Biff Pow

This is my whole point. You can work around this "balance" by taking pool attacks instead of Super Strength. A better attack than Jab, a cone attack that does Haymaker damage. For most melee sets, the Fighting attacks are a downgrade, this is why players keep suggesting Tough be unlockable without taking Boxing or Kick. I don't think Super Strength needs that level of improvement, just a little more parity. Make it a little tougher of a choice, like you might even WANT to take Jab.

I mean, you could still do those slotting choices, plus a lot more if damage were added to control sets. Controllers and Dominators especially would have a lot more options, but it opens things up for everyone. Maybe an Energy Melee Scrapper wants to focus on the stuns without sacrificing too much damage, for example.

Adding damage enhancements to control sets would be nice.

I really like my build but it's not hover-blasting. I like to move in and use melee attacks on the bosses while AoEs take care of everyone else, this is why I have around 30% on all positional defenses instead of focusing on ranged. But maybe you can get some ideas from it to build on (like switching the Touch of Death sets to Mako's Bite flips 7.5% melee defense to ranged.) Blaster EnergyEnergy.mbd

Shield Defense users have probably noticed that you can't use emotes with your shield equipped. I assumed this was because equipping the shield was implemented as an emote or something, except... When I have fly toggled on, I can use most (not all) of the emotes. I have no idea what causes this, but wonder if it might be a key to making emotes work with Shield Defense. "Spare some emotes for a poor Shield Defense Tank?"

This is true and even if you take Jab, by level 50 with recharge bonuses and everything, you can take it out of your power tray. Your other powers will fill in the attack chain. So some might ask then: who cares? It's a weak power that can easily be replaced by a pool attack, from a pool that many want to access anyway. Just skip it. I think that logic works the other way: if it doesn't matter, why not buff it a little so it doesn't feel so replaceable? It seems weird to be incentivized to NOT take Super Strength powers.

Blaster: (Novas all enemies) Melee: "Hey I was herding them up to kill slowly"

You should have checked, the ToHit and Recharge bonus is only from Cross Punch. Also again, this argument makes no sense because you can take the Fighting Pool AND Rage. The Fighting attacks are fine. If they were overpowered, people wouldn't be constantly suggesting "let me take Tough without Boxing or Kick." As far as I can tell, this is mostly just an issue with Super Strength, and especially since Jab became skippable on Tanks. Just make Jab a better power.

Sticking with only Super Strength, Footstomp is your only damaging AoE attack. If you choose the Fighting Pool route, Cross Punch is a (small) cone attack, which you can take as well as Footstomp. So the Super Strength set isn't the issue here, and I'm not going to suggest nerfing the Fighting Pool. Honestly just improving Jab would be enough of a fix. Even as single, no synergy power, Boxing and Kick do more damage than Jab. (Yes, they have slightly slower recharge but as part of a chain the difference isn't noticeable.)

Rage is a general damage boost, it increases pool attacks too.

This is basically my pitch to increase the damage of Jab, Punch, and Haymaker. If this applies to other sets besides Super Strength, feel free to chime in. My entire time on Homecoming I've found it strange that Boxing/Kick/Cross Punch do more damage than the first three Super Strength attacks. Yes, I'm including the damage boost from taking all three Fighting attacks, but this is a three vs three comparison. I won't even include the Fighting Pool's buff and debuff effects (like Cross Punch increases ToHit and Recharge for some reason.) Punch and Haymaker only need a slight boost to get it up to Kick and Cross Punch's damage (though Kick has quicker recharge.) Jab would need about a 50% increase to equal Boxing, I would propose maybe changing it to a one-two punch attack like Barrage. I'm not proposing one choice of attacks be better than the other (despite Super Strength being called, you know, Super), just that they're about the same. The Fighting Pool route has the disadvantage that you're forced into one Super Strength attack anyway, but also has advantages like Cross Punch being a cone. Super Strength shouldn't feel like you're accepting lower damage by sticking to your main offensive set.

There's no point to KB-to-KD in Nova because it kills most of its targets. I do use the Overwhelming Force set in Explosive Blast because it turns it into a PBAoE power and I like to melee. But I leave the KB in Energy Torrent because sometimes you want enemies out of your face.

I've played it on Scrapper and Tanker and I prefer Tanker because you get the toughness with a good damage output.

I know a defense set makes sense, but I love the crazy power of an Energy/Energy Blaster. And you can still get some decent defense from the Fighting and Epic pools.

This Is The Way