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SaddestGhost

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Everything posted by SaddestGhost

  1. In regard to a fixed duration, your suggested numbers would easily overshadow Mass Domination (if they shared a target cap). With 2 level 50 IOs MD's duration is still shy of 30 seconds and it takes a good deal of recharge to reduce its cooldown to near 60 seconds. Something similar I had in mind was an accelerating endurance cost to effectively cap its duration, but allowing some flexibility if someone chose to build for end. reduction/recovery to leverage it longer. Swapping trains of thought for a moment: how many consider Telekinesis as Mind's signature power or feel that it should be? I definitely would like to see it improved to something more functional, but I'm wary about making it a keystone of the set. Doing so, I think, would change the feel of the entire set as many of us know it. As I consider these suggestions, I'm thinking about how the KB > KD IOs have altered Bonfire. A power that was once skipped more often than not became a highly recommended choice. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was a good change as it allowed Fire to utilize more control with even more damage.
  2. It's taken me a while to solidify my thoughts on your Dizzied mechanic but I've finally put my thumb on why it doesn't sit well with me. In many situations, it seems like it would fundamentally alter Mass Hypnosis from being a Sleep to simply being a short-duration Stun. On teams, for instance, it's almost forgone that Sleep will be broken. The other issue is that without some alteration to Levitate or Terrify the ability to set up AoE containment doesn't mean much. As it currently stands, Mass Hypnosis only has a slightly longer recharge than Terrify. In most cases, I'll simply wait a few seconds in order to cast MH before Terrify in order to benefit from the containment. Your Dizzied mechanic does add a bit of forgiveness when teaming, but without a fairly long duration it won't maintain containment for a second casting of Terrify. The added utility in Mass Hypnosis would certainly be an improvement but on the list of changes I'd implement I'd hope to see Fear and/or Confuse added to containment first.
  3. I never realized that the Abyss was co-op. I think I've only ever visited it to snag some badges, actually. But it does make me scratch my head and wonder "Why not make the Hive co-op as well?"
  4. You'll find what you're looking for in a Plant Dominator. Seeds of Confusion has a ridiculously good ratio of down time to duration. While the base duration outside of Domination is shorter than a controller's, Domination boosts the portion of the power that is only 3 magnitude to longer than a controllers and adds an extra 3 magnitude (to one shot confuse bosses) to half of that. On top of that many Dominator secondaries offer Power Up which can further boost secondary effects and controls. However, if your interest is support rather than just control, a controller's secondary can provide significant means to support the team even in situations where control can fail them.
  5. Well, color me pleasantly surprised. I jumped into AE to test this myself and you are quite correct. It took a few attempts before I could see it occur on a specific mob with the power analyzer but it did stack mag 6 confuse. Absolutely. The in game description of Containment even makes mention of the controller's will. That certainly applies to the mental aspect as well as physical.
  6. I'm fairly certain that this is not the case. If I recall correctly, back on Live, some of us questioned if this could happen and the devs stated the chaining powers flag an enemy after they've been hit to prevent the chain from looping back. It should be fairly easy to demonstrate if you find an isolated group of two enemies, the chain should never jump back to the first.
  7. Adding Fear to Containment isn't terribly complicated, especially if limited only to Mind. Basically every damaging controller power has this line: If (target.kImmobilized > 0) or (target.kHeld > 0) or (target.kSleep > 0) or (target.kStunned > 0) or target.hasTag?(IncarnateBoss) A find and replace could easily alter or add to it. As for Terrify's damage some adjustment could be made, but it's worth noting Terrify's damage per endurance (1.47 damage/end) is only slightly better than Roots (1.41 damage/end) . I wouldn't expect it to be as spammable as AoE immobilizes because of the mitigation it provides, but a 15-20 second recharge is similar to damage powers from APP/PPPs. Having its damage bloom later might be unappealing, but Mind does have excellent control options early on. It would be like the inverse of Gravity (early damage, later control).
  8. Taking it back to the original point though, as long as a Plant controller beats the enemies while they're confused Seeds is essentially aggro free as well. I'm not discounting Mind's aggroless powers though as I do find utility in them. I generally "soften" an unaggro group with Mass Hynposis before hitting them with Terrify/Mass Domination. In that case anything that isn't hit by those doesn't immediately begin firing back. I agree with the general direction of your suggestion but feel it should be done in a different way. If we add containment to Fear (whether in general or for Mind alone), and reduce the recharge on Terrify to around 15 secs, it becomes a power that can be leveraged for damage much easier. That alone would do wonders to address Mind's damage problem. I would still like to see buffs to Mass Confusion and TK after that, but I think a containment/Terrify change is a good starting point.
  9. This isn't entirely correct. You do generate aggro. However, it is for a limited time. What you are seeing is aggro expiring before the confuse duration.
  10. It is somewhat easier to stack Confusion on an AV on account of its longer duration and aggro-less nature. When you're attempting to stack that magnitude of any mez, activation times and duration really come into play, and Confuse does activate faster than some single target holds (Fossilize and Tesla Cage). Dominate and Char do provide some advantage in that scenario because of their very short activations. But really the scenario of trying to outright control an AV is so infrequent most people don't even consider it. One of the most common scenarios for it rises in the ITF when a team can't out damage the healing Nictus, but if we've reached that level of desperation people tend to quit before having the patience to watch a controller build mag on an AV. I disagree with this... to a degree. The end game has definitely diminished the value of support. The availability of Incarnate powers in regular content is the primary factor there, in my opinion. Inventions, particularly with the availability of defense options, are the other factor. But that still leaves a great deal of the game (for those that play it, rather than powerlevel through it) where controls are still relevant. Just the other day I participated in a disastrous Penny Yin that had no support or control ATs. I quite agree that parity between the controller and dominator versions of Mind controller should be maintained. However, I don't think fixes to TK (and it should be fixed for both ATs) will address the primary issue with Mind for controllers: damage. For that we need to look to Containment and Terrify, Mind's only source of AoE Damage. In Blackfeather's suggestion thread, I propose lowering the recharge and duration of Terrify so that it can be better utilized as a damage power. Couple a lower recharge with Fear-triggered containment and Mind may become competitive for controllers again. Mind doesn't seem to have a blatant accuracy advantage, but it does have the advantage in that most of its powers only have the tag of Psi. Without the tags of ranged or AoE most enemies will have no defense against it. Force Field Generators, for instance, provide no defense against Psi so they can easily be confused and turned against their owners. Unfortunately, when you get to the late game psi defense does become more common with enemies like the Carnies, Arachnos, and the IDF.
  11. I'm a bit baffled by what you mean here. MC has a larger area than Seeds and is easier to aim, but other than that the end result is the same. The lack of aggro is only really relevant when you want to put a mob on hold, otherwise you're attacking them and generating aggro anyway.
  12. In my opinion (as I detailed in the thread on the controller boards), it is a valid comparison. There are a number of factors to consider that would prevent Mass Confusion from working as well as Seeds. There are synergies within Plant that work with Seeds and conflicts in Mind that would prevent it from rising to that level, but it basically boils down to a) lack of containment, b) Terrify slows down confusion damage, and c) Roots' above average damage synergizes with Seeds. Synaptic Overload, despite its peculiarities as a chain power, is a probably a better model of how MC would behave on the same cool down with Static Field simulating the effects of Terrify. While I understand Vanden's assertion, I think the concern is a bit excessive. Looking back at my past builds, I see Flashfire, Stalagmites, Wormhole, etc. all with longer duration than cool downs. On dominators, it's even possible to sustain a mag 6 stun for as long as it takes Wormhole to recharge. The whole fear of City of Statues from the Jack Emmert era never came to be even after inventions helped ease the beating that AoE controls took. If anything we're living in the age of Nukes where controls contribute even less.
  13. For controllers Mind is really lacking in AoE damage, but not entirely due to Containment. It is, in part, due to the lack of a spammable AoE. We have Terrify on a significantly longer cool down, which also conflicts with leveraging Mass Confusion for damage. By comparison, Plant can confuse enemies every spawn and hit them with an immobilize that does higher than average damage without loosing the benefit of confuse while still setting Containment. We bounced around a lot of ideas on how to address this in the suggestion thread from mechanics to improve Mind's containment setting ability to adding some synergies between Levitate and TK. More feedback is always appreciated. Also, an issue we discuss is TK's excessive endurance cost, currently the most costly toggle in the game.
  14. Dang, I pointed to the wrong post. It was a comment in the first page of that thread.
  15. As I briefly mentioned, it comes down to what each AT uses the primary for. Controllers use their primary for damage and control; Dominators, with an entire secondary to provide their damage, use it for control. That creates some key differences in how they utilize and slot different powers. For instance, a dominator, with better options for damage per endurance in their secondary, reasonably only casts their AoE immobilize while mobs are free to move. Controllers, on the other hand, often cast their AoE immobilize to contribute to damage. So the damage disparities between control sets is a much greater factor for a controller than it is a dominator. (Sets that debuff resistance widen that gap for between control primaries.) As for why Dominators are more satisfied with Mind, by virtue of the increased magnitude and duration of controls under Domination, they're simply better at controls. Dominators can rely on those controls affecting bosses. So when you need to shut down those incoming adds Mass Hypnosis for a Dominator will stop the bosses; a controller might stop them (with the increased 50% chance to overpower). Need to put an elite boss in time out? Dominators can do it with Mesmerize. Controllers need to stack Mesmerize in with Mass Hypnosis. Trying to hold an AV, Dominate > TK > Dominate > Total Domination builds 24 mag in less than 10 seconds. Mind is in a peculiar position in that 8 of its 9 powers benefits from Domination. Earth, by contrast, doesn't benefit from Domination on Volcanic Gasses, Earthquake, Quicksand, or Animated Stone. I suppose one take away from that is Containment needs to be part of the solution. If, as Redlynne proposed, Mind triggered it on Feared opponents it would buff Controllers without affecting Dominator performance.
  16. I have no idea what's in the works other than Powerhouse's mention of it getting some love soon. https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/16551-general-feedback-page-5-build-5/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-181398
  17. With some whispering of Trick Arrow buffs on the way, I think this build will be picking up some interest in the not too distant future.
  18. Looking at some of the March numbers on Controllers and Dominators reinforces some of my thinking on the matter of Mind Control. At level 50 Mind is in last place for controllers, but in second place for Dominators. Why? Trollers rely on their primary for damage; doms do not. Struggling with containment, a much longer recharge on Terrify vs. AoE immobilizes, and no pets contributing to damage all contribute to the issue. While Mass Confusion, in theory, helps with the damage contribution its role in doing so is in conflict with leveraging Terrify for damage. (Plant doesn't suffer the same problem.) So what if the cool down and duration of Terrify were reduce? I would propose a recharge of 15 seconds with a duration of of 10 seconds, close to its current recharge/duration ratio. Naturally damage and endurance cost could also be altered. From my understanding there is a formula that dictates the ratio between damage, endurance, and recharge. However, Terrify's current damage/end ratio (1.47 damage/end) is only slightly better than Roots (1.41 damage/end.) Even with this alteration in place Mind would lag a bit behind due to unreliable containment. This, however, would come at a slight disadvantage to Dominators who would need to cast Terrify more often to maintain it. (Side note: What the hell, Plant? An endurance discount on its AoE immobilize, Seeds with a better up-time/duration rate than any other AoE mez, then let's throw Creepers in there for a bonus. ) I think this implementation would be the most likely. The tech exists, it doesn't alter the function of the power, and it addresses some of the endurance issue. Simply being able to pause the Repel effect while you reposition your character would also dramatically improve the ease of use, requiring less of the constant repositioning that it takes now.
  19. I always found it frustrating to use TK, especially opposed to Hurricane, when herding. If enemies are caught at different ranges in TK's path, changing your position has a greater change in the angle of repel for closer targets. If the ends is to clump enemies together I'd much rather have a means to do so without fighting against the power itself.
  20. The aspect that I really like is the proposed synergies with Levitate. I think that addresses one of Mind's biggest problems: damage. Of the two alterations to TK, I prefer the first though it I think the implementation of a pet controls might be a little clunky. If vectored repel does become possible, I think a fairly simple solution would be a location based toggle. That doesn't offer the same level of control, but I think it would be easier to implement and for users to grasp. Drop it and all affected enemies are drawn to the center. The second proposal has some problems with it. If only immobilized/held enemies are repelled it would have the effect of moving lts. and minions, separating mobs (at least for controllers and outside of Domination).
  21. Other sets effectively have that via stun+immobilize or confuse+immobilize. In my experience with Mind/Rad, even having the a third hard control in the form of EMP Pulse wasn't enough to compare with the every spawn control you find in other sets. For a set that sacrifices a great deal in terms of damage (lack of containment, slower charging AoE damage power, and no pet), more control should at least be the compensation. Other sets have been buffed through a few changes (reducing knock back protection in the AoE immobilizes, the knockback > knockdown IO) that have allowed them to leverage their controls for more damage.
  22. To my knowledge, it doesn't work. I've tried it against some Nemesis Jaegers and never saw a break in their attacks.
  23. Radiation sets are in a weird place. Looking at the original sets, you'll see lots of -def and some disorients. Radiation Melee and Assault use Contamination to spread around some damage. Then Atomic Manipulation is out there by itself with the charged particle mechanic. I'd probably dismiss the charged particle mechanic as trollers and doms are going to pick targets based on what needs to be controlled at the moment and an added layer of complexity wouldn't work well there. For a pet, I have a few ideas. I'd call it Reactor. Ball of Light from the Animus Arcana enemies could be used for visuals. Give it a DoT aura, some -def, and a chance to disorient with a recharge and duration comparable to Carrion Creepers, perhaps with heavy resist so it doesn't die too easily.
  24. Years ago on Live, I played around with TK and Sonic Cage (because it came earlier than Detention Field). If you caged the anchor, it continued to repel the other targets until the reached the range limit of TK. They'd drop out, maybe fire back, or run back into the TK. It wasn't very useful. I'd imagine TK remaining on a defeated enemy would produce the same effect unless the body slides across the floor. I may be wrong, but I though Repel, Whirlwind, etc. got an endurance reduction in a recent pass through. TK is left as the most expensive toggle left. Heck, Forcefields can run Force Bubble, Repulsion Field, and Dispersion Bubble at the same time for cheaper. You can run Enervating Field, Radiation Infection, AND Choking Cloud at the same time for cheaper. Storm can run Snow Storm, Steamy Mist, and Hurricane for cheaper. Tactics, Maneuvers, and Assault all together run for cheaper. The more I look at it the more I realize TK isn't just a skippable power; it's broken.
  25. Steering this conversation back to something constructive... of all the alterations people have suggested what are the favorites/priorities for people? The first is reducing Mass Confusion's recharge. 90-120 sec is the range I'd like to see. This would provide Mind with a solid every mob hard control. The second is a global change to Sleep powers. My preference is for a chance to reapply sleep after some period, a lingering drowsy effect, though it doesn't fit Salt Crystals thematically. Barring that I would support a chance for stun upon waking (unenhancable, 3-4 seconds duration). Telekinesis... In this order: up the target cap, reduce the endurance cost (possibly an additional cost per target similar to Repel), implement some control over the repel. Levitate synergizing with TK for some AoE damage. Perhaps a small AoE with a cap of 5 or so.
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