feel the priority should be filling out missing themes, like psi for scrappers, etc.

But I'd also like to see some light/luminous pools enter the fray. In a fantasy of unlimited dev bandwidth, could even tie it to a blue "patron" arc involving the peacebringers you're gonna copy powers from.

It's weird to me that the only "canon" (such as it is) light-based warriors are alien squids.

Id like to see existing sets looked at in terms of their powers and utility.

In many instances, I will be looking at getting a ranged attack on my characters, looking at what fits the character, and realize that while Laser Eyes or Lightning Bolts might fit the -character-, math says I'm taking Gloom.  Again.

Oh well, I can always recolour Gloom.

I definitely feel the priority should be filling out missing themes, like psi for scrappers, etc.

 

But I'd also like to see some light/luminous pools enter the fray. In a fantasy of unlimited dev bandwidth, could even tie it to a blue "patron" arc involving the peacebringers you're gonna copy powers from.

 

It's weird to me that the only "canon" (such as it is) light-based warriors are alien squids.

There's also the Carnival of Light and the Legacy Chain.

I'd love for the Ancillary Power Pools to get a full revisit. Make each theme set fully available except when a power might duplicate something an AT already has. IE not letting someone that has an Armor based set take the armor toggles, or ranged take ranged powers. This way I can really customize what I want those last power picks to be. And then expand more themes. I also wish that VEATs could also pick non-patron options.

I'd love to help build these sets and balance it out with the rest.

Id like to see existing sets looked at in terms of their powers and utility.

 

In many instances, I will be looking at getting a ranged attack on my characters, looking at what fits the character, and realize that while Laser Eyes or Lightning Bolts might fit the -character-, math says I'm taking Gloom.  Again.

 

Oh well, I can always recolour Gloom.

This, definitely. For brutes it seems to me that there are only 3 actual choices when it comes to APPs/PPPs. Need endurance or lack slots? Energy Mastery. More AoE? Mu Mastery. Want an additional ST attack that's actually good, plus an AoE? Soul Mastery. Everything else is just poor attempts at these at best.

I like character concepts, but I'm an engineer to the soul so if one option is just significantly better than the other, I'm having a hard time picking the sub par thing even if it would make more sense concept wise. I don't mind slight differences, like Gloom being a bit more powerful than something like Fire Blast due to being a DoT, but currently Mu and Soul Mastery are just miles better at any of the other Blast + Targeted AoE epics.