MirrorDarkly
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Posts posted by MirrorDarkly
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50 minutes ago, onyxus said:
The cone attack is an awesome aoe (jet stream). If you didn't take it I strongly suggest a respec. I'm loving my new sentinel! 😄
I took all the Storm Blast powers initially and respeced out of the Cone and Gust at some point (I want to say around the time I got Clouburst?). I've toyed around with picking it back up but I don't know what I would take the slots from....
Good to hear your loving it, the set can be amazingly fun.
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My experience so far SB is that it certainly works solo. At the low to mid 40s on my SB/Regen Sentinel I've been soling missions of +0/x7 Malta and Crey and I took out the Countess as an even level AV solo at level 44 (Endurance ended up being the biggest issue in that fight and I had to drop many of my toggles part way through).
What I go back and fourth on is if it works well. I fell like it lives and dies on my ability to get Cat 5 and to a lesser extent Storm Cell down effectively and sustain a constant barrage of attacks while they are out. When that happens it's glorious with mobs being tossed everywhere and dyeing left and right. However if anything interrupts that cycle; a sapper I didn't see, being confused, LoS issues, enough enemies escaping the area, etc.. it's effectiveness collapses and I'm left taking them out one after another after another....
I very much feel that outside of Cat 5 I lack an sort of effective AoE. Even with Storm Cell out and using Chain Lightning on cooldown I'll often find that I have to target and kill each individual enemy. Now sometimes that is not the case, SC will go off enough and CL will jump effectively, but much of the time that just doesn't happen. This also can make joining grouping incredibly frustrating.
My general thoughts on the set right now are that it is incredibly unique and (for me) fun but that it's probably under tuned. There are a lot of very obvious situations where it's damage output will be dead last for a blast set and its peak damage output in the best of circumstances (which is rare outside of solo play) seems to be about average. In exchange for that it gives a not insignificant amount of mitigation through knocking, slows and shear chaos that is very hard to quantify.
It is also feels extremely END hungry and besides Incarnate powers (on the test server) I have not found a way to completely manage that.
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On my Sentinel I'm currently running 5 Bombardment (including the fire proc) and the proc from Position's Blast.
Over a long enough fight I notice them go off but I'm still trying to decide if swapping out for 6 Artillery would make more sense.
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At that point I would demand a stadium that could accommodate organized hamster ball games!
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8 hours ago, Player-1 said:
Storm Cell originally could be slotted for these effects, but due to the oddities associated with pets that have multiple powers we decided to buff the slow and tohit debuff portions of the power to prevent "traps".
To @Saiyajinzoningen's example of Tornado, that pet has multiple powers but only one has the ability to be enhanced. Conveniently, that power has Damage, Knock, Defense Debuff, and so on all rolled into one so that an Accuracy/Knock or Accuracy/Damage enhancement will boost it all the same. The difference with Storm Cell is that the High Winds and Lightning powers are seperate and would have taken different enhancement types. If you were to slot an accuracy/slow for instance, the lightning powers would not have their accuracy enhanced which is counter-intuitive when you are slotting Storm Cell for accuracy.
This is something we are looking into, though it has complexities depending on the pets and slotting options in question.
One thing I have noted is that my wind proc had a dramatically lower chance to hit than my lightning procs. (50ish% vs 95% on hard targets for example).
I assume this is because I'm using a damage set. However on test when the change was made it was my understanding that the wind powers we going to be set to auto hit. It seem like some were either missed or left out of that conversation and I'd be curious to know if it was intentional?
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Storm Blasts strength is that it looks and feels awesome.
The weakness is that it is *completely* incompatible with the meta and any sort of fast moving team.
There is also an open question as to if there is *any* payoff to that. It feels like it should be extremely effective when you can get everything in place for it. However there was some testing in the blaster form that showed it exactly in the middle of the sets, along with dark blast, against a single hard target that lasted long enough to get full use out of storm cell and cat 5.
So there is the very real possibility that your damage will, at best, occasionally be average and most of the time aweful.
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For what it is worth I tried SR, EA, Rad, Fire and Regen on test and settled on Regen.
It does a good job of staying out of my way (which I find very important for storm) and still gives me a few buttons to recover from a bad situation. I have a version on test that I've used to solo Infernal, Chimera and just today Nightstar (who gave me a lot of trouble and I had to try out several different builds to finally beat) as AVs at +4/x8.
I'm sure there are sets and players that can do far more but I'm happy with those results.
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Looking for feedback on a build I'm working towards that is similar to one I used the test server and enjoyed. I'd love to be able to squeeze perma-hasten out of it and have better slow resistance without sacrificing to much else, but I'm not sure if that is possible.
The only incarnate included is Vigor Core Paragon, which I used to solve my end issues as well as allow the lightning in Storm Cell and Cat 5 to hit higher level targets after I noticed them missing AVs frequently (since it only has 1.15 base accuracy and don't benefit from set bonuses and most other external sources of accuracy). The healing bonus also helps some of my secondary powers which is.... not bad.
Sentinel (Storm Blast - Regeneration).mbd
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13 hours ago, Player-1 said:
Hello Zep,
To clarify on these points:
1) Overlapping Storm Cells do not stack bonuses such as Gust's DoT or Direct Strike's stun. The powers look to see if a target is "In a Storm Cell" and will activate bonuses accordingly, but does not care how many Storm Cells it is in.
2) Category Five also counts as a Storm Cell for the purposes of the bonus effects. If you drop a Category Five down on an area, then use Jet Stream, you'll notice it does Knockdown like with Storm Cell. However, overlapping with Storm Cell does not provide further bonuses.
In short, as long as a target is within anybody's Storm Cell or Category Five they will be subject to the bonus effects of Storm Blast powers. But only you can proc lightning and high winds from your own Storm Cell or Category Five.
So if I am going to drop Cat5 on a group of enemies there is no reason to first cast Storm Cell?
If that is true I think it should be stated explicitly in the power descriptions because dispite playing the set quite a bit and trying to understand it in CoD I had no idea...
It also begs the question; if I have both active in the same area, use another storm blast power and proc lighting, which power is actually triggered? If for example I have one with substantially better slotting that could matter a lot.
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On test I tried /Rad, SR, EA and Regen.
Regen was my favorite of those although I'm very tempted to try /fire now that it is live.
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At the higher levels I'm having no problem with Storm Cells recast.
The overall end usage of the set does feel a little high. Even on characters with slotted sustains like blasters and sentinels I can run dry quickly unless I really build for mitigating it or slow down my power usage.
Perhapse consider adding a chance of End return to the lightning attacks when used on a target in the Storm Cell or reducing the cost of Storm Cell?
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Some quick feedback in the latest patch.
I really noticed the faster ticking DoT on Cloudburst. Also my Cat5 and Storm Burst had a 95% hit rate across the board (procs, etc) on a level 52 AV (Nightstar).
Cat5 had 5/6 of the superior winter set and 1 IO recharge reduction. Storm Burst had 3 HO Acc/Dam and 3 procs.
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39 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:
I already didn't need to finish reading the rest of your stuff (though I did) because this is WAYYYY too drastic of a drop. To counter the lockouts going away, granting over time and that it requires constant attacking I'd be thinking like a 10% or 15% drop. It certainly wouldn't drop 20% or more going past the benefit of intensify. I'm sure someone could do the math on where that actual percentage drop would be appropriate, but the point is, there IS a value where the loss of percent chance is still a net gain for removing the lockout, and a much bigger help when using intensify.
Are you sure about that?
Just on one target and assuming the proc does 100 points of damage.
After three attacks at 80% with a lock out you'd have averaged 99.2 proc damage the current way. (100 damage x 99.2% change to see a proc).
With no lock out after three attacks at 40%.
41% of the time you'd see 100 proc damage so 41 average damage there.
31% of the time you'd see 200 proc damage so 62 average damage there.
6.4% of the time you'd see 300 proc damage so 19.2 average damage there.
For a total of 122.2 proc damage over the same 3 attacks.
So if I'm doing my math right I understated how big of a % drop you would need to average out the same damage over time.
Edit: Since the lockout is per target the more targets you have the less % proc chance you'd need to remove. But it also means it is probably impossible to remove the lockout and get the same average damage over time for all group sizes.
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1 hour ago, WindDemon21 said:
That's not true, re-read, i said to lower the proc chances TO AVERAGE the same. So you'd still get getting the same average procs over time.
Edit: so generally, with your first aoe volley, you're getting the most proc chances, making that 2nd aoe less likely to proc or do anything essentially wasting the next aoe attack. Especially if you're ony using chain lightning (like for a melee toon blapper, traps, poison etc), and you're getting your recharge down under 5 seconds. In that case, your next aoe will do almost no bonus proccing, and you almost have to self-hinder your aoe to not use it until those 5 seconds are up.
I understand that, it is the core of my concern about the idea.
Let's do some back of the envelope math and assume an 80% chance to proc with a lock out on average is the same as a 40% chance to proc with no lock out. (These are made up numbers, I have not done the math to know what is actually equivalent.)
As it currently stands you would have an 80% chance to proc on your first attack, a 96% chance to have proced by your second attack and a 99.2% chance to have proced by your third attack. But assuming those three attacks are all with 5 seconds you would have no chance to have proced twice on the same target.
Changing it would give you a 40% chance to proc on the first attack. A 64% chance to have proced at least once by your second attack and an 78.4% chance to have proced at least once by your third attack. But 16% of the time both your first and second attack will have proced on the same target and on the third attack 31% of the time you would have seen two procs on the same target and 6.4% of the time the same target would have been hit with three procs.
So again my concern is that, assuming on a test dummy over a long enough time these produce identical damage, in actual play the additional 20% of the time that you've seen no procs by attack number three will hurt more than the times you squeeze in an extra proc or two within those same three attacks.
Does that make sense?
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47 minutes ago, WindDemon21 said:
I'd rather there not be a lockout, and lower the proc chances to average what the difference would be. This would also actually help make intensify better too because that 20% more chance would mean more since the enemies would not be under the lockout effect.
Respectful I'm not sure if I agree. As it stands now once I'm done dropping everything there is almost always a huge burst of lightning that scythes through most enemies when I make the first or second real attack, especially if I use Intensity. After that it's mostly cleanup.
If they cut the proc chance to remove the lockout it's entirely possible I'd have to make 3, 4 or even 5 attacks before I see that payoff on top of all the current setup.
Now mathematically it would be a wash over an infinite number of attacks because it would be balanced by back to back procs but in practice I feel like it's much more important to get that first burst of lightning off then immediately follow it up with a second on the same targets.
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I would also point out for consideration that Voltic Sentinel's attacks have a 1.4 base accuracy, if I'm reading CoD right.
So there is a lot of precedent for giving powers like this a higher base accuracy.
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2 hours ago, Frosticus said:
ya, maybe. But as we know -def has minimal impact on foes that resist def debuffs such as AV's, so not a kin problem at all. Across the 4 AT's with access to storm blast none of the secondaries offer meaningful long duration tohit buffing other than time (farsight) and nature (overgrowth). Bio Armor and Invuln armor buff tohit, but they fade off of storm cell after 1 second.
Try it out. It is certainly working as designed, but whether working as intended is a different matter.
Agreed. I really hope the accuracy of the stom procs gets looked at. I see a huge fall off in their ability to hit when I'm fighting purple enemies which again *feels* like it should be Storm Blasts real strength. And as you noted most tools we get to overcome that don't apply or last long enough to make a meaningful difference.
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2 hours ago, Frosticus said:
PSA on storm cell slotting:
I'm sure the player base understands psuedopet attacks reasonably well when it comes to powers like shield charge, but long duration psuedopets aren't common enough that I believe most players really get how they operate, or how they operate doesn't really matter because other mechanics in the set mask their shortcomings.
You need 98% (after ED) acc slotting IN storm cell if you want the lightning attacks to hit +3's at capped rate. +4's (if you fight them) present a real hurdle for the power.
Why?
-Psuedopets do not iherent the players global acc (ie set bonuses), or get buffed by tactics/kismet. When buffs expire on you they expire on the psuedopet as well (ie intensify's +tohit).
But I don't slot acc in Freezing rain!
-it only needs to catch a target with a single tick to work it's magic and it checks every 0.2 sec
But my Rain of Fire only has 1 acc slotted and it does fine!
-It is a short duration (15 sec) psuedopet that most people pop aim prior to using. The 10 sec buff of aim masks the shortcomming. Plus it spams its attack every 0.2 sec, so even when it misses a bunch most people don't notice.
But my Lightning storm from storm summon wrecks!
- yes it does! it has 1.4x base acc and storm has freezing rain to drop defenses.
But my carrion creepers seem to do more damage if my buddy fulcurm shifts them once they are out killing stuff!
- yes carrion creepers summon targetable entities that attack enemies (or you if you get confused). Because they are targetable they can be buffed from player powers like tactics
Storm cell is unique in that it is a very long duration psuedopet. The many self buffing sets (blasters, sents, many def and corrs) will potentially see storm cell fall a bit short on performance. Debuffing sets don't have such issues.
I'm also guessing no one has tested this power in hardmode content extensively as it will be a wiff-fest without specific powers present.
This is a very informative and clear explanation of an issue I'd been noticing but had not thought through. Thank you!
@Booper Is there any chance you would consider giving Storm Cell and Cat 5 a higher base accuracy? I ask because very hard content is the place where I would expect Storm Blast to shine as it's design holds it back to a degree in easy/speed run situations.
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As much as I love this set on the Sentinel, a Storm/Fire/Fire blaster may be my favorite thing ever. This was 8/+1, sets but no incarnate or temporary powers (two fights using Cat 5 and one without to see how it goes).
Now I just need to figure out how to get enough defense to solo AVs....
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3 hours ago, Frosticus said:
Has anyone put much time into testing how damage procs work in Storm Cell?
I've tried it slotted with:
Bombardment - aoe damage
Explosive strike - knockback
Ice Minstrel - slow
I believe it is checking the procs when storm cell casts the various lightning aura powers for the AoE and knockback procs
25ft aoe 1-4 targets depending
I believe it is checking the slow procs when storm cell casts windspeed.
25ft aoe, 16 targets, checks every 10 seconds and whenever one of your attacks triggers additional windspeed.
As the power casts windspeed without any further interaction this means it can draw immediate aggro if one of the slow procs lands
I didn't test extensively, but I did see Ice Minstrel trigger a decent amount. I saw enough bombardment that I will consider aoe damage procs and I rarely saw explosive strike (dunno why).
Slotting the slow damage procs is definitely worth considering if you don't care about giving up the non-aggro ability of storm cell.
I've put the Bombardment, Positron's Blast, Ice Minstrel and Impeded Swiftness procs in Storm Cell. All four go off, the slow ones seem to be more common but I don't have a parser so it's very hard for me to be sure. You'd probably need to really dig into combat logs to tell how much of a gain having them in is, they certainly don't proc every time.
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3 hours ago, ScarySai said:
I love the direction of the new chain lightning animation way more than the ball.
The initial bolts and the chain damage look really wimpy, though. Something about the ball added some 'weight' to the power that doesn't really exist anymore when fighting large groups.
Suggestion: Thicken the bolts or whatever other means you have to make the chain bolts more noticeable in a large fight.
I second this. If possible I'd love for the bolts cary more weight, maybe make them larger? Also consider making the thunder a little stronger so it sounds more like direct strike.
Also I can see storm cell much more easily now!
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2 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:
Nitpicky request: Is it possible to adjust the VFX of Storm Cell and Cat 5 so that the primary color applies only to the rain/wind effects while the secondary color applies only to the lightning strike?
I second this. I would love to be able to set the color of the storm and lightning separately.
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Okay. So I know this in no way a high water mark for character optimization in this game but my fairly hastily put together Storm/SR sentinel has been happy soloing 8/+1 missions with bosses and AVs turned on and has fought and defeated Nightstar, Bobcat and Neuron solo as AVs. With sets but no incarnate or temporary powers.
Mind you I'm a fairly casual player and didn't plan her out in mids or anything so I'm certainly happy with the sets performance so far. But yeah, its provably not going to be amazing on a fast moving team.
Edit: Also for clarity Storm Blast was my only source of damage. I did not use proced out Dominate to boost it.
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Has anyone tested procs in Storm Cell and Cat5?
I know they normally don't do well in rains but these two have a whole bunch of lightning attacks that fire off in them which seem to benefit from damage enhancements.
I'm wondering if procs pass through to those and if so how well.
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Storm Blast needs help, bad.
in Blaster
Posted
While I mostly agree with you, on my Sentinel at least I find just Storm Cell + Chain Lightning very anemic AoE damage, often failing to take out most minions before I get to them with my single target attacks. Now Storm Cell + Cat 5 + Intensify (w/ Build Up Proc) is an beast and usually destroys most groups.
No idea how much of that is a Sentinel issue as opposed to a set issue however.