archgemini24

This part. Right here. And to pile on, not only does equal investment (I/O, strategy, execution) not only lead to lesser mitigation results, but using a lot of that mitigation also reduces offensive output, because (as a lot of Super Reflexes users used to say), Regen has to click to save its a**, whereas SR clicks to kick a**.

If the test servers didn't completely wipe from time to time to make room for changes to actually test, I think it would be at least as big as the smallest shard. Keeping badges from exploring and other grind work is the only thing stopping me, and I am not that big a badger. The offset of not having to worry about any sort of gear grinding has not been enough of a sway... yet. That could change if I get the itch to do a lot more alting.

Electric Melee is another one of those "available to all, but best on a specific AT" sets, too. In this case it is Stalkers because instead of Lightning Clap and Confront they get Assassin's Strike (fixing Melee's single-target issues) and Placate (not used on a lot of endgame builds, but nice for extra crits while leveling). As far as Sentinels, I feel like my Dark/Nin/Soul Sentinel is bulkier than he has any right to be, but Life Drain is a bit too lacking next to Electric or Fire's extra damage to put things down, and Nin's healing tricks are matched by Bio and lacks the movement buffs. Elec/Bio or Fire/Bio are obnoxiously good.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I like the toggles you can only access in base-form (pool powers or in-set) to get Defense and other in-set mitigation tools (Inky Aspect) to avoid mezzers. Even that protection feels incomplete, at times, as I still have zero problem putting down 2.5million inf/hr for the Defense Amplifier for my Warshade. Base-form-only Kheldians were like proto-Sentinels (where they traded Mez Protection for Melee and PBAoE abilities).

Regeneration (because after years of being perpetually nerfed, let's throw them a bone, lol): - Regeneration, Recovery, and Recharge Debuff Resistances in Fast Healing, Quick Recovery, and Resilience. - All versions of Revive become Second Wind. - Quick Recovery gets a 20% +Recharge buff (not so subtle).

This is the part that gets me about the ToF changes: that it has been adjusted with the intention that it is to be thrown out later for powers not even in the set. Has any other power in the game been looked at with this philosophy in mind? Also, can we consider getting Soul Drain moved up. Waiting until 26 (28 for Tanks) for the sets Build-Up power makes the design decisions around ToF even more wonky, because if ToF is designed for low-level AoE and Dark Melee is going to start being balanced more around a saturated Soul Drain (or at least having it available), it doesn't make a lot of sense for Soul Drain to come so late.

And it is even more important for Human-only builds, which will likely also be trying to leverage Toggles. Building up for a bunch of Defense sucks when it gets suppressed on Mez, but to add insult to injury Mez also flat-out drops Orbiting Death and Inky Aspect, which get used to stem the flow of incoming attacks (which also come with more Mezzes. Yay!).

Yeah, I know the options. I play a handful of other characters and one of the others that sticks with me is a Human-Only Peacebringer with 32.5% Defense to M/R/AoE. The Warshade (Human-Only: not ideal since I lose Dwarf Mire, but the theme is that the Nictus has only had 1 previous host) also has 32.5% Def, so I know to try and leverage misses (supplemented by small Lucks) as much as possible, but if enough attacks get through the mez drops Orbiting Death and Inky Aspect, which really messes with the flow I have planned for the character. Call it a crutch, but I also come from the direction of Tanks, Brutes, Scrappers, and Sentinels, so not having Mez protection gets bothersome quickly.

I want "The One" to be a Warshade that I created in tribute to an old friend, but the lack of Mez Protection has pushed me away from the character. I hope Clarion helps, but otherwise I am going to have to take that costume and rework the backstory to use on another Dark-themed character.

On this note: - Incandescence and Absorption get Mag 3 Mez Protection to all. - Eclipse gets Mag 1 Mez protection to all for every enemy hit.

I picked 3: A (underpowered sets), I (powerset dip), and J (T9 dip), but I want to note there is a lot of Dark listed in I. I would be a fan of a whole weekly discussion on the Dark sets alone!

Maybe I am seeing the (de)buffs wrong when they happen, but can the debuffs and buffs affect either base values or modifiers? I feel like when I get hit with a debuff even if the other 3 are buffs to the same attribute (regen, recovery, etc.) that they don't overcome the debuff because the debuff goes for a base value but buffs go for mods.

Oddly enough, Touch of Fear using Targeted AoE Sets inspired me try using it instead of the Target AoE (Fireball, Ball Lightning, Dark Obliteration, etc.) in the Patron/Epic Pools, so it didn't mess with my builds at all. If I wanted ToF and the epic TAoE, I started running into a slot and power crunch for other items I wanted in my builds. That is a me problem, though. Better builders and builders with different goals will manage both. As a TAoE, it puts ToF in direct competition with those powers, and except for earlier access it does not match up well (reading the board suggests this was intentional, which is a headscrather). The activation time is much longer, the effect radius is much smaller, and the utility aspects of the power only affect the target that is touched. If it is changed to a PBAoE, it runs into competition with Shadow Maul, and the only reason Touch of Fear is even remotely competitive there is because the target cap on Shadow Maul was reduced. This feels like the Whirling Hands nerf on Dominators, in that Shadow Maul's damage was split up between two casts and two costs. If I could wave a wand, this is what I would change: - Improved damage and subsequent recharge - The Fear still only affects the Touched target, but the To-Hit debuff affects every enemy hit by the damage component. If the power has to stay in its spammy iteration, at least being able to slap a bunch of debuffs would be useful for survival. Just some observations from running a Scrapper an Brute (DM/Shield and DM/Regen, respectively). I will hopefully get to run a Tanker at some point today, and I think it is going to play much smoother. Plus with the Tanker mods for Defense powers, I will not need to dive so deeply into pool powers and sets for Defense, so I will likely get to run Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear, and the Epic TAoE.

This is the problem with Regen for me even though I love the set (I play it with Dark Melee for a top-off heal while fighting and for a little bit of extra defense through to-hit debuffing). If a player has to actively leverage their mitigation (often at the cost of their offense, which leaves them in danger longer), then, if they do it well, their survivability should be in excess of other sets at the same balance point. If other sets get their appropriate debuff resistances in their powers, there is no reason Fast Healing, Quick Recovery (or Perseverance, which looks awesome), and Resilience could not provide debuff resistance to Regeneration, Recovery, and Slow/Recharge. I would rather see each power only provide one of the resistances at full power (or whatever Integration doesn't provide) so that a player must take all 3. The Slow/Recharge resistance is important, as it provides a way for Regeneration to have some offensive benefit besides some extra endurance. Other note: Moment of Glory deserves to be +Res/+Def to ALL. It looks like one of the perks of the set as a whole is to be damage agnostic, but the 38 power has a hole that comes up most in the endgame? And one of the common secondary effects of Psy is recharge debuff? That's like slapping Regen twice. And, go figure, it's still one of the best t9s because of its complementary nature to the rest of the set, but there is still room for improvement.

I don't think it's off-topic, at all, given the current discussion of moving a Revive power to a T1. That said, there are challenges in this game (self-imposed or otherwise, such as Flashback TFs) that require no deaths. In those instances, a rez power is a lost pick, especially when a player can use that power for another convenience purpose or for a power that reduces the need for a rez to begin with. Might even be worse if a player exemplars to the point where powers are limited (this is, admittedly, a stretch: a player would have to exemplar down 6 or less to only have their first secondary power available). In situations where revives are allowed, I still would not take Regeneration's Revive as-is because it is fairly weak. Born in Battle or a Rez Pack are better and save me an entire power. If I am dying more often than those are available, I am willing to own that is a "me" problem, but even more of a reason to want to have another power available rather than a rez. On most sets, I even usually take the rez... at 49... except on /Regen, where I usually get some other power better used to buy me a few more seconds for Reconstruction to recharge. Powers that let you respond when you're defeated and powers that require being defeated to use is not a distinctive enough difference to me, especially when there is a penalty for being defeated in and of itself, no matter how small. Like I mentioned, if the Revive were to wipe that debt, I could see forcing it on players. If the Revive was better, I could see it. As-is, I do not see the problem of a rez as the T2. Available really early when it might see most use, available at level 1 if it ever gets to Tankers, but otherwise skippable and allowing players the option to build around not getting defeated in the first place. And after all this typing and thought, @Bill Z Bubba beat me to it. Fair enough. If implemented this way, I would probably work IH in my builds as a Reconstruction replacement. I personally would rather see IH going back to a toggle at reduced rates or getting better uptime rates like you suggested. In a long-past post I suggested 90/300 and making it the T9 of the set. IMO, this would bring to match some of the better T9s mitigation powers like Light Form and Eclipse and give /Regen another IO path: chase Resistance or Defense to slow down incoming damage or chase Recharge like the Kheldians do.

@aethereal, I like the idea of your Instant Healing (near-instant cast, near-instant recharge, potentially super expensive if the base heal was left at something decent), but with your suggested Instant Healing I would switch Reconstruction and Quickened Metabolism around. This way, late-game respecs are not forced to take Reconstruction and its funhouse mirror brother if they want to just go with Instant Healing instead and are comfortable leveraging its costs (or taking the more steady but less costly Reconstruction). Slotted for healing, it could be decent (or even good), but more than two casts without slotting for Endurance Reduction could (should?) cause issues. Would a short-term Recovery debuff be appropriate given the potential exhaustive nature of the power if the heal was left at a decent value? Burst of Energy looks like the offensive version of Moment of Glory except with a much better uptime. I would certainly take it. Sorry, @Vanden, but while I completely understand the thematic appeal, I would advocate against putting the Revive as the T1 even moreso than Reconstruction, especially if left as-is or only given a shorter recharge time. Requiring people die and take on debt (even if the impact of debt is mostly minimized) to make use of a power is not a power I would want to have stuck on me. Not saying not I would not take it for early game (for the reasons mentioned), but without significant improvements to the power (at least matching the Sentinel's Second Wind version, but then it clashes with Dull Pain), it does not appeal in a late-game build. If using Revive cleared that debt I could see it, but then people would be complaining that Regen suffers no penalty from dying (although I would argue being forced that take a power that requires you to die to use it is penalty enough since that's one more power they cannot take later to keep from face-planting in the first place).

I was hoping someone would beat me to this. Some of the OG sets are classics and great for thematic purposes and will likely still get the job done (eventually), but they are dragging a bit next to the sets that were developed when the OG dev team and the players had a better feel for the game.

To note: Light Form's crash is a set to 50% HP and END. If you have been redlining or running into a lot of Psionic Damage and find yourself below those marks when you crash, you will effectively be healed to that amount. It is usually a rare thing to see since you will usually have a heal available, but it is nice when it works out in your favor.

I had to be doing a responsible thing like laundry, and by the time my phone posted the Discord announcement, I tried to get in and it was closed... Well done, team.

You are likely going to take most of the powers, but not all (You cannot: Luminous/Umbral Blast/Aura are not just 9 powers apiece. Blasts are 14, Auras are 12. You only get 24 total power* choices in your career, period.). From an effectiveness standpoint, there is nothing to stack with the stun of Peacebringer's Pulsar, so it is* very lackluster, and Glowing Touch you might only keep around long enough to get the healing badges. If you plan on pegging out a Kheldian and dancing between forms, the base-form Toggle Shields are mules, at best, since you will be leaning on Light Form/Eclipse.

And there are usually powers that are ripe for letting go to help facilitate that. Confronts (not Taunts) are always skips. T9 armors are usually skips. After that there are either some duds (PB - Pulsar or Regen - Revive) or a level-1 primary power (Dark Melee - Shadow Punch on a Scrapper or Brute) not likely to be needed in that character's end-game build.

45 seconds would be amazing, even at only half its current strength. That said, I would probably use it the way I do now, just with a little more buffer: juggling it with Shadow Meld and Barrier. I am probably too attached to my PB right now, but I feel like the reworking of the high-mitigation T9s could take inspiration from the Khelds: Light Form's magnitude of primary effects, uptime-ratio, and crash make it a better version of Unstoppable, imo. Eclipse does not have a crash, but has to be leveraged for maximum effect and does come with some initial risk (you have to jump into the fight without the extra resistance, first). The T9s with fixed recharge seem a bit weak for their effects and uptime, but the sets those are in don't need a whole lot on the mitigation front. Unless I have nothing to take at 49, these are usually skips. The self-rezzes are a fun concept, but just not one that appeals to me unless they can be modified to do something if used before the player is defeated. Born in Battle is enough.

I agree with everything else you said, but to answer this question, specifically: Offensive/Support parity? Some sets pay a lot more for their extra tricks than others, if they even have them, at all. I know not every set is going to get Against All Odds, Grant Cover, and Shield Charge and/or have the bulk of its mitigation wrapped up in 4 powers (Regen's not the strongest or most IO-friendly, but Fast Healing, Reconstruction, Dull Pain, and Integration at least means you can get other powers quickly), but seeing sets like SR that require 7 powers, waiting until 35 to get a core power, and only getting Quickness (which is another power pick) and near-capped DDR out of the deal just does not seem right. Complementary T9s rather than stacking T9s might also be helpful, but I think the devs are at least still trying to respect the Cottage Rule for folks who did take them for a specific use. Clicking Overload and having it act like Unstoppable might be useful for Energy Aura players, but they may have wanted the extra Defense for Incarnate content, or picked EA because its T9 did not have an HP crash.

Quartz are particularly nasty to SR since it has no other form of inherent mitigation save the scaling resistances, which can get leapfrogged at the levels you see DE.

Are Kheldians their own beast or do Luminous and Umbral Auras count as Armors? Asking because I feel like the best handled Armor-based T9s are Light Form and Eclipse. The biggest knock on those is that they somewhat fall into the "more of what the set already does (except for Psi-resistance in Eclipse)," but they are so good at it that once you get them slotted you don't have to run the other shields at the same time (which is also a good thing because the shields don't stay toggled through forms, but that is a different conversation). - Solid base effects, especially for Human and Nova - Good baseline uptime ratio (90/300 base and 90/155ish on just SOs), and permable with enough investment (so the T9-state reflects steady-state play). - A fair crash for what they do, and even this can be leveraged. The only other T9 I look at taking on sets I have played (have not rolled Rad or Bio, yet) is usually MoG. It supplements what Regen does not do well (eating alpha strikes) without invalidating the rest of the set, and is a space for any of the Resistance and Defense uniques, but its uptime ratio leaves a lot to be desired. What would have to change about the power to get a 30s duration?