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Blackfeather

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Everything posted by Blackfeather

  1. Blackfeather
    If I had to guess, this was probably intentional, in an attempt to help avoid overcentralising towards those powersets with Power Boost in them.
  2. Blackfeather
    Hmmm...well. Darkness Control can be explained away easily enough: even without its secondary effects, it's a versatile powerset, so the -ToHit is more of a bonus. If Electric Control does indeed have the same values, then it'd probably make sense to have Ice Control's secondary effects similarly match. Or at the very least maybe modify Ice Control's -SPD on Dominators while in Domination, though personally I wouldn't go that route - there's already plenty of incentives to achieve perma-Domination.
  3. Blackfeather
    Do you think just creating Ice Formation pets with a high threat level might do the same thing as a taunt (i.e. have enemies "smash" through the structures after prematurely waking up), or could that have some side effects?
  4. Blackfeather
    I don't think that invalidates the statement that Ice Control already has something unique to it that other Control powersets do not - frankly, "current power levels" is shorthand for "damage is king", which seems to translate to "do more damage to make a powerset more relevant by whatever means". That's a game balance issue, as opposed to a single powerset issue. While I do think that Ice Control is a relatively low damage set even in comparison to other Control sets, and as such should be adjusted accordingly, I'm generally conservative in regards to going too far in the other direction (e.g. via -Res debuffs), especially given its secondary effect. Would you be opposed to the ice formations summoned by Flash Freeze having a very high Threat level then? A small taunt aura was the simplest idea I had in mind, but there are certainly other ways of achieving the desired effect that I was aiming for (i.e. creating fragile structures that enemies need to waste their attacks on if they prematurely wake up).
  5. Blackfeather
    Personally, I'm of the opinion that each power in a powerset ought to be worth taking: that Shiver is skippable at the moment is more than enough reason to change it (I also try to help Ice Control in the damage department, and initial lockdown phase, given its limitations there). Said design is heavily reflected in the newer sets, such as Darkness Control or Water Blast - there's a clear opportunity cost in not taking certain powers. Every power has impact. That's what I'm aiming for with the changes with Shiver. Combined with the proposed modifications for Flash Freeze, a player really doesn't have to have both powers, but can choose between them if they so desire, and they still provide differing effects: if they're so inclined, they can pick both, and be all the better for it.
  6. Blackfeather
    I actually think most Control sets are in a pretty good place damage wise at the moment. Personally, only a few of them really have an issue in that regard, with Ice Control being the main one (and to a lesser degree Electric and Earth, but they're much better in the control department, and have some neat proc options). It's why I went the route I did with the introduced changes: providing additional options for damage as opposed to fiddling with the numbers themselves. I'll argue that there's only one actual "blast" power out of all the Control powers: Illusion Control's Spectral Wounds, which Dominators don't even have access to - causing high amounts of damage and nothing else. While there are certainly other Control powers that deal decent damage, they generally come on top of potent soft-control effects: Lift/Propel from Gravity Control both knock enemies around, damaging them while also temporarily taking them out of the fight. Levitate from Mind Control is similar in that regard. The damage I'm envisioning for Shiver is quite minor, per the description of it: in a similar-ish ballpark to the AoE Immobilize powers. Main thing here is to provide more proc options for the power, rather than being damaging in its own right.
  7. Blackfeather
    What if the summoned ice formations just had a very high level of threat? It doesn't have to use the Taunt status effect, that was just the first thing that came to mind. The intent here was just to get enemies to 'break free' of these formations if they prematurely woke up by attacking them. This would do the trick too. Could you elaborate a little further on what you mean by that? The changes made to Shiver were made to take some enemies briefly out of the fight to provide time for Arctic Air do its work, while still being less effective than openers such as Flashfire to preserve Ice Control shtick of "gradual control over time".
  8. Blackfeather
    Mm...compared to Ranged T9s, AoE Holds are: Less accurate Doesn't actually damage enemies Recharge slower So what advantages do they have, exactly?
  9. Blackfeather
    Thanks for the mention! ❤️ Generally, I think when people say "in what ways can we challenge players further", what they really mean is "how can I make my character feel like they're contributing". And the latter doesn't always necessitate the former.
  10. Blackfeather
    That does sound quite nice. Jack Frost is already quite solid, but I won't complain about additional damage mitigation. That also being said, I'm pretty sure there's precedence for powers between archetypes that do have slightly different properties despite being named the same. Storm Kick comes to mind.
  11. Blackfeather
    That does sound possible - both powersets are one of the oldest ones around. Seems a bit odd, though of course, not exactly something that can be very easily tested. Have you tried filing a tentative bug report on it? Might be worth looking into at least.
  12. Blackfeather
    That sounds reasonable to me - no complaints there. Unfortunately, I can't think of a power similar to Arctic Air in nature that could work as a potential model for Domination to function with it, but it's how it is, I suppose. I assume you're referring to -Movement? If so, then indeed, it does seem like a little bit of an oversight. Though I do have to wonder...are the secondary effects of Electric and Darkness Control lessened on Dominators?
  13. Blackfeather
    I actually do think that Ice Control already has a niche/theme of its own via its -SPD attached to many of its powers - I'm not too certain on proposals that'd add on further debuffs to that. On another note: generally speaking, combo systems work better for powersets that are focused on dealing damage, rather than ones focused on dealing status effects. This is due to them having differing goals: the former synergises well - build/spend properly = more damage = faster defeat. The latter, not so much: most status effect-inducing powers immediately affect their targets, so there really isn't anything to 'combo' into. Gravity Control gets away with its "Impact!" mechanic because it's designed to deal more damage in a relatively control-light powerset. Out of curiosity, what don't you like about Flash Freeze's Ice Formation pets taunting, outside of making them able to slot Taunt IO sets? That can be easily solved by just not allowing that. The main goal here was to provide some level of durability to the power, forcing enemies to 'break free' of their constraints even if they wake up - I don't really mind the path in which they take to do that.
  14. Blackfeather
    I'm somewhat curious, are there any targeted cones that you are a fan of? I personally quite like how they work myself, and it'd be a shame if they were changed to function differently from how they do now.
  15. Blackfeather
    I'm of the view that Ice Control already has unique merit via its focus on slowing down enemies and subsequent soft control over time - I don't think that there's disagreement in that regard. What Ice Control primarily lacks at the moment is an early-level way of opening up fights relatively safely (and to a lesser degree damage): my proposed changes to Shiver for example, are meant to provide an additional way for Ice Control to do this, but less effectively than the other Control powersets. I don't think powerset uniqueness, and powerset buffs are irreconcilable. Ice Control even with my proposed changes is intended to maintain its unique niche of -SPD, and keep it front and centre. I'd even argue that improving that aspect, such as via @oedipus_tex's suggestion of making some of that -SPD irresistable would further put that to the forefront.
  16. Blackfeather
    To my mind, Ice Control's main issues are as follows: It lacks an early, reliable way to mitigate alpha strikes Its stronger powers (Ice Slick, Arctic Air) give enemies the opportunity to retaliate Its secondary effect (-SPD) only really shines in prolonged fights But where said fights are most likely to be prolonged (AVs/GMs), its effects are highly resisted It trades out damage for this secondary effect I like to compare Ice Control to Darkness Control because in comparison: It has early ways to mitigate alpha strikes (Fearsome Stare/Heart of Darkness) Their effects are immediate and potent Its secondary effect (-ToHit) is effective regardless of the pace of a fight It has numerous options to deal damage alongside this I'm all for putting Ice Control's more prolonged nature up front, but it shouldn't come at the cost of actual effectiveness.
  17. Blackfeather
    Hey there @Sovera - I know about your perspective on Controllers and their "role" in the game. Care to share it with Ultra over here? I think it might make for a good counterpoint and discussion.
  18. Blackfeather
    As in, would you see Flash Freeze's changes as overpowered if it wasn't able to slot Taunt or Slow IOs? The main intent behind the proposed changes was to give the power some additional utility, even if the Sleep was broken early. Oh! My apologies - just looking at the proposed changes of yours: It just seemed like it was a bit of a downgrade compared to what it's currently like: Shiver has a much wider arc at 135 degrees, and its -SPD is not that much lower. Basically, the main intent behind having a chance to Hold in Shiver was to provide a means of breaking Alpha strikes for a few moments, allowing Arctic Air adequate time to confuse a group of enemies. So long as it applies a status effect that does this, I don't have many qualms, though I prefer Holds myself. You might like @SeraphimKensai's thread on AoE Holds in general here. I'm okay with the times as they are, but I can definitely see arguments for altering it. It's definitely odd that even Blaster nukes (i.e. their ultimate big bang T9 power) recharge faster than them.
  19. Blackfeather
    No worries - I was looking at the Mids numbers which can often times be misleading. In future, I'd best look at @RubyRed's post on this, which I only found out about recently. It does seem like this is a fairly small amount of -Recharge in that case...making some portion of each of these powers unresistable like @oedipus_tex mentioned a while back sounds like it'd do wonders against locking down AVs to some degree. Thanks! If I actually knew how to modify the game behind the scenes, I'd try to give the different dedicated Sleep powers something unique, depending on how they function: Salt Crystals would be similar-ish to the proposed change Flash Freeze (maybe trading out damage for slightly higher durability), Mass Hypnosis/Mesmerize would make enemies sleep on the floor to force them to stand up after waking up, and so on.
  20. Blackfeather
    I do find it a bit odd that Arctic Air isn't affected by Domination. That'd definitely be something that ought to be resolved - I'm pretty sure that Darkness Control's Shadow Field for instance works as expected with it. Glad to hear you like the Flash Freeze changes!
  21. Blackfeather
    That's fair - though I do think that this does bring up another reason as to why I prefer making Shiver a chance to Hold rather than a chance to Confuse: it functions more as I envision it, as a way of 1) partially breaking alpha strikes and 2) providing the Ice Controller with the time needed to confuse the group with Arctic Air (i.e. there's no need to for Shiver to try and make enemies waste their attacks if AA already handles that). Though if we did go the 50% chance to Confuse route, I'd probably say there'd be no need to add in minor damage to Shiver.
  22. Blackfeather
    I actually think Flash Freeze's changes are fairly reasonable myself - while Sleep powers do have their place, they're kind of conditional, and very easily broken out of. Adding in those ice formation summons was meant to help with that: occupy enemies for a little while even if they prematurely wake up. It even has the added bonus of causing enemies to waste a few of their attacks, which synergises well with Ice Control's focus on -Recharge as a form of soft control. Would be interested in @xl8's thoughts on the quoted suggestion though! While I mightn't think my proposed changes are overpowered, I'd like to see their thoughts on alternative proposals.
  23. Blackfeather
    To clarify, I compared Shiver to melee cone attacks to make a point about exactly how wide Shiver is: it's basically the biggest cone in the game. The thing about "maximising blast area" is that it has diminishing returns. So long as one's cone hits all or most of the desired enemies, it doesn't matter what distance one fires it at. And it's because Shiver has a 130 degree wide arc that one can achieve this at basically any distance. Basically, there's no need to step back to use a cone power if it's wide and long enough to hit all the desired enemies anyway, which Shiver absolutely is. Building on those previous statements, the proposed changes I've made to Shiver wouldn't encourage players to move away from groups of enemies like you're suggesting for a few reasons: The chance to Hold is designed not for continual lockdown, but at a start of a fight (i.e. before they actually dive into the fray) There is little incentive to use Shiver by backing away from enemies while they're inside Arctic Air Enemies remain confused only while inside Arctic Air Shiver's arc is wide and long enough to hit the desired targets even up close The control from Shiver is negligible and short compared to Arctic Air I also see Flash Freeze as coming very late into Ice Control's arsenal, and similar to how you find Shiver to be fairly skippable, I personally avoid AoE Sleeps in general, including Flash Freeze. A modified Shiver along the lines of my proposal provides options for breaking alpha strikes either way (albeit less reliably than Flash Freeze, but that's done on purpose).
  24. Blackfeather
    Well, that's simple enough to resolve: prevent the power from slotting the relevant IOs. What would you think of the power disregarding them? My main goal here wasn't to make Flash Freeze incredibly damaging, but to provide it with further utility even if the Sleep prematurely breaks. To some degree, I see where you're coming from: what I'm saying is that this isn't something unique to Ice Control. You might also like to look at @Sir Myshkin's post on Controller procs in general, and Ice Control's relative lack of opportunities for procs in its power selections. Something to keep in mind here: Earthquake can already slot IOs - my suggestion merely levels the playing field for Ice Slick. What is Shiver compensating for, out of curiosity? And on another note, have any thoughts on the suggestions I put forth for Shiver in the original post?
  25. Blackfeather
    Quick correction: Static Field takes 40 seconds to recharge. I actually don't really mind the fact that things like Ice Slick and Earthquake break Sleep effects, for the same reason that I don't mind other similar 'conflicting' powers in Control sets (e.g. Dimension Shift vs. Gravity Control's other powers, Spore Burst vs. Roots/Carrion Creepers) - stacking them together doesn't provide further control. Instead, they're better off being used in different groups of enemies to better lock down more of them at once. I make that distinction to compare it to what I see as a 'beneficial' change: AoE Immobilises and how they no longer stop enemies from being knocked down (i.e. via knockdown patches like Ice Slick).
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