DreadShinobi

I am still patiently waiting for the rest of the world to realize stalker energy aura is the definition of an S tier powerset pick. It doesn't need to be broken or in need of adjustments like titan weapons to be an S tier set. S tier just means it is a cut above everything in A tier, which Energy Aura is. Energy Aura [with IOs and compared to everything else with IOs] is just so ridiculously and miraculously well balanced and self sufficient within the confines of its own set that you can get away with some insanely offensive stalker builds that do not sacrifice durability. It literally doesn't make sense for shield to be in the same tier as EA.

Things not discussed: +dmg buffs do not affect proc damage. base damage/archetype damage modifier does not affect proc damage -res does boost proc damage ----This is indicative of which archetypes you will see maximize proc value. Less so blasters that are built around +dmg from defiance and high base damage and more so archetypes with lower base damage and support powersets to augment the attacks that are proc loaded. slotting a damage proc instead of a damage enhancement when the average damage comes out to be similar tends to favor the proc because it gives your damage cap more room. sets that offer high levels of +tohit can find more room for procs by not needing to slot for accuracy. sets that offer high levels of +dmg buffs like soul drain and fulcrum shift allow more room for procs while also capping out base damage. sets with high levels of survivability, like time manipulation find more room for procs because they need to devote less slots to +def softcaps. sets with endurance management tools like chrono shift, transference, overgrowth, and conserve power allow more room for procs by not needing to slot attacks for endredux. Vigor Alpha (+endredux/+acc) is an incredible backbone for a proc build.

Devs, your timing on releasing patches to live is always great. Too lazy to check, but I don't think this is the first time y'all have pushed a release on a holiday weekend. Kudos.

Yeah I used to be a sonic-only defender kinda guy then I made my poison/fire defender and realized Fire Blasting defenders are actually really good with the correct primary. It is a little bit counterintuitive.

What an absolutely beautiful wall of green.

@Booper I wanted to bring this up again about making the set enhancement values more endurance heavy by putting endredux in the 4th IO. Most of the powers this can be slotted into are endurance heavy if left on in combat, maxing out the endurance reduction would encourage choosing this set for people that like to leave these powers on in combat. Also I like the 2/2/6, but why are the fly IOs the only one that doesn't give a set bonus that helps your blue bar? Consider replacing the hp set bonus.

I've been thinking assault/support might be more appropriate for a mix of ranged and melee attacks. Assault as a primary has also not been done before. Some of the very late blooming dom assault sets like /fiery would feel great with earlier power spikes. Assault instead of a pure melee set would work better for support sets that have no reason to be close range like kinetics, time, or poison do. Assault sets often have a built in power boost to bring synergy to the secondary. Assault sets have a good mix of aoe and single target, melee and range making it solid as a stand alone attacking set.

Yall missed the part that traditional farms back on live pre-ae were typically longer maps. Tv don, dreck, demon farm, unai maps. Now with AE very quick reset maps are in play, like the moon map, and oh guess what? The insp vendor is right outside. Current AE highest performance revolves around red insp spam which reduces the value benefit of having your own fulcrum shift. Red insps + quick reset maps = kinetics drops on the tier list.

SS+CJ are featured in every single build I play. Super speed provides stealth and full invis with celerity IO in sprint. Super speed provides -threat which is irreplaceable unless you are an illusion controller. Combat jumping provides combat movement control that is irreplaceable. Combat jumping pads your defense rating. It is a better defense pad than 6 pc Gaussians. Combat jumping provides immobilize protection. Combat Jumping typically holds a LotG recharge bonus in base slot + Shield Wall and Reactive Defenses and possibly a Kismet for builds that need it. Combat Jumping also increases the movement control you have while using the prestige jump pack. Super Jump, other than the final bullet point mentioning jump pack control, provides none of the utility above. Super Jump just makes you jump.

By using super speed + combat jumping + prestige jump pack and not wasting a power pick on SJ.

Would rather see a melee/support archetype though. Assault and Manipulation powersets already take many key powers from melee powersets that would make this not work. Energy manipulation for example has energy punch, bonesmasher, and total focus so melee/assault and melee/manipulation are off the table to be possible choices.

Inherent: +1 status protection for every foe in a 10 ft radius

I forgot to add to my post earlier to you some additional questions. If fiery aura had a taunt aura would you make and enjoy a claws/fire scrapper? -Do you feel this would create an imbalance between brute v scrapper? Would it be stronger, weaker, or would it find parity? -Even if the set is too squishy for you, who i know loves soloing 4/8 content, do you feel such a change would make the set more attractive to the general coh populace? -If fiery aura had a taunt aura on scrappers would this take away from, or reduce the value of other archetypes in similar roles? Is this something that would infringe on stalkers? On brutes? On tankers? -If all scrappers had taunt auras for parity within the archetype is homogenization of the 4 standard melee archetypes a concern for you? -Do you find yourself able to contribute less to teams when playing a melee archetype that does not have an aggro control function? Is bringing a dps-only role to a team *enough* fot a scrapper as it is for stalkers? -If all scrapper secondaries had a taunt aura would dark, electric, and ice armor find equal benefit compared to fiery aura? -Do you feel sets like super reflexes, ninjitsu, and regeneration should have a taunt aura? The precedent set for sets like willpower, shield defense, et all were given taunt aura to support mechanics that require foes to be close. My opinion is that damage auras have the same need for a taunt component for effective functioning as powers like RttC and AAO. Do damage auras and buff auras even matter in this discussion at all? Or is a light taunt aura something that should be considered for scrappers in relevance to effective use of their primary powerset melee attacks? I was going to add questions around the idea of stripping taunt auras from all scrapper secondaries but I just can't find words that don't sound assinine, stupid, and otherwise unproductive to game balance. I'm treading lightly on my opinions that scrappers secondaries without taunt auras are just not worth playing at all, so my questions above were written as open ended as I could manage for the purpose of good discussion. If I were to have my way, scrapper secondaries with damage auras would have at least a 2-3 second duration taunt aura, some of the stronger taunt auras would maybe be reduced for cross archetype parity, and sr/nin/regen would maybe have a separate consideration. 2-3 second taunt auras would do well to support scrapper functioning as an off-tank, reduce their capability to main tank on sets like shield, improve role flexibility on teams, and improve diversification of scrapper secondary choices that are underplayed. Post dissected a bit. Statement A is absolutely false. Scrappers are not nerfed brutes if they have a taunt aura in any capacity. I would potentially argue scrappers without taunt auras are also not nerfed brutes when there is sufficient control already present on a team. Scrappers without taunt auras when a team lacks sufficient aggro control or mez control can absolutely be considered nerfed brutes. Statement B should support the benefit of having an off-tank on the team, which can help reduce the overall load placed on the main tank. Off tanking is already a valuable tool to bring to teams and possibly moreso leagues where multiple groups may need aggro management whether that is simultaneous objectives, split team clearing, or encounters exceeding the aggro cap of the main tank. Hard mode content should expand on the value of the latter where a main tank may appreciate having a team member take some pressure off of them whether it is above the aggro cap or possibly the encounter would be handled better with multiple dangerous foes separated. Think for example a hard mode classic lord recluse strike force with a team that has recruited less support archetypes. Drawing away positron for example so the rest of the team and main tank are not hit by his aoe debuffs can be massively beneficial. Statement C, aggro control is absolutely a form of control just as dominators and controllers produce. This is the most relevant point. There are some differences in how taunt control and hard control benefit a team though. Hard control helps prevent scatter, reduces incoming damage, increases damage potential by allowing archetypes like blasters to play more aggressively, increases damage when the threat level is high enough by reducing the need to cast a defensive or healing power instead of a damaging power, and allows aggro control archetypes to more aggressively pull multiple groups safely even if it exceeds their aggro cap. Aggro control does many of these same things in addition to typically being better at clumping mobs closely for more effective leverage of aoe damage. Aggro control can also be very helpful in increasing damage when the target may otherwise run away, certain AVs come to mind that can really be a PITA without such mechanic. Effective aggro control generally makes people less likely to throw their keyboard out the window.

@Bill Z Bubba Do you have a claws/fire scrapper? If you do why do you hate it? If you do not why not? Spoiler: the answer is the same for both.

Fire blaster DoT damage can essentially be considered free proc slotting without actually slotting a proc. It is free damage, with a delay. I am not at all concerned if my target dies before all the DoT ticks come through because the target is dead If I didn't have a DoT to finish off the last bit of health I have to spend more endurance and more time casting another ability to finish off the target I am very unlikely to corpse blast with a 1 second cast ability like Blaze. It rarely happens. I absolutely do not care if a single DoT ever ticks on a dead target. I am far more likely to corpse blast and feel punished for corpse blasting with a 2 second cast ability than I am to corpse blast with a 1 second cast ability. Fire does not need procs to pull ahead in dps. The difference in proc potential between ice and fire [on a blaster] for example is actually smaller than most realize because fire blast powers typically slot well with 2 dmg procs and also rake in tons of set bonuses and good enhancement value. A well built fire blaster will absolutely find more room for defensive set bonuses, +dmg set bonuses, +rchg set bonuses, and global procs than a set that requires procs to compete with the damage potential of fire, and fire will still pull ahead with the additional proc potential of other sets. Procs benefit from -res. Procs do not benefit from +dmg. Blasters are an archetype based on high damage modifiers and typically have low access to -res to amplify proc damage. Defiance works to boost your base damage and does not synergize at all with any slotted procs. Blasters are not an archetype without a secondary. Blasters love having fast animation attacks because it allows your attack chain to incorporate more secondary attacks which often have very high DPA like energy punch, charge brawl, bonesmasher, etc. Other archetypes can do better with slower animating attacks, like scrappers, because it pads their attack chain. Slower animating attacks allow the rest of your attack chain to recharge allowing for a lower necessity on global recharge. Blasters do not need this because of how many high DPA attacks they have between their primary and secondary combined. Never ever ever ever ever ever take spiritual or agility over musculature or intuition radial on a blaster. They are an archetype based on their high damage modifier and defiance. Archetypes like defenders are better suited to take advantage of heavy proc load because a single proc can often increase your average damage in a power more than a 33% dmg buff to that power even without factoring enhancement diversification - ie choosing a dmg proc even when that power isnt ED capped on enhanced dmg value. Defenders have a more narrow margin between their enhanced damage % + their damage buff value and their lower damage cap that puts yet even higher value on damage procs. Blasters absolutely want to hit 100-130% dmg enhancement value on their attacks. They have a damage modifier and damage cap that supports this. This means certain attacks that are epically useful with 4-6 dmg procs on defenders like Freeze Ray, Bitter Freeze Ray, and Bitter Ice Blast do not function the same way for blasters as they do for defenders. Defenders (et all supports) have secondaries that are either chalk full of powers with high -res like cold domination, poison, and storm, they have easier access to -res procs, or they have access to significant self dmg buffs like Fulcrum Shift, Overgrowth, and Soul Drain that can put them at the dmg cap even with attacks that are not slotted for +dmg at all providing room for effective proc usage, they have access to better modifiers on assault and tactics to assist in this, they have better modifiers in powers like tough, weave, maneuvers, combat jumping, and ancillary shield that allow more room for procs via a lower necessity in chasing defensive set bonuses compared to a blaster, some defender secondaries allow even easier access to miraculous defensive stats while still finding room to put 20+ dmg procs in their build, which blasters absolutely cannot do. Many support secondaries offer permanent +tohit or infinite endurance that allow them to ignore such slotting in their attacks to make room for procs in ways that blasters cannot do. Blasters should fit in damage procs when they are /comfortably/ slotted. Blasters should avoid making massive build sacrifices to proc load their attacks the way other archetypes can because the tradeoff is not an insignificant one like it can be for others. A proc loaded ice blast defender may have very low opportunity cost compared to a fire blast defender, but a proc loaded ice blast blaster will have a higher opportunity cost when comparing to a fire blast blaster. And everything that @nihilii writes is bible.

An idea for the Thrust runspeed IO unique, and I do not know if this is possible. But if the buffs from power boost can be dissected to only grant a bonus to +run speed, this could be a fun, and likely significantly more useful than the current option for thrust. A specifically runspeed only power boost effect, even in super speed, would increase your unsuppressed movement by buffing Sprint and Swift at a minimum. This is effectively a minor reduction to travel suppression, which would feel great.

Here are some questions, thoughts, and considerations I have about the new travel IOs @Booper. These are more specific to run/jump/fly and not the teleport IOs which I will not comment on. This post will also not comment on the specifics around the unique proc in each set, though to put it out of the way I think there is some serious room for improvement there. You've stated that the purpose of these IOs is to bring some combat viability to continuing use of your travel power. The set bonuses I would consider for this would be recovery based, both +recovery and +endurance. Do something unique? Put both +recov and +maxend in the same set. The specific set bonuses are less important than the combination of them together. If a player is investing 4(!) slots into their travel power it needs to be for something they cannot find elsewhere. This makes keeping your travel power toggled on during combat less punishing by having the endurance sustain available to not care if you have an extra and expensive toggle active. I would also consider changing the 4th IO to endurance/proc rather than travel/proc even if it is ramming the ED cap. Ramming the ED cap on +jump/run/fly is generally just not helpful. The other set bonus I would consider is a run/jump/fly set bonus. These are pretty common at 2 slot investment and I love them. These set bonuses are _unsuppressed_ movement speed which improves the combat quality of your movement. 7.5% at 2 slots or 9% at 3 slots. There are so many options for resistance set bonuses that can be acquired by putting your slots into powers that actually need the enhancement, like primary/secondary powers. If that same slot is going to be considered for a travel power it doesn't need to be better, it just needs to do something unique that you can't acquire by putting those slots elsewhere where that single slot has dual function (enhancement+set bonus). With this set at a 4pc investment into a travel power the set bonus is weighted heavier than the actual enhancement value. Think of it similarly to kinetic combat slotting into brawl/boxing. It is worth putting those slots into an attack like brawl because you can't replicate it elsewhere in the build. A 4.5% resistance buff is neither a build necessity nor is it so slot worthy that you would give up a slot in a power that gets actual usage /and/ provides a set bonus (or proc in a used power). I also really don't at all see how a resistance set bonus is thematic for travel powers. +end, +recov, +unsuppressed move make more sense to me. So does +def set bonuses (you're faster so you are harder to target/hit), but wouldn't this set be great if it was made to be great without +def set bonuses which BotZ already offers? Now I know this may be a less than desirable choice of action, but is revamping these new sets to be 3 pc sets something that is off the table? You may find all things to be generally more agreeable if one of the new IOs in each set was nixed. Yes, more options are great, and there is nothing wrong with that, but you already have an overwhelming amount of feedback that a 4pc IO set for a travel power serves little purpose. People would like there set bonuses to come from enhancements that actually do something for the power that they are slotted in, that would be why they are called set bonuses. Also, in the post quoted above you mention looking at 4.5%-6% move set bonus, 5% slow resist, and 1.35% max end. Why are you set on lowballing the values here? As detailed above these are set bonuses that you are putting a precious slot towards that do little for your character other than provide a set bonus. There are many(!) precedents in existing sets that show 7.5% move/jump/fly set bonus is just fine as a 2pc set bonus and these actually find usage. Feels good. 9% coming in hot with winters gift, and seriously I cannot remember the last time I have seen a build on these forums that has 3 pc winters gift slotted. This is very important because it shows how unattractive that resistance bonus pick up actually is when the cost is a slot into your travel power. Nobody is going to be looking at 5% slow resist when you get 15% from winter sets, often at 2 or 3pc, and 20% from winters gift one slot wonder, which is hardly a universal pickup. Put a 5% slow resist on these IOs and you accelerate their quicksell to a vendor. Max end? Well it would be really nice to see 2.25% at the 3 or 4 pc alongside a 0.04% recovery buff at the 2 pc. tldr: +move +move/+endredux +endredux +endredux/proc ----or revamp to 3 pc set. set bonus 2 pc - 0.04 recov 3 pc - 9% run/jump/fly 4 pc - 2.25% max end tc.

While stone melee is currently being looked at, can Hurl Boulder be considered for an animation time reduction that dominators received for their Hurl Boulder? I feel like this is happening more and more where certain versions of powers are getting cast time reductions and other variants are being excluded. The cast time reductions that have been implemented for powers like Total Focus and Hurl Boulder *feel* great to use and it would be nice to see Hurl Boulder at least be a passable option to consider in building your Stone Melee Scrapper.

I'd like to see influence be global. Salvage, Recipies, and the rest I don't really care.

I am currently looking at using the cold damage proc for several support powers. We already know that Cold Domination / Infrigidate is an excellent proc mule attack. It currently takes 3 dmg procs + achilles heel. With a fourth damage proc available cold domination gets a nice little bump here. Siphon Speed can now take 2 dmg procs, this doesn't turn the power into a great DPA attack like Infrigidate but it means constantly casting a zero damage attack to maintain your siphon speed stack takes less away from your damage output. Time Crawl can take 2 dmg procs now, maybe not as large a benefit as Infrig and Siphon receive here, but corruptors, controllers, and masterminds are forced into the power pick. All versions of caltrops can now take 5 dmg procs + annihilation -res. Trick Arrow / Ice Arrow can take 5 normal dmg procs + either the purple dmg proc or a lockdown proc. Water Blast and Ice Blast have many options to benefit from another dmg proc.

More importantly placate now accepts taunt IO sets (category renamed to threat). Mocking Beratement and Perfect Zinger have some very valuable set bonuses, specifically their combination of a +recharge set bonus with +defense set bonuses. Now that placate has value holding unique set bonuses for your build, including it in your build as a utility/niche power pick has more incentive. 5 target cap increases the potential utility functions quite a bit.

This isn't so much how i play differently than anyone else but the only time I really feel like I any of my characters has a truly different play style than any of my other characters is when i am playing my sonic blasting defenders. Sonic blasting is so unique because the timing and target selection of your attacks really matters. Throwing a blaze-blazing bolt in someones face is easy. Getting your shriek-scream off on that target right before they get hit with your ally's blaze-blazing bolt is harder, it lets you play with anticipation and foresight, and it lets you take a step back from your direct player-critter interaction. Sonic blasting would be more accurately described as player-critter-ally-critter interaction and when that is done well it is amazing to see and feels great. Sonic blasting has a skill cap that I don't find with other sets.

Spit my drink out and fell outta my chair. 😅

For an empath defender I would pick something that can take advantage of a forcefeedback recharge proc because empathy key powers - Fort, AB, and RAs are all very long recharges and benefit greatly from all the global recharge you can fit in to your build. A couple notes about several sets that can use forcefeedback - Water Blast - Water Burst, Geyser. You don't really need the self heal from dehydrate here but water is still great even if it didn't have a self heal. Water Burst is very spammable, basically fireball with a knockdown. Psychic Blast - Psionic Tornado - this thing has a 20 ft radius and it is actually really effective mitigation, especially being a knockup, rather than KD. The set can also bring some utility damage to fights with enemy godmodes like marauder, bobcat, minotaur/cyclops. Psinado + Psyscream aoe opener debuffs enemy recharge by 37.5% + 62.5% ! 100% recharge isn't always helpful but it can be in extended fights which means you heal less and blast more and your regen buffs are more effective. Sonic Attack - Shockwave - Sonic resist debuffing makes it a solid choice always, but shockwave doesn't apply -res and lowers your stack potential. Not a good choice for forcefeedback generation.

An uber powerful limit breaking op sonic/sonic corruptor build is called a defender. There isnt a build you can make for a corruptor where this specific set combination won't perform better as a defender.