Increased Spines - Impale from 5.2 to 8.528 (All versions).
On 11/22/2023 at 11:46 AM, The Curator said:
Fixed Spines - Spine Burst recharge; was 15s, should be 16s (Stalkers only).
On 11/22/2023 at 11:46 AM, The Curator said:
Spines
Fixed Ripper animation time not matching minimum sequencer frames (the power was never actually animating at 2.17s) (Spines, Plant Manipulation, Thorny Assault).
I understand the above are formula standardizations / bug fixes for Spines, but these three powers were already kinda underperforming within the set IMO. The lower End Cost for Impale and slightly faster Recharge for Stalker Spine Burst made them more appealing to actually use on a Spines Stalker. For Impale and Spine Burst, the damage done compared to the animation cast time is really low. Impale Activation Time is 2.43 seconds while Spine Burst is a massive 3.00 seconds. If the End Cost and Recharge are going to be standardized, OK fine, but could the cast times at least be lowered a bit please?
As a comparison:
Blaster Plant Manipulation Thorn Burst is only 2.00 Activation Time (compared to 3.00 Spine Burst) for similar damage
Dominator Thorns Impale is only 1.43 Activation Time (compared to 2.43 Spines Impale) for similar damage. The Thorns version does have more End Cost/Recharge but also gets more Range and def debuff
As another comparison specific to Stalkers only, Electric Melee was already considered one of the best Stalker sets, and the Thunder Strike consistency change (which was definitely needed, thank you Devs!) has buffed an already top set to be even better. There's also a lot of inconsistencies between the Spines/Thorns powers as well, and the Melee versions have the short end of the stick.
On 11/22/2023 at 11:46 AM, The Curator said:
Thunder Strike consistency pass (All versions):
Recharge increased from 18s to 20s
Radius increased from 7' to 10'
Endurance cost increased from 10.192 to 18.512
Cast time reduced from 3.3s to 2.53s
Main target damage increased from scale 2.38 to scale 2.98
Secondary target damage set to scale 0.42
Epic versions of this power has 40s cooldown and 23.14 endurance cost
To be clear, I'm not asking for huge buffs to the Spines set, but if the powers are going to be tweaked to fit the standard formulas, I think the context of the powerset also needs to be considered. I admit my bias as Spines is one of my favorite melee sets, I'd just like to see a little love to avoid it being unintentional nerfs for an already middling set (especially to Stalkers). Lowering the cast time of Impale and Spine Burst a bit would help a lot.
Focused Feedback: Various Power Updates
in [Open Beta] Focused Feedback
Posted
I understand the above are formula standardizations / bug fixes for Spines, but these three powers were already kinda underperforming within the set IMO. The lower End Cost for Impale and slightly faster Recharge for Stalker Spine Burst made them more appealing to actually use on a Spines Stalker. For Impale and Spine Burst, the damage done compared to the animation cast time is really low. Impale Activation Time is 2.43 seconds while Spine Burst is a massive 3.00 seconds. If the End Cost and Recharge are going to be standardized, OK fine, but could the cast times at least be lowered a bit please?
As a comparison:
As another comparison specific to Stalkers only, Electric Melee was already considered one of the best Stalker sets, and the Thunder Strike consistency change (which was definitely needed, thank you Devs!) has buffed an already top set to be even better. There's also a lot of inconsistencies between the Spines/Thorns powers as well, and the Melee versions have the short end of the stick.
To be clear, I'm not asking for huge buffs to the Spines set, but if the powers are going to be tweaked to fit the standard formulas, I think the context of the powerset also needs to be considered. I admit my bias as Spines is one of my favorite melee sets, I'd just like to see a little love to avoid it being unintentional nerfs for an already middling set (especially to Stalkers). Lowering the cast time of Impale and Spine Burst a bit would help a lot.